My Mamiya C2 is balky at best. The lens is good, the shutter strong, but it is unreliable in its film advance. I’m not sure if it’s something I can fix, so rather than send it in and have it repaired, I bid on a C220 on eBay. I have used the C220 before; it’s a big thing, much larger than other twin-lens reflexes, but it has advantages that make it preferable over other cameras.
First, the film transports straight across the film plane rather than rolling from the bottom of the camera, making loading easier and reducing the possibility that something will get onto the rollers and scratch the film.
Second, the camera has a metered advance and double-exposure protection, so although you have to manually cock the shutter after winding the film, you know that if it lets you shoot you’re not going to double expose. (Yes, I know that double-exposure is POSSIBLE, but in general use it’s not.) The C220’s big sister, the C330 — which I do not own — cocks the shutter with the winder as well, but it’s considerably heavier than the C220. Considering that the lenses are exactly the same, it’s a bit of a no-brainer to get the C220 over the C330.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the lenses are interchangeable. This, to me, is important as I like to do many different kinds of shooting and while being stuck with one focal length can be a challenge, sometimes I like having a wide-angle or a telephoto available for more versatility. Couple that with the fact that the C220 can take any of the wide range of Mamiya TLR lenses (even the very early ones), the bulletproof Seikosha shutters and the beautiful glass, and you have a real winner.
A while back, I took the C220 downtown to play with it. I don’t shoot it as much as perhaps I should, but here are some images.