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From the bench
Real repairs, start to finish.
RZ67 110mm Lens: Broken Diaphragm Pin and Shutter Replacement
This Mamiya RZ67 110mm lens came into the shop with a diaphragm that did not work. The issue was straightforward, the pin on the diaphragm control ring had…
RB67 Power Backs: Motorized Back Versions Explained
I get a regular stream of questions regarding the motorized backs for the RB67. So, here is the breakdown: Mamiya initially introduced the 120/220 power…
Mamiya 7: Sticky Dials from a Liquid Spill
This Mamiya 7 had a problem with the shutter speed dial, ASA dial, compensation dial, lock button and shutter release button all sticking or stuck in…
Mamiya 7 65mm Lens: Damaged Shutter Blades on a Loose Pivot
This Mamiya 7 65mm lens came into the shop with an erratic shutter. Sometimes it would not open or open partially. Looking at the second photo shows one of…
Mamiya 645 80mm f/1.9 Cine Lens: Loose Focus Ring Setscrews
This Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 cinema modified lens came into the shop with a loose focus ring. Not an uncommon issue with this lens as the focus ring is held to…
Mamiya 6: Cutting Replacement Viewfinder Glass
Servicing a Mamiya 6 with a broken viewfinder glass. While replacing broken viewfinder glass is a regular repair for me on the Mamiya 6/7 models, for some…
Mamiya 7 210mm Lens: Service and Lack of Rangefinder Coupling
Servicing a Mamiya 7 210mm lens. The 210mm lens is a bit of an oddball in that it does not rangefinder couple to the camera body. So, you have to estimate…
Mamiya 7 43mm Lens: Construction Differences and Special Tools
This Mamiya 7 43mm lens is having some service done to it and I thought I would point out some differences between it and the other Mamiya 7 lenses in…
Mamiya 7 80mm Lens: Haze Cleaning and an Out-of-Parallel Filter
This Mamiya 7 80mm lens came into the shop with the haze as shown in the first photo. My client told me that this suddenly appeared so I was hopeful that…
RB67 C Lens: Flash Sync Socket Replacement
The most common solution when an RB67 C lens will not fire the flash is a sync socket replacement. In this case, I replaced the socket, the socket holder…
Mamiya 645 110mm f/2.8: Removing Moly Paste from the Focus Helicoid
Servicing a Mamiya 110mm f/2.8 lens for 645. Lens came in with focus rough and erratic. On disassembly, the focus helix was found to be lubricated with a…
Mamiya 7 65mm Lens: Full Open Shutter Modification
Modifying a Mamiya 7 65mm lens for full open shutter operation. Since the Mamiya 6/7 lenses have shutters that stay closed normally, they can't be used…
Mamiya Universal: Hazy Finder Cleaning and Rangefinder Calibration
Servicing a Mamiya Universal and 250mm f/5 lens. This particular example from 1981 looks like new, appears to have had very little use (many of these…
Mamiya 7II: Replacing Cracked Viewfinder Glass
Replacing a broken viewfinder glass on Mamiya 7II. As seen in the second photo, there is a small crack in the viewfinder glass in the upper left corner…
645 Pro: Intake Testing of Shutter Speeds
When a camera comes into the shop I like to do a function test on intake to get an idea of its health. This 645 Pro is shown having shutter speeds checked…
Mamiya 645 80mm f/1.9: Sand in the Focus Helicoid
The 80mm f/1.9 lens for Mamiya 645 came into the shop with a complaint of possible sand damage. The focus ring turned smoothly but every once in a while…
Mamiya 7II: Wind Lever Jammed by Broken Self Timer Button
This Mamiya 7II came into the shop with an advance lever locked up in the position shown in the first photo. After much examination, I found a very small…
Packing Cameras for Shipping: RB67 and RZ67 Damage Examples
I get a lot of cameras shipped to me via USPS, FedEx and UPS. Most make the trip safely. But this month I have received several packages that were badly…
645 PRO: Fixing a Botched Mirror Stop Replacement
While I don't like to critique other technicians work, I am going to say something about a recent repair that came in for work on a 645 PRO. My client had…
Mamiya 7 80mm Lens: Drying Out Moisture with Desiccant
This post is about desiccant. Please use it around storage of your cameras. This lens (Mamiya 7 80mm lens) had some moisture on the elements so it has been…
Mamiya 6: Stuck Frame Lines and Broken Viewfinder Glass
This Mamiya 6 came into the shop with a complaint of the frame finder lines not moving (stuck on 50mm). This tells me that the frame finder mechanism is…
Mamiya 645E: Counter Repair and Model History
A Mamiya 645E on the bench for repair to the counter system. The 645E is a bit of an oddball: introduced in May 2000 and made concurrently with the 645 PRO…
Mamiya 7: Replacing the Frame Finder Window with 7II Style Glass
This Mamiya 7 had a broken frame finder illumination window. The second photo shows the replacement window in place. In this case, I replaced the window…
Mamiya 7 65mm Lens: Replacing a Broken Flex Cable
This Mamiya 7 65mm lens came into the shop with a very common issue: broken flex cable. This cable connects the shutter to the camera connection pins on…