Mamiya U — a Weird, Fun 35mm Film Camera With a Flaw

I came across my Mamiya U by chance back in 2020 while browsing eBay. Its unusual design — a square window cut out within a plastic semi-sphere for a round lens with a stark blue ring — screamed ‘80s Terminator chic.

Unfortunately, every single copy sold had a disintegrated shutter button, amongst other issues. These cameras didn’t last, yet I still wanted one badly enough to stalk the market for over two years. Finally, in late 2022, I got an opportunity to purchase a mint-condition Mamiya U, which is the subject of this review.

In this review: Technical specifications. Mamiya U design and build quality. Mamiya U controls and ergonomics. Mamiya Sekor 35mm 𝒇2.8 lens and image quality. Where to find a working Mamiya U. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

Technical specifications.

Mamiya U is a mid-level point-and-shoot from the 1980s.

First released in 1981, this camera came with a relatively fast Sekor 35mm 𝒇2.8 lens and a quiet leaf shutter with a speed range of 1/8 to 1/500. The lens focus needs to be estimated on this camera (zone focus) with a range of 1m/3’ to infinity. The camera measures and sets all exposure settings automatically for film speeds ISO 25 to ISO 400 (set on the side of the lens).

Onboard flash can be manually enabled via the switch on the front plate. A lens cover can be slid over with a switch on the top plate.

Mamiya U design and build quality.

I thought this camera looked boring at first. A black rectangle. But on closer inspection, the semi-sphere bulge for the lens barrel struck me as an interesting choice — reminiscent of an earlier Olympus design, the XA. The square cut-out inside the semi-sphere is another curious design decision, and so is the lens, surrounded by a stark blue ring.

To my eye, Mamiya U looks like a prop from a 1980s sci-fi flick. Awkward, blocky, and provocative.

It’s a shame that shutter buttons are always missing on these cameras. What I got in front of me is pretty much an exception to the rule, making my copy a rare sight to behold.

Another weak point of this camera is its battery door. It relies on flexing a plastic flap, which dislodges after prolonged use — that’s exactly what happened to my Pentax PC35AF (it had an identical battery door design).

To preserve my one and only copy with a working shutter button, I taped a piece of rubber from a party balloon over the control to ensure no excessive force, moisture, dirt, or finger oil reaches it as I tested it.

Thankfully, the rest of the camera is not flawed like the shutter button. Most of its exterior is made of high-quality, well-made, and well-assembled plastic, except for the film door, bottom plate, and the film rewinder crank (which are metal). All of its moving parts felt solid.

Mamiya U controls and ergonomics.

Aside from its amusing appearance and the ludicrous shutter design flaw, Mamiya U cameras aren’t particularly outstanding.

In addition to the camera specs listed above, the manual lists a bright-line viewfinder with a .55x magnification factor (it’s blocked when the camera’s lens is covered; to uncover the lens, you’ll need to slide a switch on the top plate towards the yellow shutter button). The bright line material isn’t very good (my copy has some significant flaking), and there are no parallax line marks.

If the camera’s internal meter decides that there isn’t enough light, it’ll beep loudly and show a warning red light in the finder — similar to the Pentax PC35AF . At this point, you can either proceed with your photo knowing that it may have motion blur or pop the flash using the switch on the front plate.

The flash on this camera uses Guide Number 12; it takes eight seconds to recycle and should last approximately 150 discharges from two AAA batteries. Thankfully, flash use is optional on this camera as it will not illuminate your scene unless you deliberately set it to do so.

The 12-second delay timer is the last automatic feature on Mamiya U.

Loading and winding film to the next frame requires cranking a thumb wheel — though I have to admit that it’s one of the best — advancing film with the thumb wheel took no more effort than with a typical advance lever.

And finally, the focus: which will have you exercise your zone-focusing technique with four marks in meters (1 — 1.5 — 3 — ∞) or the familiar icons (👤 — 👥 — 👥👥 — 🏔).

Mamiya Sekor 35mm 𝒇2.8 lens and image quality.

Mamiya U is a flawed camera, and its optics are no consolation for a perfectionist: whenever the camera picks its widest aperture, it can render a wild glow around highlights. The cause for this glow is likely uncorrected coma aberration.

Understandably, this look isn’t for everybody. However, its uniqueness only contributed to my obsession with this camera.

In addition to the coma aberration, the lens appears to be quite soft in the corners, with a slight swirl. But the swirl isn’t aggressive; rather, it corrects itself closer towards the middle of the lens.

All together, the lens design, with all its flaws, renders some of the nicest bokeh out there. It reminds me of the Mamiya Sekor RZ 110mm 𝒇2.8, a legendary medium format lens.

Another nice feature of this lens is the amount of contrast it’s able to render on film.

Although I haven’t had the chance to compare it one-to-one to the champions of contrast, such as the Minolta TC-1’s G-Rokkor 28mm Rokkor 𝒇3.5, the results I got after putting a few rolls of film through this camera looked particularly contrasty. And since I built the software that inverts film negatives, I know it didn’t meddle with my results.

As is usually the case, once the lens gets more light and the internal metering system decides to stop down the aperture, aberrations disappear and Mamiya Sekor becomes a typical sharp, high-resolution lens you’d expect on a quality camera of its age.

Where to find a working Mamiya U.

Unfortunately, given the size of my apartment and the already full collection of cameras, I’ve decided to sell my beloved Mamiya U.

If you’re interested, here’s the link to the listing.

Many of these cameras were loved enough by their owners to sell with makeshift button designs. Others will have a hole in its place, which may presumably still be usable. If you’re OK with that (or, if you’re lucky enough to find a working copy), you can check out the links below. 👇

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Mamiya U camera purchase using this link  so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!