Mamiya 7: Cracked Top Cover and Windows, Kenco Filter Test
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
Two items that win in the weekly catagories for 1.) most damaged camera and 2.) poorest quality filter.
The Mamiya 7 in the first photo not only had a cracked top cover in multiple spots, but also both windows, frame finder and viewfinder, were cracked. Of course, this sort of impact would throw off the rangefinder calibration. So, both windows are replaced and rangefinder calibrated as shown in photo two. And, the top cover cracks are epoxied from the inside to stabilize the cover. Not much can be done to avoid this sort of thing if you put the camera to a lot of use. Keeping it home in the closet would work, but that’s not the most useful thing for a camera.
Photo three shows a pretty bad filter, a Kenco 58mm Protector filter. I’d not recommend using this filter because as shown in photo four, the surfaces of the filter are around 17 minutes out of parallel. The Siemens star target in the photo should only show one image if the surfaces are plane parallel. I can’t say that I have ever seen a Kenco filter that shows good results when closely examined. OK, I will say that the surfaces of this filter are good as they do produce a clear star pattern, just not parallel with each other.
