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From the bench ·

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…

Mamiya 7 · Electronics · Lenses · Testing

From the bench ·

RZ67 110mm Lens: Straightening a Dented Filter Ring

Client sent in a photo of his dented lens filter ring on a Mamiya RZ67 110mm lens (photo one). While it is nicely dented, I could tell that this would be…

RZ67 · Lenses · Impact damage

From the bench ·

Mamiya C3: Replacing and Calibrating a Broken Focus Screen

This Mamiya C3 came into the shop with a fairly common issue- a broken focus screen glass. Replacement is straightforward, but the finder needs to be…

C Series TLR · Viewfinders & meters · Focus · Calibration

From the bench ·

Mamiya 645 45mm C Lens: Oily Diaphragm Blades and Reassembly

Servicing a Mamiya 45mm C lens for the 645 system. Very common issue, oil on the blades causing the diaphragm to stay open wide. The 45mm lens (and the…

645 · Lenses · Cleaning · Calibration

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7II: Cracked Curtain Opening Knob and Rangefinder Fix

Servicing a Mamiya 7II with a few issues. The most obvious is that the rangefinder was off by quite a bit. Also, the first photo shows the curtain opening…

Mamiya 7 · Rangefinder · Parts

From the bench ·

Mamiya 6: Battery Drain From a Loose Metal Part

This Mamiya 6 came into the shop with a complaint of a broken frame finder glass and problems with the battery not making connection. On initial…

Mamiya 6 · Electronics · Viewfinders & meters

From the bench ·

Lens Filter Quality: Testing UV and Skylight Filters

This post is about lens filter quality. There seems to always be a debate about whether UV or Skylight filters should be used on a lens. I'm not going to…

Nikon · Testing · Buying advice

From the bench ·

RZ67II vs Mamiya 7: Measuring Camera Vibration

This is a post about vibration analysis. I happen to have these two cameras on the bench (Mamiya RZ67II and Mamiya7) right now so thought it would be a…

Mamiya 7 · RZ67 · Testing

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 vs 7II: Rangefinder Differences Explained

I get asked quite often about the rangefinder differences between the Mamiya 7 and 7II. And I read a lot of misinformation on the internet. So, here again…

Mamiya 7 · Universal Press · Super 23 · Rangefinder

From the bench ·

Mamiya 645 80mm f/2.8: Diaphragm Stuck Wide Open From Oil

This Mamiya 80mm f/2.8 lens for the 645 wins the contest this week for most oil on a set of diaphragm blades. The symptom that this produces is a diaphragm…

645 · Cleaning · Lenses

From the bench ·

Mamiya C 80mm Lens: Taking and Viewing Lens Focus Mismatch

On intake, all Mamiya C series lenses get examined to insure that the taking and viewing lenses are focusing at the same point. This particular 80mm lens…

C Series TLR · Focus · Calibration

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7II With Impact Damage: Not Repairable

Some cameras that come into the shop I feel are not repairable. This Mamiya 7II suffered impact damage: cracked top cover, rangefinder mostly inoperative…

Mamiya 7 · Testing

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7: No Finder LED Display After Impact Damage

Interesting repair on a Mamiya 7: the camera was impact damaged and the obvious sign was the damaged battery compartment. The complaint was that the LED…

Mamiya 7 · Canon · Electronics · Viewfinders & meters

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 43mm Lens: Checking the Rangefinder Cam

I was recently asked about my process for evaluating lenses for the Mamiya 7. In addition to other inspections, every lens has an initial check up of the…

Mamiya 7 · Rangefinder · Testing

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 65mm Lens: Measuring Front and Rear Group Spacing

Inspecting a Mamiya 7 65mm lens for potential focus issues. All lenses that I service get certain parameters evaluated and on the Mamiya 7 65mm and 43mm…

Mamiya 7 · Lenses · Calibration · Focus

From the bench ·

RB67 65mm Early Lens (1971): Oil on Shutter Blades

Servicing a Mamiya RB67 65mm lens. This early example is from 1971 (Type LH61 made from 1970-1972). For the first five years of production the 65mm had a…

RB67 · Shutters · Cleaning

From the bench ·

Early Mamiyaflex TLR: Fungus and Mold From Storage in a Case

This early model Mamiya TLR (when they were still branding them as Mamiyaflex) came in for a checkup. It has probably been in this leather case for many…

C Series TLR · Fungus · Cleaning

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 43mm Lens: Shutter Not Cocking From Water Damage

Mamiya 7 43mm lens on the bench. This particular example had a mechanical issue with the shutter not cocking. After some external observations and minor…

Mamiya 7 · Shutters

From the bench ·

Brooks Plaubel Veriwide 100: Synchro Compur 00 Shutter Cleaning

I'm thinning out my large collection of cameras and this Brooks Plaubel Veriwide 100 is one that probably needs to go to a new home. As you can see in the…

Shutters · Cleaning

From the bench ·

Mamiya 645 80mm f/1.9 N: Wrong Lubricant on Focus Helicoid

This Mamiya 645 lens, 80mm f/1.9 N, came into the shop with a focus that was very tight and grinding. Seemed to have no lubrication on the focus helical…

645 · Helicoid grease · Focus

From the bench ·

Mamiya SF 150mm RB Lens: Drilled Name Ring and Parts Donor

This Mamiya SF 150mm RB lens came to me with a name ring pre-drilled and a filter ring with some subtle dents. These are not too important flaws in this…

RB67 · Parts · Lenses

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 80mm Lens: Drying Out Moisture Inside the Lens

This Mamiya 7 80mm lens was subjected to moisture. Fortunately, no damage to the shutter. After removing the lens group and some disassembly and cleaning…

Mamiya 7 · Cleaning · Lenses

From the bench ·

Mamiya 7 80mm Lens: Water-Damaged Shutter Not Opening

This Mamiya 7 80mm lens came into the shop with a complaint that the shutter was not opening. After some disassembly, the shutter looked fairly clean…

Mamiya 7 · Shutters · Parts

From the bench ·

Mamiya 645 Super/Pro/ProTL: Damage From a Broken Mirror Stop

I have done a few posts about the Mamiya 645 Super/Pro/ProTL mirror stop replacement but feel the need to post again as I have been seeing many of these…

645 · Parts