Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Mamiya 645E

Mamiya · Mamiya 645 mount · 56×41.5mm on 120 (15 exposures) or 220 (30 exposures) in interchangeable film inserts; fixed film chamber, no mid-roll change (645E manual) · 2000

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya 645E · Mamiya 645 E · M645E · 645 E · 645E · マミヤ 645E · マミヤ645E · Mamiya 645E 80mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
645E Mamiya 645 2000–2006 — No figure published by any source consulted
  1. Weight and dimensions are the 645E manual's: 1,340 g without battery, 135 × 134.2 × 163.8mm; kakaku.com and English Wikipedia carry the same 1,340 g. Kamerastore's listing gives 1,130 g without lens with the manual crank and 160 × 133 × 130mm, which does not agree with the manual and is not used; see `disputed`.
  2. The launch is March 2000 by camera-wiki and kakaku.com and 1998 by the Japanese Wikipedia product list; see `disputed`.
  3. No list price was found. A US launch price of about US$700 body only appeared in a search extract attributed to a review page that returned 404 on every fetch, and is not used.
  4. No image of a 645E exists on Wikimedia Commons in the Mamiya 645 category or by search; this page has no photos.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Fixed prism with 'Mamiya' on its front and the hot shoe on top; no finder catch, no dark slide, no removable back
  • Shutter speed dial on the left of the body with AE and AEL settings; exposure compensation dial; multiple exposure lever; mirror lock-up lever
  • Hinged back cover opening on a film insert with a 120/220 pressure-plate index
  • Black plastic body; 645E on the front

645E:

  • Fixed eye-level metering prism with a built-in dioptre eyepiece; no finder release, no removable back: the film insert loads through a hinged back cover (manual)
  • Shutter speed dial on the left side of the body and hot shoe on top of the prism (camera-wiki); AE and AEL positions on the dial, exposure compensation dial beside it
  • Multiple exposure lever and mirror lock-up lever on the body; film advance by single-throw 360-degree crank (manual)
  • Black plastic shell over an internal metal chassis (Old Good Light; Kamerastore); 'Mamiya' on the prism front

Serial-range notes

No published scheme
No source consulted relates 645E serial numbers to years. The two-letter date-code prefix reported for the Super and Pro (Mamiya Repair, on the 645 Super page) is not confirmed for the 645E by anything read here.

Specifications

Format
56×41.5mm on 120 (15 exposures) or 220 (30 exposures) in interchangeable film inserts; fixed film chamber, no mid-roll change (645E manual) · 15 on 120; 30 on 220 exposures
Finder
fixed reflex eye-level metering prism, 94% coverage, built-in eyepiece dioptre correction, micro split-image screen, LED display of shutter speed with over-exposure and long-time warnings (manual specifications) · 94% coverage
Shutter
moving-coil electronically controlled focal-plane shutter, in the body; no mechanical speed · 1/1000 to 8s in AE; 1/1000 to 4s and B in manual, in one-step settings (manual) · flash sync X at 1/60 and slower (lock function); hot shoe on the prism · no self-timer
Film advance
single-throw 360-degree crank; Film Advance Crank AC402 accessory; Speed Grip GN401 with a thumb lever, a mechanical grip and not a power winder (manual system chart; camera-wiki)
Back
fixed film chamber with hinged back cover; interchangeable 120 and 220 film inserts
Meter
centre-weighted TTL in the fixed prism, EV 2 to EV 19 at ISO 100 with the f/2.8 lens, ISO 25 to 800 in 1/3 steps; aperture-priority AE, AE lock and manual; exposure compensation ±2 EV in 1/3 steps; reading holds for 10 seconds (manual)
Motor drive
Not compatible — No power winder; the GN401 grip is a manual thumb-lever grip (camera-wiki)
Weight
1340 g
Dimensions
135 (W) × 134.2 (H) × 163.8 (D) (manual specifications); weight_g is the body without battery per the manual, with the fixed prism, no lens mm
Country
Japan
Accessories
120 and 220 film inserts · Film Advance Crank AC402 · Speed Grip GN401, mechanical thumb-lever grip (listed as under development in the manual's system chart) · External Battery Case for cold weather · Auto Extension Rings No.1, No.2 and No.3; Auto Bellows N

The manual's 94% and dioptre correction; kakaku.com lists 0.79× magnification. Old Good Light gives the dioptre range as -4 to +4 and calls the finder huge and clear. Not interchangeable: no waist-level or other finder fits.

Where sources disagree

First
  • March 2000 — camera-wiki; kakaku.com; English Wikipedia and the List of Mamiya products give 2000
  • 1998 — Japanese Wikipedia product list

Better supported: 2000

Weight (grams)
  • 1,340 g without battery — 645E instruction manual; kakaku.com; English Wikipedia
  • 1,130 g without lens, with manual crank — Kamerastore listing

Better supported: 1,340 g

Dimensions (mm)
  • 135 × 134.2 × 163.8mm — 645E instruction manual; kakaku.com
  • 160 × 133 × 130mm — Kamerastore listing

Better supported: manual

What reviewers say

History

The 645E is the last manual-focus Mamiya 645 body and the cheapest one Mamiya made: the 645 Pro’s shutter, meter and lens mount in a body with the prism and the film chamber fixed. camera-wiki dates it to March 2000 and lists what was simplified: a fixed metering prism with a Keplerian magnifier eyepiece and built-in dioptre correction, a fixed film chamber taking film inserts as the 1975 M645 did, the shutter speed dial moved to the left side of the body, the hot shoe moved to the top of the prism, and a grip, the GN401, that is a mechanical thumb-lever grip and not a power winder. English Wikipedia gives 2000 to 2006 and calls it an entry-level version of the 645 Pro without switchable backs or viewfinders. The Japanese Wikipedia product list has 1998, a date nothing else supports.

The manual’s specification page is the rest of it. The image is 56 × 41.5mm, 15 frames on 120 or 30 on 220, in interchangeable inserts loaded through a hinged back cover, advanced by a single-throw 360-degree crank. The shutter is the moving-coil electronic focal-plane type, 1/1000 to 8 seconds in aperture-priority AE and 1/1000 to 4 seconds plus B in manual, with X sync at 1/60 and no mechanical speed; one 6V cell, a 4LR44, 4SR44 or 2CR1/3N, runs everything. The meter is centre-weighted TTL, EV 2 to EV 19 at ISO 100 with the f/2.8 lens, ISO 25 to 800 in third steps, with AE lock on the dial, ±2 EV of compensation in third steps, and a reading that holds for ten seconds after a half press. The finder shows 94% of the frame on a micro split-image screen, with LEDs for the set or metered speed, over-exposure and long-time warnings, and a low-battery blink. There is a multiple exposure lever, a mirror lock-up lever that works only in the AEL mode, a cable release socket, and 1/4 and 3/8 inch tripod threads; there is no self-timer. The body weighs 1,340 g without battery and measures 135 × 134.2 × 163.8mm. The standard lens is the 80mm f/2.8 N, with 21 lenses in the range at the time.

The mount is the Mamiya 645 bayonet of 1975, so every C, N and leaf-shutter 645 lens fits, but camera-wiki’s system note is that most of the other accessories do not: the finders, screens, film holders and power grips of the Super, Pro and Pro TL have nothing to attach to. The manual’s system chart lists what does: the 120 and 220 inserts, the Film Advance Crank AC402, the Speed Grip GN401 (still “under development” when the manual was printed), an external battery case for cold weather, the Auto Extension Rings No.1 to No.3 and the Auto Bellows N. The 1,340 g is heavier than the 645 Pro’s 980 g body that English Wikipedia gives, because the prism and its meter are part of the body here rather than an accessory added later; a Pro with its AE prism and a holder is the fair comparison.

Identifying one is easy, because nothing comes off. A Mamiya 645 with a prism that has no release catch, no dark slide and a hinged back cover is a 645E; 645E is on the front, the speed dial with AE and AEL settings sits on the left of the body, and the hot shoe is on the prism. The shell is plastic over an internal metal chassis, which Old Good Light calls the best example of “plastic fantastic” and finds very reliable. Buying checks follow from the electronics: the shutter and meter need the 6V cell to do anything, so a body is tested with a fresh one; the meter is centre-weighted and Old Good Light warns it needs compensation for slides on beaches and snow; A Camera Diary’s 2014 case for the camera was that a mint one with the 80mm f/2.8 cost US$300 while M645 1000S bodies were mostly dead, and that aperture priority on a 6×4.5 negative is what most people want from medium format.

What is missing is the commercial record. No list price in yen or dollars was found: kakaku.com has none registered, and the US$700 body-only launch figure that appears in search extracts comes from a review page that could not be fetched. No production figure, no serial scheme and no photograph on Wikimedia Commons exist for it either.

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This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $560 across 22 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-21 (middle half $430–$600). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 16 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-21. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Mamiya 645 Super / Pro / Pro TL · Mamiya M645 · Mamiya 645 AF / AFD

Sources (14)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.