RZ67: Shutter Not Releasing Due to a Cracked Wind Lever
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
This Mamiya RZ67 came in with a complaint of shutter unable to release on mechanical or electronic setting. This is often caused by the camera not being fully cocked and specifically the inner wind lever worn or damaged. In this case, the wind lever was damaged from a previous repair attempt.
I suspected a previous repair as many of the body screws were a bit loose (Mamiya puts screws in very tight, some with sealer!) Photo three shows the wind lever and a depression is visible with a crack in the lever. What likely happened is that the wind lever was worn and since the part was not available to the technician, the metal was swedged to expand it. This is what probably caused the crack in this brittle metal and the ultimate failure of the camera to fully cock the mirror assembly. It takes very little to cause incomplete winding (maybe 1mm or so). After a new part was installed, operation is back to normal.
