I'm not aware of any good historians of these photo giants.ДЄ significant beneficial feature of the Minolta Autocord, compared to other TLRs, is that the Autocord has a reversed direction of the film transport. Props to Mr.Mamiya for creating the interchangeable lens, built in bellows Mamiya TLR, something Franke & Heidecke never challenged themselves to try, not to mention the Mamiya Press and Mamiya RB cameras. Handles well and scans easily compared to 35mm. The Mamiya TLRs are wonderful and the 80mm standard lens is excellent.ДЎ20 film is easy to process counter to with a changing bag and all you need is developer, water, fix, maybe hypo clear, final wash. Ricoh Diacord G: Tessar lens, like a Yashica D the only consumer TLR with internal baffling equal to the Rolleiflex that I know of. Much quieter without the noisy Yashicamat crank. Yashica D with the Yashinon (Tessar) lens: hard to find sorry I ever gave mine away same optical quality as a Yashicamat, but simpler construction. Never a fan of the focusing method that the Minolta Autocords used. The light meter isn't really essential, and neither is a crank wind-one of the parts that can go bad. Image below shows near field capability with 80mm standard lens.

If you have any question about the C330 series, I'll try and help. I hope you find this useful but, as with any camera decision, it pays to do some research. If you do look at the earlier models, be aware that the last range of lenses, with all black shutter boxes, won't necessarily fit the earliest models. I must admit to loving my various Mamiyas for their overall versatility, and which I made use of, but I don't believe they are a solid recommendation if this is of little concern to you. The Mamiya was in production over many years and the earlier models offer good value, albeit at the cost of user experience in practice. Despite its versatility for a TLR, an slr is superior with regards to parallax. The three top models in the range over its period of production were the C330, followed by the C330f and finally, the C330S with a reputably improved lens. It's a modular camera with interchangeable screens and viewfinders, including a cds metering head which comes in very handy with its main two features: interchangeable lenses from 55mm to 250mm, and built bellows. Lastly, I come to the Mamiya C series, literally the heavyweight here. Not all Flexes and 'Cords have interchangeable viewing screens or viewfinders, so if you feel these may be useful to you later on, you will need to look at later models in both ranges. Also, determine if you need an f2.8 taking lens, these attract a significant premium. At less cost, and if you can do without automatic crank wind, is the Rolleicord, but still a very capable performer with a Tessar or Xenar lens. Optically, excellent with lenses from Zeiss and Schneider, but you will need to do a little research as there are many 'Flex variations, hence in price, too. So, IMHO, you are limited in choice to Rollei and Mamiya, and both I can comment on as they have been my main-stay TLR's since the mid-1970's.Д¬learly, a Rolleiflex comes almost self-recommended. Prices for both makes look good when comparing with what is to comeДЄs for other TLR's, there are many around but I'm not so sure I'd use some for regular use, and many won't better a 'Mat or a 'Cord optically. Personally, I'd go for a good meter-less body, less to go wrong, and use a hand-held meter with incident light reading capability. Metered or meter-less? Just bear in mind you'll pay a premium for a camera with a working meter, but which will add nothing to its optical performance. There is a lot of info on Paul Sokk's TLR site here: With a 'Mat look for later models with the f2.8 viewing lens. But I suspect that there would have been little in it. Whilst I found the lens in my 'Mat performed admirably, there were some comments that the Rokkor may just have had an edge. As 220 film seems to be dead now, this won't be a consideration. I may have gone down the Autocord route were it not for the fact that it was 25% more than the 'Mat, and a difference as an 18 year old I couldn't afford. I was a TLR user ever since I purchased my YashicaMat in 1963. Im looking at the Minolta Autocord (i Have a few other Minolta SLRs and i like the brand, and the Yashica 24 MAT G.ДЄ light meter would be preferable but not essential.ДЄny advice or recommendations for other TLRs?

Rolleiflex 2.8 rolleikin flickr