Mamiya 6 50mm Lens: Stained Blades and Shutter Replacement
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
This Mamiya 6 50mm lens arrived in the shop with an inoperative shutter. An exam of the lens showed that the shutter blades and diaphragm blades had stains on them (photos two and three). These stains are consistent with some sort of liquid being dropped on them, likely a cleaner of some sort. After removing the shutter quite a bit of staining was visible inside the lens barrel, shown in photo four.
I don’t know the history of this lens, but it is likely that my client purchased it like this and it might actually have worked for a while. Usually, when there is residue from “cleaning” liquid inside a camera or lens, there was some underlying issue that caused someone to squirt a substance inside the mechanism. In this case, the shutter wass inoperative and the best solution was a replacement of the complete shutter and diaphragm unit.
Also, two of the rear mount screws were damaged (photo five). Not a good sign as you would expect someone to at least replace the damaged screw (it’s just a standard 1.7mm x 3mm pan head screw)
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I would not be the person to tell someone to not do a DIY camera repair. It is their property and they need to accept the outcome, which may not be good. At least on the Mamiya 6/7 lenses, without the proper tools and equipment, a bad outcome is very possible. At the very least, calibration of the lens will not be to specs. Worst case, costly repairs will be needed.
