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

Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 (Press)

Mamiya · Mamiya Press · 1967 · Tessar type, 4 elements in 3 groups

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 · Mamiya Sekor 100mm f3.5 Press · Mamiya Press 100mm f/3.5 · Mamiya Universal 100mm f3.5 · Mamiya Super 23 100mm f3.5 · Sekor 100/3.5 Press · マミヤプレス 100mm F3.5 · マミヤ セコール 100mm F3.5 · セコール 100mm F3.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5, chrome (1967, 40.5 mm filter, retracting) · Seikosha-S #0, B and 1s–1/500, M-X sync, press-focus lever Mamiya Press 1967 — —
Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5, black (c. 1969, 55 mm filter, retracting) · Seikosha #0, B and 1s–1/500, M-X sync, press-focus lever Mamiya Press 1969 — —
Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 E (rubber grip, non-retracting) Mamiya Press — — —
  1. The E version rests on camera-wiki's table and one Commons photograph; no Mamiya document consulted mentions it. Single-source claim.
  2. Two weights for the retracting lens: 540 g in the 1968 Super 23 manual (the 40.5 mm chrome lens) and 480 g in the 1970 sheet, the 1976 and 1978 brochures and the Universal manual (the 55 mm black lens). The family figure is the black lens.
  3. Picture angles are printed as 53°30' and 47°30' (6×9 and 6×7) in the 1968 manual and 53°36' and 47°36' in the 1970 sheet; the 1976 brochure rounds to 53.5°. Closest focus is 3.5 ft from the film plane in the US literature and 1 m in Mamiya's Japanese museum page and Japanese Wikipedia.
  4. The shutter is 'Seikosha-S #0' in the 1968 manual and on Mamiya's museum pages and 'Seikosha #0' in the 1978 brochure and the Universal manual; camera-wiki says the updated lenses carry a Seiko #0. Same size and speeds throughout: B and 1 to 1/500 second, M-X.
  5. No price for the lens alone was found. Mamiya's museum pages give kit prices only: ¥52,000 for the Super 23 with this lens and grip (August 1967), ¥54,900 for the Universal (April 1969), ¥56,000 for the Super 23 Black (October 1969) and the Universal Black (August 1971) with it. The chrome-to-black changeover falls between the 1968 manual (40.5 mm) and the July 1970 sheet (55 mm); 1969 is the first year of the Universal, not a documented date for the barrel.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Mamiya-Sekor 1:3.5 f=100mm; chrome barrel with 40.5 mm thread is the 1967 lens, black barrel with 55 mm thread the 1969-on lens, rubber grip and no retraction the E
  • The lens-shutter assembly retracts into its mount by a slight counterclockwise turn; the finder shows a retraction warning and the rangefinder cannot be trusted until it is pulled out and turned back (1968 manual; Universal manual)
  • Press-focus lever on the shutter holds the blades open for ground-glass focusing after cocking; the 100mm f/2.8, 150 and 250 use a T lever instead (1968 manual)
  • Aperture 3.5 to 32; hood supplied; catalogue numbers 60105 (1970) and 655920 (1976–78)

Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5, chrome (1967, 40.5 mm filter, retracting):

  • Chrome-finished barrel; 40.5 mm filter thread (1968 Super 23 manual: 40.5 mm filter for the 100mm f/3.5 and 150mm f/5.6; English Wikipedia: the earlier chrome-finished lenses used a 40.5 mm attachment size)
  • Retracting lens-shutter assembly: the 1968 manual lists lens retraction 'yes' for this lens alone, with the press-focus lever built into the shutter
  • 1968 Super 23 manual weight: 1 lb 3 oz (540 g), against 480 g for the later black lens

Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5, black (c. 1969, 55 mm filter, retracting):

  • Black barrel with the 55 mm filter thread (July 1970 lens sheet; 1976 and 1978 Bell & Howell/Mamiya brochures; Universal manual)
  • Still retracting: the Universal manual calls it 'retracting type, black finish' and warns that it will not focus until pulled out
  • 480 g with 4 elements, f/32 minimum, 3.5 ft closest focus (1976 brochure); catalogue number 60105, later 655920

Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 E (rubber grip, non-retracting):

  • Rubber focusing grip and a barrel that does not retract; 445 g (camera-wiki, the only written source)¹
  • Same 4 elements in 3 groups and 55 mm filter as the black lens (camera-wiki)

Specifications

Formula
Tessar type, 4 elements in 3 groups
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/32
Shutter
Seikosha-S #0 leaf shutter in the lens (Seikosha #0 in the later brochures): B and 1s–1/500, M and X sync at every speed, cocked by hand on the lens; press-focus lever holds the blades open for ground-glass focusing
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
480 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1967
Country
Japan

What reviewers say

History

The 100mm f/3.5 is the standard lens of the Mamiya Press from the Super 23 onward: Mamiya’s museum page for the August 1967 camera says the standard lens changed from the 90mm f/3.5 to a newly designed 100mm f/3.5, a Tessar type of 4 elements in 3 groups in a Seikosha #0 leaf shutter with B and 1 to 1/500 second and M-X sync, and prices the outfit with lens and grip at ¥52,000. Its one mechanical peculiarity is that it retracts: the lens-shutter assembly turns slightly counterclockwise and slides back into its mount, which lets the Super 23’s bellows back reach infinity when it is extended, and which means that in normal use the lens must be pulled out and turned back before the rangefinder means anything. The 1968 Super 23 manual gives the retracting 100 as the camera’s standard lens with f-stops 3.5 to 32, a Seikosha-S #0 shutter and a press-focus lever that holds the blades open for the ground glass; its lens table prints 3 groups and 4 elements, picture angles of 53°30’ at 6×9 and 47°30’ at 6×7, and a 40.5 mm filter. Mamiya’s museum page for the Universal repeats the 3-group, 4-element construction and a closest focus of 1 m, which the US sheets give as 3.5 ft from the film plane.

There are three barrels. The first is chrome, takes 40.5 mm filters like the earlier 90 and 150, and weighs 540 g by the 1968 manual; camera-wiki says the chrome lenses carry the Seikosha-S shutter. The second is black, takes 55 mm filters and weighs 480 g, the figure in the July 1970 lens sheet, the 1976 and 1978 Bell & Howell brochures and the Universal manual, which calls it the retracting type in black finish; it was the standard lens of the Universal from April 1969 and catalogue number 60105, later 655920. The third, the E, has a rubber focusing grip, does not retract and weighs 445 g, and is known only from camera-wiki’s table and a photograph on Commons, so it is carried here as a single-source variant with no date. Nothing consulted dates the change from chrome to black more closely than the gap between the 1968 manual and the 1970 sheet.

The reviewers who write about this lens write about the retraction first. Theo Panagopoulos on Photo Thinking lists shooting with it still retracted as the most painful of the Super 23’s dozen ways to ruin a frame, and then describes the black lens as sharp with a lot of detail and fairly low contrast, adequate at f/3.5, complete across the frame by f/8, with vignetting that blends in until f/11. Kikie Wilkins on Emulsive owns the later chrome-faced version and calls it the one lens to keep for general use on the Universal, roughly a 43mm equivalent with character. Kai Lietz on 35mmc shot his Super 23 frames with it and finds the difference from premium medium-format glass invisible below a 20×24 print. Andrew Welsh on Shoot It With Film notes that it comes with almost every used kit and that the 100mm f/2.8 is the lens worth paying extra for; the f/2.8 is a different 6-element lens and a different page.

Buying one means checking the shutter and the slide. The Seikosha is cocked by hand on the lens and released through the grip’s cable, and after decades the slow speeds drag and the blades can hang; the press-focus lever must be pushed back before an exposure or the shutter simply stays open. The retracting mount should turn and lock cleanly in both positions, because a lens that will not seat at the extended stop focuses nowhere. The filter thread sorts chrome from black at a glance, 40.5 mm against 55 mm, and the weight confirms it, 540 g against 480 g. No price for the lens alone appears anywhere consulted; Mamiya’s museum pages price the Super 23 with this lens and grip at ¥52,000 in 1967, the Universal at ¥54,900 in April 1969 and the Super 23 Black and Universal Black with it at ¥56,000, and no end date for the lens is published.

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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.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 (Press)
Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5, black retracting version — Zebrio (Brian Scott Peterson), uploaded by File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 (Press)
The chrome 100mm f/3.5 — Zebrio (Brian Scott Peterson), uploaded by Armbrust, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 (Press)
The 100mm f/3.5 E with its rubber focusing grip — Zebrio (Brian Scott Peterson), uploaded by Armbrust, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/3.5 (Press)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $200 across 33 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-21 (middle half $170–$240). First day tracked.

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

Show 55 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-Sekor 50mm f/6.3 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 65mm f/6.3 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 75mm f/5.6 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 90mm f/3.5 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 100mm f/2.8 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 127mm f/4.7 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 150mm f/5.6 (Press) · Mamiya-Sekor 250mm f/5 (Press)

Sources (20)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, 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.