This Mamiya ZE was gifted to me by friend and fellow artist Veronica at the Artists Boutique early March (the last art festival for us here before we realized the need to limit large gatherings).
I could tell that this camera had been special to Veronica for many years and I promised to care for it.
It needed some restoration, new light seals, new mirror bumper, and fresh batteries, before use again, and I made the repairs with care.

The camera was amazing for the time,it was introduced in 1980. It incorporated an effective auto exposure system with aperture priority, but still can be made to function manually without batteries at 1/1000, 1/100, and B. The body and lens are lighter and more compact than they appear, with a significant use of of polycarbonate meterial rather than metal. The plastics have held up unchanged for 40 years.

A couple of weeks ago, after several days of much rain and gloom, at midday the clouds began to thin and part, showing a bit of clean blue sky.
I packed a couple of cameras, film and digital, exposed the first frames of film in my front yard, and then took the short drive to St. Martin's, which I believe is the oldest resting place for souls in High Ridge.
The weather was cool, and the atmosphere was palpable. It was a good place to stretch my legs, no crowds, no need for social distancing.
The film from the Mamiya ZE has made the round trip by mail to the lab in Kansas.
The camera did quite well, and I think I like these even better than the images from the digital. For me they captured a promise of Spring days to come.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are ©2020 E.J.Kowalski.
Thanks! Ed