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

Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR)

Mamiya · Mamiya TLR · 1962

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 · Mamiya Sekor 180mm f4.5 · Mamiya Sekor 1:4.5 f=180mm · Mamiya Sekor Super 180mm · Mamiya 180mm TLR · Mamiya C330 180mm · Mamiya C220 180mm · Mamiya-Sekor 18cm f/4.5 · マミヤ セコール 180mm F4.5 · マミヤ セコール スーパー 180mm · マミヤC330 180mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mamiya-Sekor 18cm f/4.5, chrome, Seikosha-MX · 4 elements in 3 groups (presumed the same as the Seikosha-S lens; no Mamiya document consulted tables the MX version) · Seikosha-MX, 1s–1/400, B Mamiya TLR — — —
Mamiya-Sekor 18cm / 180mm f/4.5, chrome, Seikosha-S · 4 elements in 3 groups (Mamiya C3 manual) · Seikosha-S, 1s–1/500, B, M-X sync Mamiya TLR 1962 — —
Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5, black, Seiko (4-element) · 4 elements in 3 groups (Mamiya C220 manual) · Seiko, 1s–1/500, B, M-X sync Mamiya TLR 1966 — —
Mamiya-Sekor Super 180mm f/4.5 (5-element) · 5 elements in 4 groups (Mamiya C220, C330 and C330S manuals) · Seiko (later Seiko-SLV per camera-wiki), 1s–1/500, B, M-X sync Mamiya TLR 1968 — —
  1. Element counts, picture angles, filter and hood sizes and closest distances are from Mamiya's body manuals hosted by Mike Butkus (C3, C220, C330, C330S); no separate Mamiya data sheet for the TLR lenses was found, and none of the manuals gives a weight or a blade count.
  2. Variant start years are the years of the bodies whose manuals first show each version (C3 1962, C22 1966, C220 1968, per camera-wiki); Mamiya did not date the lenses, and the Seikosha-MX 18cm is undated in every source consulted.
  3. The Seikosha-MX 18cm rests on camera-wiki alone: single source, unconfirmed.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Shutter face is the quickest sort: SEIKOSHA-MX (1/400 top speed) and SEIKOSHA-S (1/500) on chrome boards; SEIKO or SEIKO-SLV on black boards
  • SUPER on the name ring marks the 5-element recomputation; a black 180 without it is the 4-element lens
  • All versions take 49 mm filters and the 50 mm slip-on hood shared with the 250mm f/6.3 (C220 manual)
  • On a C220 or C330 the 180 and 250 set the parallax dial to 180/250 and the body's distance scale to 180

Mamiya-Sekor 18cm f/4.5, chrome, Seikosha-MX:

  • Focal length engraved in centimetres (18cm) and a shutter face marked SEIKOSHA-MX with a 1/400 top speed
  • Chrome lens boards

Mamiya-Sekor 18cm / 180mm f/4.5, chrome, Seikosha-S:

  • Chrome boards, shutter face marked SEIKOSHA-S, top speed 1/500
  • The C3 manual tables it as the 'Telephoto': 4 elements in 3 groups, 24°30′, closest film-to-subject 3 ft 10 13/16 in covering 9 1/4 in square
  • Camera-wiki lists both an '18cm f/4.5 - Seikosha-S' and, by implication of the later 180mm naming, a centimetre-marked and a millimetre-marked front ring; the C3 manual prints 180 mm

Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5, black, Seiko (4-element):

  • Black boards, shutter face marked SEIKO, no 'Super' on the name ring
  • C220 manual: 4 element 3 group, 24°30′, 49 mm filter, 50 mm hood, closest film-to-subject 4 ft 2 in (1 m 27 cm)
  • The C220 manual lists it in both Side Reading (S.R.S.) and Front Reading (F.R.S.) forms
  • Cross-section on the C220 depth-of-field page: a large front doublet, a single element, and a thin rear element behind the shutter

Mamiya-Sekor Super 180mm f/4.5 (5-element):

  • SUPER on the name ring; black boards; Seiko or Seiko-SLV shutter
  • 5 elements in 4 groups, f/4.5–45, 49 mm filter, 50 mm hood, closest film-to-subject 4 ft 2 3/4 in (1 m 29 cm) (C330 and C330S tables; the C220 table gives 1 m 27 cm)
  • Cross-section: two front doublets, a middle element and a thin rear element, visibly different from the 4-element drawing printed beside it in the C220 manual
  • Some later examples carry the blue dot on the cocking lever (reviewers; no Mamiya document consulted)

Specifications

Formula
Telephoto: 4 elements in 3 groups (18cm and 180mm), recomputed to 5 elements in 4 groups for the Super 180mm
Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/4.5–f/45
Shutter
In the lens: Seikosha-MX (1s–1/400) on the earliest chrome lens, Seikosha-S (1s–1/500) on the later chrome lens, Seiko or Seiko-SLV (1s–1/500) on the black lenses; B on all, M-X flash sync at every speed
Min. focus
1.29 m
Filter
49 mm
Years manufactured
1962
Country
Japan

What reviewers say

Optical formula — Telephoto: 4 elements in 3 groups (18cm and 180mm), recomputed to 5 elements in 4 groups for the Super 180mm

History

The 180mm f/4.5 is the portrait telephoto of Mamiya’s C-series twin-lens reflexes and the longest lens most owners ever bought, the 250mm f/6.3 being a rarer and slower thing. Mamiya’s system brochure gives it a 24°30′ picture angle and recommends it, with the 135, for portraits at comfortable working distances, and the 1962 C3 manual makes a point of its telephoto construction: a four-element, three-group lens that is little longer physically than the 135mm assembly. Like every C-series lens it is a matched pair on one board with its own leaf shutter, and on the C220 and C330 the parallax dial is set to the 180/250 position and the body’s distance scale to 180.

Four versions exist, and two of them are the same glass. Camera-wiki lists an 18cm f/4.5 with the Seikosha-MX shutter (1 to 1/400) among the first chrome lenses, then an 18cm f/4.5 with the Seikosha-S (1 to 1/500), which is the lens the C3 manual tables and the one in Rémi Kaupp’s Commons photographs of a chrome pair for the C33. The black Seiko lens of the C22 and C220 era kept the four-element formula; the C220 manual tables it at 49 mm filter, 50 mm hood and a closest film-to-subject distance of 1 m 27 cm, and lists it in front- and side-reading forms. The same manual already carries a Super 180mm f/4.5 at five elements in four groups and prints the two cross-sections side by side: the plain lens has a large front doublet, a single element and a thin rear element, while the Super has two front doublets, a middle element and the thin rear element. The C330 and C330S manuals list only the Super, at f/4.5 to f/45 and 1 m 29 cm, and Japanese Wikipedia gives the same 4 groups 5 elements and 1.29 m.

Reviewers treat the 180 as the reason to own a C-series body rather than a fixed-lens TLR, but almost nobody tests it on its own. Anton McCloud uses the Super for portraits and close-ups in his C330 review and calls the range brilliant as a whole; the 180 is praised for portraits in a reader’s comment under Tony Warren’s 35mmc piece rather than by Warren himself. The Blue Dot question follows this lens as it does the 105: a blue dot on the cocking lever is taken by sellers to mean the last and best shutters, but no Mamiya document consulted mentions it and the manuals give the Super the same formula throughout, so the dot dates the shutter, not the optics.

When buying, prefer the Super unless the price is the point: the four-element lens is a 1950s computation and the C220 manual’s cross-sections show how different the two are. Then check the shutter. Seikosha and Seiko leaf shutters of this age stick at 1 s and drag at 1/500, and the cocking lever on the plain Seiko lenses must be worked by hand on a C220 or earlier body; on a C330 the body’s crank cocks it, so confirm the lever returns freely. A 180 is heavy on the front of a C330 and the rear elements sit close to the film gate, so check both pairs for haze and separation, and check the viewing lens for scratches that will spoil focusing. Hoods and 49 mm filters are shared with the 250, which makes them easy to find.

What could not be sourced: a weight or blade count for any version, a launch price, the dates the Seikosha-MX 18cm and the Super went on sale rather than the years of the bodies whose manuals first show them, and whether the Seikosha-MX lens shares the Seikosha-S lens’s four-element formula. The MX version itself rests on camera-wiki alone.

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.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR)
Chrome Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 pair for the C33 (Rémi Kaupp) — Rémi Kaupp, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sample photo taken with the Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR)
The same 180mm pair from the rear, showing the lens board (Rémi Kaupp) — Rémi Kaupp, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $180 across 23 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $110–$230). First day tracked.

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

Show 49 more listings

Listings updated 2026-09-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Mamiya-Sekor 105mm f/3.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f/4.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/2.8 (C-series TLR)

Sources (10)

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.