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

Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/3.7 (C-series TLR)

Mamiya · Mamiya TLR · 1962

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/3.7 · Mamiya Sekor 80mm f3.7 TLR · Mamiya-Kominar 80mm f/3.7 · Mamiya Kominar 80mm f3.7 · Mamiya C330 80mm f/3.7 · Mamiya C220 80mm f3.7 · Mamiya C3 80mm f3.7 · Sekor 80/3.7 TLR · マミヤ セコール 80mm F3.7 · マミヤ コミナー 80mm F3.7 · マミヤ 二眼 80mm F3.7

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mamiya-Kominar 80mm f/3.7, chrome, Seikosha-SLV shutter · Seikosha-SLV leaf shutter with self-timer (Japanese Wikipedia), M and X sync; 124° cocking stroke, will not auto-cock on the C33 and C330 bodies but does not foul them (Patterson) Mamiya TLR (manually cocked on every body) 1962 — —
Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/3.7, black, Copal shutter · Copal leaf shutter, manually cocked on every body including the C330, M and X sync; aperture ring without click-stops (Patterson) Mamiya TLR (manually cocked on every body) 1968 — —
Mamiya-Kominar 80mm f/3.7 (Japanese Wikipedia's separate entry) Mamiya TLR (manually cocked on every body) — — —
  1. Three entries, two sources. Japanese Wikipedia lists a Sekor 80mmF3.7 in a Copal shutter (3群4枚, 0.334 m, φ40.5), a Sekor 80mmF3.7 in a Seikosha-SLV shutter with a self-timer and no self-cocking, and a コミナー 80mmF3.7 that cannot self-cock. Patterson lists a chrome Mamiya-Kominar in a Seikosha-SLV (section 3.3) and a black lens in a Copal (section 4.4). camera-wiki gives chrome Seikosha-SLV and black Copal. The Kominar entry and the chrome SLV lens may therefore be the same lens; no source consulted says so outright.
  2. Construction: Patterson writes 'believed to be 4 elements in 3 groups (Tessar type)' for the black lens and '4 elements 3 groups?' for the chrome; Japanese Wikipedia gives 3群4枚 for the Copal lens without a hedge. Picture angle, closest focus and coverage are given by Patterson only as 'as 80mm f2.8?'; the 0.334 m in the table is Japanese Wikipedia's. No source consulted gives a weight.
  3. Self-timer: Japanese Wikipedia says the Seikosha-SLV version has one (the V in SLV), while Patterson's section 2.9 says the only Mamiya TLR lens with a delayed-release setting is the 105mm DS. The Japanese claim is carried on the variant as that source's; Patterson had not examined the chrome lens closely.
  4. Dates: no source consulted dates either lens. The family year is the C3's (1962), the body whose manual references the lens (Patterson) and whose early outfits carried a Kominar 80mm f/3.7 (Japanese Wikipedia); Patterson's Seikosha-SLV sales period of April 1958 to July 1962 is for the shutter, not this lens. The black lens's year is the C220's (1968), the body Patterson says may have been sold with it; he places the black series c.1969 and says the f/3.7 was dropped during the C330's life (1969–74). No list price was found.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 1:3.7 on the name ring, and a four-element lens behind it; every 80mm f/2.8 is five elements
  • Controls on the right: the shutter and aperture index and the cocking lever sit beside the shutter release lever, the reverse of every other C-series lens (Patterson)
  • Manually cocked whatever the body: an f/3.7 on a C33 or C330 must be cocked by hand before every frame, and its release arm moves even when it is not cocked
  • Chrome bezel is the Seikosha-SLV lens, usually marked Kominar; all-black is the Copal lens, marked Sekor; 40.5 mm filter and 42 mm hood on both
  • The 80mm f/2.8 is a different lens: five elements, a Seikosha-S or Seiko shutter, controls on the left, and automatic cocking on the C33 and C330 bodies

Mamiya-Kominar 80mm f/3.7, chrome, Seikosha-SLV shutter:

  • Chrome shutter bezel; Patterson records it as a Mamiya-Kominar lens in a Seikosha-SLV shutter, seen for sale but with details 'still sketchy'
  • Japanese Wikipedia lists a Sekor 80mmF3.7 in a Seikosha-SLV shutter with a self-timer and no self-cocking, so both names may appear on chrome examples
  • Patterson's figures for it are the 80mm f/2.8's with question marks: 40.5 mm filter, 42 mm hood, f/32, 34.2 cm closest focus

Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/3.7, black, Copal shutter:

  • All-black lens in a Copal shutter, the only black-series lens not in a Seiko (Patterson, sections 2.5 and 4.0)
  • Shutter and aperture index and cocking lever on the right, next to the shutter release lever, the opposite side from every other lens in the range (Patterson)
  • 4 elements in 3 groups, closest focus 0.334 m, 40.5 mm filter (Japanese Wikipedia); f/32 minimum, 42 mm hood, no aperture click-stops (Patterson)
  • The shutter release arm moves even when the lens is not cocked, which can fool the body's double-exposure prevention (Patterson)

Mamiya-Kominar 80mm f/3.7 (Japanese Wikipedia's separate entry):

  • Kominar rather than Sekor on the name ring; Japanese Wikipedia lists it as a third entry with no shutter named, noting only that it cannot self-cock
  • Patterson's chrome lens is itself a Mamiya-Kominar in a Seikosha-SLV, so this entry and the chrome variant may be one lens described twice¹

Specifications

Formula
Believed to be a Tessar type, 4 elements in 3 groups (Patterson, with a question mark; Japanese Wikipedia 3群4枚 for the Copal version)
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/3.7–f/32
Shutter
Leaf shutter in the taking lens, manually cocked on every body: Seikosha-SLV (chrome lens) or Copal (black lens), M and X sync; speeds not given by any source consulted
Min. focus
0.334 m
Filter
40.5 mm
Years manufactured
1962
Country
Japan
Coating
Single-coated, as Patterson records for the chrome lenses and the black series generally; no source consulted says otherwise for the f/3.7

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 80mm f/3.7 is the budget standard lens of Mamiya’s interchangeable-lens twin-lens reflexes, sold beside the 80mm f/2.8 and never as widely. It is a four-element lens, a Tessar type by Patterson’s belief and 3群4枚 by Japanese Wikipedia’s entry for the Copal version, against the f/2.8’s five elements, and it gives up two thirds of a stop for it. Japanese Wikipedia puts the closest focus at 0.334 m with a 40.5 mm filter thread; Patterson gives f/32, a 42 mm hood and otherwise the 80mm f/2.8’s figures with question marks, and no source consulted gives a weight. What sets it apart in use is the shutter: it is cocked by hand on every body, including the C33 and C330 that cock every other lens automatically, and its controls sit on the right beside the shutter release, the reverse of the rest of the line.

Two lenses are documented and a third name. The chrome lens is a Mamiya-Kominar in a Seikosha-SLV shutter, which Patterson calls a rare budget lens referenced in a C3 manual, a lens he had seen for sale but whose details were ‘still sketchy’ when he last revised the entry; Japanese Wikipedia’s C3 entry says some early C3 outfits of 1962 came with a Kominar 80mm f/3.7, and its lens list gives the SLV version a self-timer, which Patterson’s general note that no Mamiya TLR lens but the 105mm DS has one contradicts. The black lens is a Mamiya-Sekor in a Copal shutter, the only black-series lens not in a Seiko, with an aperture ring without click-stops and a release arm that moves even when the shutter is not cocked, which can fool the body’s double-exposure lock. Patterson thinks the C220 may have been sold with it and that it was dropped during the C330’s life, since the C330 system chart leaves it out while listing several chrome lenses. Japanese Wikipedia’s third entry, a plain コミナー 80mmF3.7 with no shutter named, may be the chrome lens under its maker’s name, and no source consulted settles it.

No review of the lens was found by the searches made for this page; the forum threads that mention it are owners asking what the optical design is and getting a guess of Tessar in reply, which is where Patterson’s own entry stands. On the f/2.8 pages the reviewers call the five-element lens sharp from f/5.6 and swirly wide open; nobody consulted has put the four-element lens on film and written it up.

Buying one is a question of the shutter before the glass. Cocked by hand, it loses the one thing the C33 and C330 were built to do, and its release arm will move uncocked, so the double-exposure prevention cannot be trusted with it; on a C220 or a C3, which cock every lens by hand, it gives up nothing. Check the Copal or Seikosha-SLV at 1 second and at the top speed, run the click-less aperture ring through its travel, and confirm the lens mounts with its cocking lever on the correct side of the body’s arm, since Patterson warns that a mislocated lever can be damaged by the next wind. The 40.5 mm thread takes the chrome 80mm f/2.8’s filters and hood. What remains open: the dates of both lenses, the shutter speed ranges, a weight, whether the SLV lens really has a self-timer, whether the Kominar entry is a third lens, and a list price in any currency.

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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 80mm f/3.7 (C-series TLR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live 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 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/2.8 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 105mm f/3.5 (C-series TLR) · Mamiya-Sekor 65mm f/3.5 (C-series TLR)

Sources (3)

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.