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From the bench
Real repairs, start to finish.
Mamiya 645 80mm f/1.9: Focus Helicals Separated, Over-Lubrication
Another Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 645 lens that has come apart from the focus helicals. This is quite common as the grease sublimates and causes the focus to…
Early Mamiya 7: Heavy Wear and Loose Self Timer Window
This Mamiya 7 has the most wear that I have ever seen on a body. It actually has an interested “patina” if you can call it that. This is also one of the…
Mamiya C330 Pro F: Focus Screen Foam and Light Seals
This Mamiya C330 Pro F came into the shop with a focus complaint. In many of these cases, the issue is with the foam on the focus screen becoming…
Mamiya 7 43mm Lens: Bent Filter Ring Binding Diaphragm Ring
This Mamiya 7 43mm lens came into the shop with impact damage. The diaphragm ring would not move. After removing the filter ring, the diaphragm ring did…
Mamiya 6/7 DIY Repair: Thread Sealer and Wind Lever Adhesive
If you are going to be repairing your Mamiya 6/7, please be mindful of a few things: 1.) Easy on the thread sealer 2.) Go lightly on adhesive when…
Mamiya 6 and 7: Three Items Rejected as Unrepairable
While I try to prevent items from being shipped to me that are not repairable so that my client does not have to spend money on needless shipping and…
Mamiya 6/7: Rangefinder Calibration of Lenses and Field Check
The question of rangefinder calibration comes up constantly with Mamiya 6/7 owners. Generally, a quick field test is to focus on something at infinity (a…
Mamiya 7II: Fine Red Sand Inside the Body
This Mamiya 7II gets the distinction of being the camera with the most sand inside the body, at least for the month. The camera arrived from Australia and…
Mamiya 7 80mm Lens: Condensation Haze in Rear Element Group
This Mamiya 7 80mm lens came into the shop from over the ocean (Brisbane to be exact) with a complaint of haze in the rear element assembly. Often, with…
Mamiya Press 50mm f/6.3: Stiff Focus Helical Cleaning
This 50mm f/6.3 (Biogon type) is the widest lens made for the Mamiya Press cameras. This example came into the shop with a very common issue of stuck/tight…
Mamiya C 80mm Chrome Lens: Oil in Shutter, Worn Speeds Escapement
This 80mm chrome C lens came into the shop with a complaint of slow speeds sticking. My client said that he had taken the lens to a repair shop and they…
RB67 127mm C Lens: Delayed Shutter Release from Dried Lubrication
This Mamiya 127mm RB67 C lens arrived in the shop with a very common issue that I find in the Seiko shutters used in the early RB67 lenses, the TLR C…
Mamiya 7: Testing Aperture Priority Auto Exposure
One of the battery of tests that are done on the Mamiya 7/7II on intake is check of the light meter automatic setting. On the Mamiya 7/7II this is an…
Nikkor 300mm f/5.6 Copal 3 Shutter: Oil-Soaked Blades
This Nikkor 300 f/5.6 lens in a Copal 3 shutter arrived with a ridiculous amount of oil on all of the shutter parts. The shutter would not even fire as the…
Mamiya 7II: Replacing Shattered Viewfinder and Frame Finder Glass
This has been a week for replacing broken Mamiya 7 viewfinder glass on a number of bodies. This particular Mamiya 7II was very unlucky, both the viewfinder…
Mamiya 7: Cracked Frame Finder Glass Replaced with Dichroic Glass
This Mamiya 7 came into the shop with a cracked frame finder glass. This is a good time to replace the original style plain groundglass window with the…
Mamiya 7 65mm Lens: Loose Filter Ring Screws
A common issue with the Mamiya 7 lenses is that the filter ring screws become loose. The video shows how this 65mm lens arrived with the front ring loose…
Rodenstock 115mm Grandagon-N: Straightening a Bent Filter Ring
This 115mm Rodenstock 115mm Grandagon -N lens took a hard hit. As seen in the photos, the filter ring absorbed the shock and became quite bent. Even in…
Mamiya 6: Cutting Replacement Rangefinder Windows
Getting ready for Mamiya 6 rangefinder window replacements this week. I generally cut a small quantity of them for preparation of these repairs. For some…
Mamiya 7: Rangefinder Calibration Views and When to Calibrate
I had a number of questions, both posted here and in direct contact with me regarding my last post of rangefinder calibration on the Mamiya 7. So, I have…
Mamiya 7: Rangefinder Calibration Setup with One Meter Target
I am often asked about rangefinder calibrations on the Mamiya 7 and it is the most common service that I do on these cameras. The Mamiya 7 has three points…
Repair Queue for Mamiya 6/7 Cameras and Lenses
Most of my clients are patient with the time it takes to service their camera. This photo is of my current queue for Mamiya 6/7 cameras and lenses (this…
Mamiya 7 Lens Checkout: Rangefinder Cam, Flex Cable and Filter Tests
Probably the most commonly done service here in the shop is rangefinder check/adjust on Mamiya 7 cameras and lenses. This outfit came in with complaints of…
RB67 65mm C Lens: Sticking Shutter Blades and Oil Contamination
This RB67 65mm C lens (floating element version) came into the shop with sticking shutter blades. While the effect may seem subtle at first, usually the…