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

Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 W / APO (RZ67)

Mamiya · Mamiya RZ67 · 1982

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 W · Mamiya Sekor Z 250mm F4.5 W · Mamiya Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 · Mamiya APO-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 · Mamiya 250mm f/4.5 APO · Mamiya RZ67 250mm f/4.5 · Mamiya RZ 250mm 4.5 · Z250mm f/4.5W · マミヤ セコール Z 250mm F4.5 W · マミヤ APO セコール Z 250mm F4.5 · マミヤ RZ67 250mm F4.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 (1982, full-stop aperture ring) Mamiya RZ67 1982 — —
Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 W (half-stop aperture ring) Mamiya RZ67 — — —
Mamiya APO-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 (7 elements in 5 groups) · Apochromatic recomputation, 7 elements in 5 groups (Mamiya lens sheet) Mamiya RZ67 — — —
  1. The W designation is explained by Japanese Wikipedia (絞り目盛の間隔が広くなり、1/2段絞りが追加された: wider aperture-scale spacing, half stops added) and by Emulsive (half-stop markings, optics unchanged). No Mamiya document consulted dates the W or the APO.
  2. Construction, angle of view, minimum aperture and closest focus for the 1982 lens are from the RZ67 Professional instruction manual's lens table. The manual gives no weights.
  3. Weights, dimensions and magnifications are from Mamiya's Mamiya-Sekor Z Interchangeable Lenses sheet, whose minimum-focus column is measured from the lens front rim with the bellows fully extended (46 mm), not from the film plane. The sheet's dimension column is read here as diameter × length.
  4. The family spec fields below carry the 5-in-4 W lens (1080 g, 97 × 126 mm), which shares its construction with the 1982 original; the APO's 7 elements in 5 groups and 1340 g are in its variant row. The site's one-formula-per-family rule bends here because Mamiya, the encyclopaedias and every dealer list the APO as the 250mm f/4.5's second version rather than a separate lens.
  5. No aperture-blade count, coating description or list price in any currency was found in a Mamiya document; those fields are left empty rather than guessed.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Every version: RZ bayonet with 12 electrical contacts and a Seiko #1 electronic leaf shutter; no shutter-speed ring on the lens. A 250mm with its own speed ring is the RB67's 250mm f/4.5, a different lens
  • Three name rings: plain Z (full-stop ring, 1982), W (half stops, same 5-in-4 optics), APO (7-in-5 recomputation, 19 mm longer and 260 g heavier)
  • Minimum aperture f/45 on every version; 77 mm filter thread and screw-in hood throughout

Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 (1982, full-stop aperture ring):

  • Engraved MAMIYA-SEKOR Z f=250mm 1:4.5 with no W after the aperture; aperture ring clicks at full stops only¹
  • 1982 RZ67 instruction manual: 5 elements in 4 groups, 21° angle of view, f/45 minimum, 1.85 m closest focus, 77 mm screw-in filter and hood²
  • Lens case No. 2 in the 1982 accessory list, shared with the 180mm

Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 W (half-stop aperture ring):

  • W after the aperture on the name ring; half-stop aperture clicks and wider scale spacing¹
  • Mamiya-Sekor Z lens sheet: 5 elements in 4 groups, 20°, f/45, 0.19× at full bellows extension (1570 mm from the front rim), 121 mm equivalent, 77 mm filter, 97 × 126 mm, 1080 g³
  • Japanese Wikipedia: 250mm F4.5W, 4群5枚, closest focus 1.85 m, φ77 mm screw-in

Mamiya APO-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 (7 elements in 5 groups):

  • APO on the name ring; a longer, heavier barrel than the W: 97 × 145 mm against 97 × 126 mm, 1340 g against 1080 g³
  • Mamiya-Sekor Z lens sheet: 7 elements in 5 groups, 20°, f/45, 0.19× at full bellows extension (1564 mm from the front rim), 121 mm equivalent, 77 mm filter
  • Japanese Wikipedia: 250mm F4.5 Apo, 5群7枚, closest focus 1.86 m, φ77 mm

Specifications

Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/4.5–f/45
Shutter
Seiko #1 electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 8s–1/400 plus B and T, set from the body dial; a mechanical 1/400 works without a battery
Min. focus
1.85 m
Dimensions
97 × 126 mm
Weight
1080 g
Filter
77 mm
Years manufactured
1982
Country
Japan

What reviewers say

Optical formula

History

The 250mm f/4.5 was the long lens of the RZ67 Professional at its 1982 launch, 121 mm in 35 mm terms by Mamiya’s conversion, and the longest lens most RZ users ever own. The 1982 manual lists it at 5 elements in 4 groups, 21°, f/4.5 to f/45, a closest focus of 1.85 m and a 77 mm screw-in filter, with lens case No. 2 shared with the 180. Mamiya’s later Mamiya-Sekor Z lens sheet gives the same construction for the Z250mm f/4.5 W, with 1080 g, a 97 × 126 mm barrel and 0.19× at full bellows extension, and beside it lists a second lens under the same focal length and aperture: the APO Z250mm f/4.5, 7 elements in 5 groups, 97 × 145 mm and 1340 g.

The three name rings are therefore plain Z, W and APO. The Z of 1982 has a full-stop aperture ring; the W, per Japanese Wikipedia and Emulsive, added half-stop clicks and a wider scale with the optics unchanged, which the identical 5-in-4 figures in the two Mamiya documents support. The APO is a different lens inside, part of the apochromatic series Mamiya built on the RZ’s 61 mm mount with the 210, 350 and 500 f/6, and is 19 mm longer and 260 g heavier. English Wikipedia counts two versions of the 250 with the APO the newer; Mamiya’s sheet lists W and APO side by side, so the APO joined the range rather than replacing the W. No source consulted dates the W or the APO.

Pierre-Gilles Lucain’s Emulsive guide is the one review found that treats the 250 on its own. He owns the W, calls it very good and uses it often for landscapes, portraits and street; it balances on the body without the lens support bracket, which the longer RZ lenses need, and takes the 1.4× teleconverter. He describes the APO as the better-corrected and dearer version, with an advantage in chromatic aberration that shows more in colour than in black and white, and his broader argument is that the plain W lenses are so good the APO premium is optional. No reviewer consulted reports a fault in either version’s glass; the disagreement, such as it is, is whether the APO is worth its price.

Buying checks are the RZ system’s. The Seiko #1 electronic leaf shutter fires only with a working 6 V battery in the body; without one it gives a mechanical 1/400 and nothing else. The lens comes off only when the body’s lever has cocked it with the mirror down, so a lens that will not release is usually a cocking-state matter rather than a fault. Run the shutter at 8 s and 1/400 and watch the blades, work the depth-of-field preview and T levers, check the 12 rear contacts, and do not over-tighten the breech ring. The RB67’s 250mm f/4.5, which has its own shutter-speed ring and mounts on an RZ with the dial at RBL, sells under almost the same name and is a different lens.

What could not be sourced: the years of the W and the APO, a weight for the 1982 barrel from a Mamiya document, the number of aperture blades, the coating, a list price in any currency for any version, and the year production ended. No designer is named anywhere.

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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 wanted — shot with a Mamiya-Sekor Z 250mm f/4.5 W / APO (RZ67)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $150 across 18 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $100–$190). First day tracked.

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

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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-Sekor Z 110mm f/2.8 W (RZ67) · Mamiya-Sekor Z 180mm f/4.5 W-N (RZ67) · Mamiya-Sekor Z 50mm f/4.5 W (RZ67) · Mamiya-Sekor Z 65mm f/4 W (RZ67) · Mamiya-Sekor Z 90mm f/3.5 W (RZ67)

Sources (7)

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.