Mamiya rb67 Croc Skin - Vintage

[ooshmcboosh]

Can anyone help me with this?

I'd like to know how much it is worth to a collector in perfect working order.

Many Thanks, Matt

 

[dxqcanada]

Umm, I would not really classify that as a "Collectors" item.

 

[tirediron]

Did Mamiyas actually come like that???? uke: I've never seen one before. IMO, it would be worth a lot more in plain black. The Metz potato-masher might be worth $100 if the batteries are perfect and it has the AC pack, the body and lens~$3-400

 

[Rick58]

Coming from a proud RB owner.......uke:

I'm the proud owner of a traditional black RB, and I have to be honest, this wouldn't be worth much to me.

 

[ooshmcboosh]

Really? Wow thats not what i was expecting. Wasn't this the industry standard in the 70's? I know its not that old but I because it was so well known and desirable i was under the impression it was a collectors item?

 

[ooshmcboosh]

One rb sold for £800 with croc skin recently online. They didnt come like this but everyone "skinned" their own camera apparently. Perhaps more of a UK thing?

 

[Rick58]

Sorry but no. Ebay is flooded with them, even if not croc skinned.
I was hoping to get enough from mine to buy a nice used heavy tripod for my Linhof so I offered my mint setup for $300 and got not so much as a nibble.

 

[compur]

RB's are hard to sell and this is no collector's item.

 

[Derrel]

My local specialty pawn/electronics/camera store had a SWEET, clean, tight, one-owner RB67 with a nice, clean standard lens on it priced at $199 for the pair...sat there for well over a month...as for the crocodile clown-suited model....uggg...that awful leather will bring the price down from a stock body, for sure.

 

[minicoop1985]

Wow that's bad. Red wouldn't be a bad idea, but VINYL not croc skin. Yikes. I'd re-cover that thing in a heartbeat, maybe in gray. Or you could, from cameraleather.com. I've used them twice now (Rolleiflex I restored and a Hasselblad film back, but the back's stuff hasn't arrived yet) and they're great.

 

[Rick58]

RB's are hard to sell and this is no collector's item.

That's true and I can't understand why? To the film community, they're just as viable today as when they were first released

 

[Derrel]

RB's are hard to sell and this is no collector's item.

That's true and I can't understand why? To the film community, they're just as viable today as when they were first released

Big, heavy, ungainly, loud, aesthetically mediocre...and today's digital SLR's like the 5D Mark III and D800 deliver similar to medium format image quality for pennies per exposure with one-hour turn-around time, autofocus, and huge ranges of lenses and accessories--all without the need to buy film, shoot film, develop film, and proof and print film...maybe some of those things have contributed to the drop in perceived value/lowered market price for older rollfilm cameras. The RB was conceived almost totally as a tripod-based camera, and there are many other cameras that are flat out "better" for shooting hand-held, as well as for carrying....

Since the RB was released, there have been some newer medium format rollfilm cameras that are SIGNIFICANTLY lighter, smaller, and easier to carry for "walkabout"/hiking/day-trip use. Like say, the Mamiya 6 for example...I'd rather carry a Mamiya 6 and two lenses on a four-mile hike than an RB67 and one lens on a 10-block walk. I always looked at the RB/RZ as a very narrow-use medium format design, not well-suited to many tasks that Bronica or Hassy or even Pentax had "nailed".

 

[Rick58]

That's true Derrel, I have the S and C Bronica's and the RB. As far as quality, I think the RB gets the ribbon. Also you have the 6x7 negative and the rotating back is really nice for tripod work. I do, however, feel the Bronica's produce a higher contrast negative

 

[tirediron]

That's true Derrel, I have the S and C Bronica's and the RB. As far as quality, I think the RB gets the ribbon. Also you have the 6x7 negative and the rotating back is really nice for tripod work. I do, however, feel the Bronica's produce a higher contrast negative

Yeah, but NOTHING gets you 'cool' points in the studio like an RZ or RB!

 

[JerryVenz]

I still have my whole RB-67 system. When it was my main STUDIO CAMERA I even set it up for handheld work with the Mamiya grip and prism finder.

With the 180mm lens, prism and grip it was a bit of a handfull!! I think the PRISM weighs as much as some DSLR's!

That's why we bought TWO Bronica ETRSI systems when we started doing weddings. Those cameras ( in 645 format ) were the best cameras I've ever owned--still miss them.