Mamiya Apo 200mm f/2.8 on Fuji GFX

2025-10-31

The Mamiya Apo 200mm f/2.8 is a medium format lens for Mamiya M645 system. It covers a much bigger image circle than the Fujifilm GFX cameras, though it is smaller than that covered by the RB/RZ lenses such as the Apo-Sekor-Z 350mm.

I found that there’s a “for SIGMA” tripod ring on Amazon that matches the diameter of the Fotasy M645-GFX adapter perfectly, so much so that the tripod foot is precisely at the center of gravity and you can balance the lens on just that.

My general impression is that the lens is fairly sharp stopped down to f/4 and beyond, but when wide open, it has noticeable spherical aberration, giving it a “glowy” look. Also, despite its APO designation, it has quite a bit of chromatic aberration, with purple fringing wide open, and green outlines around bokeh balls. I feel that the Leica Apo Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 is quite a bit sharper than this lens and has way less CA, although that lens has some soft vignetting which the Mamiya does not have.

In my opinion, the Mamiya Apo 200mm shines on the 50 megapixel GFX cameras, where the slightly reduced sharpness is less of a concern.

In terms of contrast, being an older lens, it does sometimes have some haze or veiling flare, but this is not too big of a concern usually.

Anyway, since my Leica Apo Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 does roughly the same thing as this lens while being sharper and more compact, I sold the Mamiya to a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Kim Komenich.

Without further ado, here are some unprocessed full resolution photos, some on GFX 50R and some on GFX 100S!

1 Shots on GFX 50R

St Anne of the Sunset church in San Francisco.

Ferry Building. This was shot at f/8 and you can see the nice 8-pointed sunstars.

2 Shots on GFX 100S