5 Frames with a Mamiya M Time Memory

The Mamiya M Time Memory is the date and time stamping version of the Mamiya M 35mm compact point-and-shoot. It came out in 1983, a year after the original M, and has the distinction of being Mamiya’s final 35mm camera model before committing solely to medium format. The M Time Memory feature set is similar to competing 35mm compacts of the early- to mid-1980s, like the Nikon L35AF or the Canon AF35M/Autoboy/Sure Shot, to name a few. The similarities make it somewhat unremarkable, especially considering how hard it is to find one out in the wild and the wide availability of competing models. Is there anything to distinguish the M Time Memory?

The lens is a 38mm F2.8, 4-element, 3-group, Mamiya-Sekor paired to a shutter with speeds ranging from ⅛ to 1/500 sec. Autoexposure control ranges from EV 6 (⅛ sec at F2.8) to EV 17 (1/500 sec at F16). This lens is amazingly sharp and renders nice, accurate colors. Exposures were spot-on, but I didn’t really give it challenging scenes over the course of the three rolls of Kodak Gold 200 I took with me on a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. The weather was just too nice and the light too even.

Like the Canon and Nikon, the M Time Memory is powered by 2 ordinary AA batteries, not some obscure battery, making it a great travel camera. ASA/ISO can be manually set between 25-800. It has no ability to read DX codes. Perfect for bulk loaded and experimental rolls and for pushing or pulling.

A feature I like about the M Time Memory is the autofocus mechanism. When half-pressing the shutter button, a needle in the viewfinder slides along a crude focus scale. The scale shows icons to symbolize focus zones but the needle lands anywhere along the scale. You get a general idea of where the camera is focusing before tripping the shutter with a full press of the button. Another use of this 2-step approach is the ability to lock focus on a subject, recompose the frame, then trip the shutter.

A second feature I like is the manual activation of the flash (though this feature is moot with my camera). When the red light in the viewfinder lights up, you know the meter is reading a low EV and is recommending the flash. It’s up to you to pop up the flash and charge it. It won’t stop you from taking the photo without the flash even though it wants you to. With my camera, I can’t use the flash even if I wanted to. The first time I tried using the flash there was a popping sound and the flash has never worked since. Fine by me, I’m an available light kind of shooter anyway.

I accidentally opened the back before the film rewound entirely into the canister on two of the rolls. User error or design flaw? Who knows, I’m not sweating it. I completely lost a few frames but gained some interesting results on a few others.

Like the Minolta AF-S Talkman I reviewed, the M Time Memory accepts 46mm circular filters. Even better, the CdS meter is positioned inside the filter diameter, so filter factors are accounted for by the meter and exposure is compensated for. This makes it a great camera for my trichrome work.

One last thing the M Time Memory has that’s uniquely Mamiya that the other 35mm compacts don’t is a styling consistent with its medium format siblings. The M Time Memory sports a similar blocky design, durable plastic body, and strategically placed rubberized surfaces as Mamiya’s M645 Super and RZ67. Line them up side by side, get them in your hands, and you can tell these very different cameras are all distinctly 1980s era Mamiya.

Thank you for reading. You can find me on Bluesky and at chanalogfoto.com.

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