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

Mamiya C330

Mamiya · Mamiya TLR mount · 6×6cm on 120 (12 exposures) or 220 (24 exposures), the pressure plate turning for either and the counter following it; a changeable back plate for single exposures (English Wikipedia) · 1969

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya C330 · Mamiya C330 Professional · Mamiya C330f · Mamiya C330 F · Mamiya C330s · Mamiya C330 S · Mamiya C-330 · C330 · C330f · C330s · マミヤ C330 · マミヤ C330f · マミヤ C330S · マミヤフレックス C330

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
C330 Professional Mamiya TLR 1969–1974 — No figure published by any source consulted
C330f Professional Mamiya TLR 1975–1982 — No figure published by any source consulted
C330s Professional Mamiya TLR 1983–1994 — No figure published by any source consulted
  1. The C33 (1965) and C3 (1962) are the parents, not versions: the C3 introduced the crank and double-exposure prevention, the C33 self-cocking, automatic parallax correction, 65/80mm sports-finder frames and a 220 back (Japanese Wikipedia's product list). Their listings are excluded here.
  2. The C330f introduction is 1975 in the Japanese and English Wikipedia product lists and 1972 in camera-wiki; the 1975 date is used for the variant, and the C330 run is ended at 1974 on camera-wiki's table.
  3. Weights: 1.7 kg with standard lens (English Wikipedia, C330 article) and 1,340 g for the C330s (English Wikipedia, Mamiya C article) are the only published figures; neither says which lens or whether a finder is included, and the C330s figure is single-source.
  4. No list price in yen or dollars, and no production figure, was found in any source consulted. A Japanese shop blog quoting ¥58,000 with the 80mm f/2.8 could not be read and is not used.
  5. The C330 Special Selection, with lizard leatherette and gold-plated front and a gold-ringed 80mm, is reported by camera-wiki only and is treated as a finish, not a variant.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Nameplate above the viewing lens: C330 Professional, C330 Professional F, or C330 Professional S
  • Crank on the right side, not a knob: a knob-wind body with these lenses is a C220, C220f or C22
  • Focus knobs on both sides; a locking lever on the left knob means an f or an S
  • Shutter-release lock on the front standard (C330, C330f) or on the right side of the body (C330s)
  • Screen holder that lifts out (C330, C330f) or hinges from the front (C330s)

C330 Professional:

  • 'Mamiya C330 Professional' in chrome lettering on the black nameplate above the viewing lens (English Wikipedia)
  • Left-hand focus knob without the locking lever the C330f added; the parallax/exposure-factor selector still carries the ASA film-speed reminder window (camera-wiki)
  • Removable focusing-screen holder taking the six original screens; interchangeable finders (waist-level, chimney magnifier, prism)

C330f Professional:

  • 'C330 Professional F' nameplate
  • Focus-locking lever on the left focus knob (camera-wiki; Japanese Wikipedia's product list calls it an external locking lever)
  • Parallax/exposure-factor selector without the ASA reminder window; a film memo holder on the body instead (camera-wiki)
  • Quick-release, one-touch focusing hood (Japanese Wikipedia)

C330s Professional:

  • 'C330 Professional S' nameplate; more plastic in the body, which is lighter (camera-wiki; Japanese Wikipedia: diecast body replaced by plastic)
  • Shutter-release lock on the right side of the body rather than on the front standard (camera-wiki)
  • Distance-scale window with the 55, 65 and 80mm scales marked in orange (camera-wiki)
  • Focusing-screen holder hinges up from the front instead of lifting out; the S screens do not fit a C330 or C330f, and theirs do not fit the S (camera-wiki)
  • New single-action waist-level finder; the back-release catch is combined with the upper spool-tension knob (camera-wiki; Photrio)

Specifications

Format
6×6cm on 120 (12 exposures) or 220 (24 exposures), the pressure plate turning for either and the counter following it; a changeable back plate for single exposures (English Wikipedia) · 12 on 120; 24 on 220 exposures
Finder
interchangeable: folding waist-level hood with magnifier and sports finder (single-action hood on the C330s), chimney magnifier, eye-level prism, Porrofinder and CdS Porrofinder with built-in meter · automatic parallax indicator in the finder, moving with the bellows extension, with an exposure-factor scale for close focus; the Paramender tripod accessory shifts the camera by the lens separation for exact framing parallax correction
Shutter
none in body; leaf shutter in each lens pair — Seikosha-MX on the first chrome series, Seikosha-S on the second, Seiko (SLV) on the black series · 1s–1/400 (Seikosha-MX) or 1s–1/500 (Seikosha-S and Seiko), B · flash sync all speeds (leaf shutter); X and M selector on the lens
Film advance
self-cocking single-turn 360° crank with double-exposure prevention; multiple exposures by a lever
Back
hinged back with a rotating pressure plate for 120 or 220, the counter following the plate; a changeable back plate for single exposures
Meter
none in the body; the CdS Porrofinder is the metered finder
Motor drive
Not compatible
Weight
1700 g
Dimensions
122 × 168 × 114 (W × H × D), 1.7 kg with the standard lens, from English Wikipedia's C330 article, which does not say which variant; English Wikipedia's Mamiya C article gives 1,340 g for the C330s without stating what it includes mm
Country
Japan
Accessories
Lens pairs: 55mm f/4.5, 65mm f/3.5, 80mm f/3.7, 80mm f/2.8, 105mm f/3.5, 135mm f/4.5, 180mm f/4.5, 250mm f/6.3 (English Wikipedia) · Porrofinder and CdS Porrofinder (eye-level, the latter metered), prism finder, chimney magnifier; interchangeable focusing screens and finder masks · Paramender (parallax-correcting tripod mount), side grips and pistol grip, lens hoods, single-exposure back plate

Six interchangeable focusing screens on the C330 and C330f; a brighter standard screen of a different fitting on the C330s (camera-wiki; Photrio)

Where sources disagree

First
  • 1975 — Japanese Wikipedia's Mamiya product list; English Wikipedia's Mamiya products list and Mamiya C article; Vintage Technology Archive
  • 1972 — camera-wiki (both the C330 article and the C-series table, which runs it 1972–82); GotFilm

Better supported: 1975

camera-wiki's table still ends the plain C330 in 1974, which sits more comfortably with a 1975 successor than with one already three years old.

Weight (grams)
  • 1.7 kg with standard lens — English Wikipedia, C330 article, variant unstated
  • 1,340 g — English Wikipedia, Mamiya C article, for the C330s, contents unstated

Both figures are carried; the lighter one may be a body without lens.

What reviewers say

History

The C330 Professional of 1969 is the top of the Mamiya twin-lens line, and the reason the line exists is the front standard. Every other TLR has its two lenses fixed; the Mamiya C series mounts them as a pair on a plate that comes off, so a 55mm, 65mm, 80mm, 105mm, 135mm, 180mm or 250mm pair, each with its own leaf shutter, goes on the same body, and a bellows on a rack and pinion carries the standard far enough out for close work that other TLRs need supplementary lenses for. The C330 replaced the C33 of 1965 as the automatic model, 340 g lighter than that camera’s 2,040 g with 80mm lens, with the same self-cocking single-turn crank and double-exposure prevention, a rotating pressure plate for 120 or 220 and a counter that follows it, interchangeable finders, and, new on this body, interchangeable focusing screens. Cheaper and lighter, with a knob and manual cocking, the C220 of 1968 shares its lenses and most of its accessories.

Three bodies carry the name. The C330f is the same camera with a locking lever on the left focus knob, a film memo holder in place of the ASA reminder on the parallax selector, and a one-touch focusing hood; whether it arrived in 1972 (camera-wiki) or 1975 (the Japanese and English Wikipedia lists) is the one open date, and 1975 is used here. The C330s of 1983 is the real revision: more plastic in the body, the shutter-release lock moved from the front standard to the right side, a single-action waist-level finder, a screen holder that hinges from the front and takes screens of a different fitting, the 55, 65 and 80mm scales picked out in orange in the distance window, and a back-release catch combined with the upper spool-tension knob. Users on Photrio note the practical consequence of that last change: a damaged catch on a C330 or C330f is a new back, on an S it is several parts. Production ended in 1994.

Because the shutter is in each lens, the body’s spec sheet is short. The chrome lenses carry Seikosha-MX (1s to 1/400) or Seikosha-S (1s to 1/500) shutters and the black series Seiko shutters to 1/500, all with B, X and M sync and flash at every speed. English Wikipedia gives 122 × 168 × 114 mm and 1.7 kg with the standard lens, without saying which body, and 1,340 g for the C330s without saying what is included; nothing more precise, and no list price or production figure, appears in any source consulted. Kosmo Foto’s Erik Schlicksbier makes the point that matters in use: no mirror, so 1/30 and 1/15 hand-held are real, and the outfit is light beside any other Mamiya system.

The parallax indicator and the Paramender are what a buyer should understand. The viewing lens sits above the taking lens, so as the bellows extend the finder shows a scene shifted upward; a pointer in the finder tracks the extension and an exposure-factor scale beside it corrects for the bellows draw. For exact framing at portrait distances the Paramender, a tripod platform that lifts the camera by the lens separation between focusing and exposing, is the accessory that 35mmc’s Anton McCloud and others reach for. What to check on a used body: that the crank cocks every lens fitted (the interlock is in the standard, and a lens whose cocking lever has been forced is the common fault), the bellows for pinholes at full extension, the focusing-screen holder on an S for cracked plastic, the back catch, and the leatherette, which is often lifting on the f-era bodies Rene Villaroman recovered his own. Match the screen to the body: S screens and earlier screens do not interchange.

The reviews agree on the character and disagree on the verdict. McCloud finds sharpness to rival the German TLRs and recommends it to someone arriving from an SLR system but sends beginners to a C220; Villaroman restored a $25 C330f and then sold it because his Rolleiflexes were smaller and better built; Schlicksbier would never sell his. Mike Connealy’s essay, hosted on mikeeckman.com, settles for calling it awkward until familiar and full of possibilities after that. The gold-fronted, lizard-covered C330 Special Selection that camera-wiki records is a finish, not a version.

Expand Collapse

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

Mamiya C330
Mamiya C330 Professional F — Guillaume Piolle (Eusebius), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Mamiya C330
Mamiya C330 Professional S with the Sekor 80mm f/2.8 — AKI from Osaka, Japan, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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 $400 across 57 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $330–$480). First day tracked.

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

Show 97 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 2026-09-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Mamiya 6 (1989) · Mamiya 645 Super / Pro / Pro TL · Mamiya 7 · Mamiya C220 · Mamiya M645 · Mamiya RB67 · Mamiya RZ67

Lenses for this body: Mamiya-Sekor 105mm f/3.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/2.8 (C-series TLR)

Sources (16)

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.