Plaubel Makina W67 Camera 120 Film Camera

The Makina medium format rangefinder cameras of the 1970s and 1980s appear to have been designed and built by a committee.  Boxy with a folding bellows and struts, a large lens, and focusing knob on top of the body, these cameras look almost like a grab bag of ideas.  Ultimately, that's fairly close to the truth.  The original prototypes were based on a design of a German camera from the early 20th century and with some updates from Japanese designer Yasuo Uchida, the Plaubel Makina 67 cameras meet the goal of being simple, elegant, and intuitive, while producing images that are second-to-none.

The first Plaubel Makina cameras were released in 1979, featured a Nikkor 80mm f/2.8 lens, and produced a 6x7cm image on either 120 or 220 roll film.  With the success of that camera, Plaubel Makina introduced the W67 in 1981.  Based on the same design and having the same features, the W67 sported a 55mm f/4.5 Nikkor lens, which roughly equates to a 28mm focal length lens on a 35mm camera.  All of these Plaubel Makina 67s came with a light-meter, aperture and shutter speed controls on the lens body, and leaf shutters, which allows flash photography at any shutter speed.

Unfortunately, the Plaubel Makinas had a relatively short production run.  The original bellows manufacturer had a difficult time meeting the quality standards that were required and by the time production was moved to a new factory owned by Mamiya, Mamiya was on the verge of bankruptcy.  Try as they might, Plaubel Makina was not able to keep up production on the 67 models.  Given their relative scarcity, these cameras can be few and far between, which leads to some fairly hefty prices in the used market.  Also, users of these are generally not willing to give them up easily.  If you come across one in the wild, jump at the chance to see what the fuss is all about.