I first fell for this camera in college circa 2015 and it was not love at first sight. Hoping to check out a Mamiya 7 and none were available an RZ67 was suggested. When the moderator opened the case it was like a bad birthday gift… just staring back at me, this black brick, not like the slick Mamiya 7 I had known. First roll of film I tried loading was a disaster, like a 3 year old making a paper airplane, just mangled.

Wasn’t long after I cracked open that waist level view finder though that I was thinking Mamiya 7 who? Rangefinders are great don’t get me wrong but I am sorry nothing compares to that sweet sweet ground glass on the RZ, it feels like the world is literally staring back at you.

Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all because it would be 5 years after graduating until I owned an RZ.

I dreamt of this camera for so long after school. I thought we’d get back together and it’d be just like old times. It wasn’t. I was a “ working professional” now and didn’t have time or even sometimes energy to frolic with this metal and glass boat anchor. So it sat in a case only to be brought out on special occasions or unique jobs.

Because I am unhinged I stuffed an R5 with two lenses, the Fuji GW69III, a super 8, the Nikon 28ti, and my RZ with two lenses into my backpack and with me to Europe. Judge me idc. The Fuji I think made 2 appearances, not much of a good street photography camera when its nicknamed the Texas Leica, its fucking huge and I want to love it. Peter if you’re reading this I WANT TO LOVE HER. The 35mm Nikon was too shy to make an appearance, idk I’m out of my 35mm phase and the super 8 was like “it’s been 1 week and they still haven’t noticed I’m a movie camera.” The R5 was good, almost too good because it just doesn’t miss. Sure it gets the job done but where’s the romance?!

I cannot stress this enough. A Mamiya RZ67 is 100% the wrong camera to carry for miles on foot, you will get carpal tunnel or some other type of nerve damage.

On paper an R5 is the clear winner for this street photography exercise I found myself doing in-between making sure my grandma didn’t trip on thousand year old cobble stone. That digital camera was the worlds biggest safety net and with that I made some good images. However it left me feeling emptier than my bank account after a trip to Bay Camera.

Jan Lukas on street photography: “You simply walk through the world and look out for something interesting. As if I were looking for four-leaf clovers: there are millions of three-leaf clovers, and among them here and there are four-leaf, or even a five-leaf clover. What is important is to somehow uncover it.”

I’ll tell you what no digital camera will inspire the same emotion that an RZ does when something materializes in front of you and you and flip up that waist level view finder to shoot it.

For anyone unfamiliar… you select shutter speed on the side of the camera, the dial reminds me of the spinning wheel from the the price is right (not wheel of fortune) and then aperture is selected on the lens, pretty basic. Focus is done with one of two knobs on each side of the camera, it’s a bellows system so turning those knobs moves the whole front of the camera forwards and backwards. Get all these moves right, click the shutter, and the mirror claps up with such a noise that families are drawn out of their quiet homes wondering what the heck is going on. Position your thumb on the most perfect lever ever created and push it forward to reset the mirror and advance the film feeling the tension of the paper backing.

It’s this series of events which are so mechanical and tactile that make this camera a 5 course meal of an experience.

These are all my opinions and mostly feelings, I have lots of those, not to be taken as absolutes, others may feel different and that’s okay. It’s what makes this industry and art so great. Your wrong camera might be something different but my “so wrong it feels right” camera is the Mamiya RZ67.