Mamiya 105mm C Lens for TLR: The Six Versions Explained
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
Servicing a Mamiya 105mm f/3.5 D Lens for TLR. The 105mm lens had the most variations of all the C lenses made for the TLR series with a total of six styles, so choosing one to purchase may be confusing. Here are the types of 105mm C lenses that Mamiya produced:
1.) Jan 1956-Jan 1958, original chrome shutter, four element design
2.) March 1968-July 1969, black shutter, four element design, flash socket on bracket at forty five degree angle from lens.
3.) Early 1969-July 1969, black shutter, four element design, flash socket at right angle to housing and lens filter ring slightly different configuration.
4.) July 1969- end , black shutter, five element design, diaphragm in upper lens also to view depth of field. Lens designated 105 DS
5.) July 1969-Jan 1971, black shutter, four element design (same as earlier lens design). This lens, designated the 105 D, was produced in response to the US importer at the time, EPOI, for a less expensive 105mm than the newly introduced 105 DS. So Mamiya went back to the old four element lens.
6.) Jan 1971- April 1974, black shutter, five element design. This is where it gets confusing as this lens was also designated the 105 D but had the improved five element design of the 105 DS. (I have also noted a slightly different purple coating on these versions, but only on the taking lens) The only way to tell the difference between the two versions of the 105mm D is that the version with the five element design has a thickness of 36.25mm from the lens mount flange to the front of the filter ring and the four element version has a thickness of 34.95mm. Really hard to eyeball this difference!
Some of the above info is taken from internal Mamiya factory documents and has probably never been published before.
