Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8 (RB67)
Mamiya · Mamiya RB67 · 1974
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8 · Mamiya Sekor C 500mm f8 · Mamiya RB67 500mm f/8 · Mamiya RB 500mm f8 Sekor C · Sekor C 500/8 RB · Mamiya RB67 Pro S 500mm · マミヤ RB67 500mm F8 · マミヤ セコールC 500mm F8 · セコールC 500mm F8 RB
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8 · Seiko #1, T and 1s–1/400, cocked by the body, flash sync at every speed | Mamiya RB67 | 1974 | — | — |
- Closest focus is disputed: Japanese Wikipedia, which cites Mamiya's catalogue for its RB figures, gives 6.599 m; the RB67 Camera Guide gives 6,150 mm. The Japanese figure is carried in the table as the one with a stated Mamiya source; neither says whether it is measured from the film plane or the front rim.
- Construction (6 in 6) is agreed by Japanese Wikipedia, camera-wiki and the Camera Guide; the 105 mm filter, f/32 minimum and slip-on hood by camera-wiki and the Guide. The weight (1,980 g) and the 10° angle come from the Camera Guide alone, so the page carries the single-source flag.
- No source consulted dates the lens or gives a list price. The year is the C generation's, which camera-wiki ties to the RB67 Pro-S of 1974. No discontinuation date is published; the K/L 500mm f/6 APO L of the Pro-SD generation (1990) is its successor.
- The Sekor C 500mm f/8 fits every RB body; on the Pro-SD's wider 61 mm mount camera-wiki says the C lenses need an adapter. The RZ67's Sekor Z 500mm f/8 is a different lens for a different mount, and the 645's Reflex C 500mm f/8 is a mirror lens.
How to tell them apart
- Sekor C on the ring and f/8: the RB67's other 500 is the K/L 500mm f/6 APO L, a quarter stop faster, with APO and L on the barrel and a removable 7 mm rear ring for the older bodies
- 105 mm front thread with a slip-on hood, shared with the 360mm f/6.3 and the APO 500
- Seiko #1 leaf shutter in the lens, cocked by the body's lever, with cocking pins on the barrel that must be turned fully to the red mark before mounting, as on every RB lens
Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8:
- Sekor C on the name ring, 1:8 maximum aperture; the only RB 500 with an f/8 ring, the later lens being the K/L 500mm f/6 APO L
- 105 mm front filter thread and a slip-on hood (camera-wiki; RB67 Camera Guide)
- 6 elements in 6 groups, 10° angle of view, f/8 to f/32, about 1,980 g (RB67 Camera Guide; Japanese Wikipedia on the construction)
- Closest focus 6.6 m by Japanese Wikipedia, 6.15 m by the Camera Guide¹
- Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8: The only version. Both Japanese Wikipedia and camera-wiki list the RB67's 500 as a Sekor C lens and nothing else: no single-coated 1970 version and no K/L barrel are recorded. It belongs to the multicoated C generation that camera-wiki dates to the Pro-S of 1974, which is the year carried here; no source consulted dates the lens itself. The K/L 500mm f/6 APO L of the Pro-SD years replaced it as the RB67's 500 with a new computation.
Specifications
- Formula
- 6 elements in 6 groups (Japanese Wikipedia 6群6枚; camera-wiki; RB67 Camera Guide)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 6 groups
- Aperture range
- f/8–f/32
- Shutter
- Seiko #1 leaf shutter in the lens: T and 1s–1/400, cocked by the body's lever, flash sync at every speed (camera-wiki; Mamiya's RB67 Pro SD lens page for the Seiko #1 on every RB lens)
- Min. focus
- 6.599 m
- Weight
- 1980 g
- Filter
- 105 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1974
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated: the C in Sekor C marks the multicoated generation released with the Pro-S (camera-wiki)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Sekor C 500mm f/8 is the long telephoto of the Mamiya RB67’s C generation, the multicoated lens line that camera-wiki ties to the Pro-S of 1974. It is a refracting lens, 6 elements in 6 groups by Japanese Wikipedia, camera-wiki and the RB67 Camera Guide, with a 10° angle of view that makes it roughly a 250 mm equivalent on 35mm film, f/8 to f/32, a 105 mm front filter thread and a slip-on hood. The Camera Guide puts it at 1,980 g, a figure no other source consulted repeats. Its Seiko #1 leaf shutter runs from T and 1 second to 1/400 with flash sync at every speed and is cocked by the body, like every RB lens. Closest focus is the one point on which the sources part: 6.599 m in Japanese Wikipedia, 6.15 m in the Camera Guide.
There is one version. Neither Japanese Wikipedia nor camera-wiki lists a single-coated 1970 Sekor 500 or a K/L 500mm f/8: the RB67’s 500 began as a C lens and ended when the K/L 500mm f/6 APO L of the Pro-SD years replaced it with a new seven-element apochromatic computation, a quarter stop faster and closing to f/45. Mamiya’s own Pro SD lens page, which lists the APO lenses of the 1990s, does not mention the f/8 at all. No source consulted dates the f/8’s introduction or its end, and none gives a list price in any currency.
No review of the lens was found by the searches made for this page; what the search returns is dealer stock. The only comparison on record is the one Mamiya made for the successor, that the APO is shorter and better corrected, which says what a 1970s six-element 500 is: long, slow, and a lens most RB users carried once.
Buying one is about the shutter and the glass in that order. The Seiko #1 lives in the lens, must have its cocking pins turned fully to the red mark before mounting, and after years unused will hang at T or drag at the slow speeds; the two cemented surfaces are few, but the long tube collects haze. Check the hood, which slips on and is often missing, and the 105 mm front thread for dents. On a Pro-SD the C lenses want the adapter ring camera-wiki mentions for the wider mount. Do not confuse it with the RZ67’s Sekor Z 500mm f/8, which has electrical contacts and fits nothing with a breech lock, or the 645’s Reflex C 500mm f/8, which is a mirror lens. What remains open: the launch and discontinuation years, the weight from a Mamiya source, which figure for closest focus is Mamiya’s, and a list price.
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 wanted — shot with a Mamiya-Sekor C 500mm f/8 (RB67)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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