Mamiya 7 vs 7II: Four Frame Finder Versions Compared
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
While doing some service on Mamiya7 bodies today I thought it would be a good time to document the differences on the various versions. While officially there were only two versions, the Mamiya 7 and Mamiya 7II, there are really four styles that you may find in the wild these days.
In the first photo, rear left is the original Mamiya 7 from April 1995. Rear right is Mamiya 7 from post September 1995. Front right is a Mamiya 7 from post September 1995 with factory window upgrade and front left is a Mamiya 7II.
From start of production around April 1995 until September 1995, Mamiya used a silver bright line reflector as seen in photo two. Starting in October of 1995, Mamiya added a reflector frame and changed the reflector to gold color for increased contrast in the bright line frames as seen in photo three.
With the introduction of the Mamiya 7II, the frame finder window was changed to a yellow color with a coating on the outside. This improved the frame finder lines (gave them a yellow cast). Note that the rangefinder itself did not change from the Mamiya 7 to the Mamiya 7II, just the frame finder illumination window was changed. So you may find some original Mamiya 7 bodies with the factory upgrade to the yellow tinted window. Photo four shows an upgraded version of a Mamiya 7 with the Mamiya 7II window installed compared to the original Mamiya 7.
