Pulled the trigger on another film camera

grsnovi · Dec 10, 2023

Last night while looking on eBay - the impulse was too strong and I pulled the trigger on a Mamiya 645.

I had been pondering a Leica M6 recently but in the end felt the cost was too dear in light of how infrequently I shoot the 2 film cameras that I have currently.

We'll see if a MF camera adds to my shooting experience.

- Gary

Jaime100 · Dec 11, 2023

grsnovi said:
Last night while looking on eBay - the impulse was too strong and I pulled the trigger on a Mamiya 645.

I had been pondering a Leica M6 recently but in the end felt the cost was too dear in light of how infrequently I shoot the 2 film cameras that I have currently.

We'll see if a MF camera adds to my shooting experience.

- Gary

No doubt...you have experiences ahead. I shoot film 'most of the time' and feel the connection I get from that analog experience is what makes photography fun. Now, with that being said,...I have my Ricoh's or my recent EM5 Mark 111 OMD, and I do enjoy that, but analog is still king. Have fun...share experiences, Jim

grsnovi · Dec 11, 2023

Thanks Jim!

I'm looking forward to putting some film through the 645.

It came with the 210/4 and I have an 80/2.8 arriving on Wednesday.

It has some growth in the finder but how much wasn't specified. We'll see when it arrives if it needs attention.

I learned photography 50+ years ago using a borrowed Voigtlander and subsequently purchased a Canon FTb. Then added a darkroom so I could continue doing film and print developing after I was out of high school.

I purchased examples of the cameras I used originally and have used them to jog my memories.

- Gary

ffabrici · Dec 13, 2023

Good luck with your new camera, Gary!

I was actually in the same sitaution and unexpectedly won an auction on ebay for a Leica M6 TTL. I’m not using my M7 enough

, but the price for the M6 was so good that I won’t loose money if I regret, and I have lusted for it for years.

I have been tempted by large format cameras at insanely low prices, but I know the lenses would become another expensive journey for me.

Bags27 · Dec 13, 2023

Good for you! Congrats! I hope you love the experience.

I've become a huge fan of medium format and have several. I develop and scan my own film, and the most satisfying part is pulling MF negatives out of the soup: they're so big you can actually see everything, even in negative. My Fuji is a 6x9 and those negatives are like postcards!

I also shoot 135: a Leica M4-P (before the price jump) and a lot of Nikon gear. Nikon FE2 is a fantastic camera and a steal. Nikon glass is great, but Zeiss glass is even better and underpriced, i think. With the Leica, I love to shoot older glass (LTM mount). Some of it still renders amazingly and with none of that overly clinical digital look.

I am so very tempted by large format.....

grsnovi · Dec 13, 2023

I haven't done my own film or prints for 50 years.

I'd be tempted to set something up but I'm afraid my wife's chemical sensitivities would preclude any in-house lab (I'd need to build something outside and that seems extreme).

Of course without the ability to do my own processing I'm left to using a lab to scan my negatives and having to decide on a resolution option that yields less MP than what I can get from my 7Riii.

I suppose I could order prints from the lab and then scan the prints myself but it all seems to fly in the face of the inherent resolution of a larger film negative.

- Gary

grsnovi · Dec 13, 2023

The camera included a 210mm lens and the PD prism finder and it won't be here until Tuesday. However I also picked up an 80/2.8 which arrived this morning (it cost almost as much as I paid for the camera w/210 lens).

ffabrici · Dec 14, 2023

What a beauty - it looks like new!

grsnovi · Dec 14, 2023

I'll be curious to see how the camera, finder and 210 look when they arrive from Japan on Tuesday.

Hopefully there won't be any light leaks.

- Gary

grsnovi · Dec 21, 2023

...not sure I'll keep it.

Looking through the finder there is an area of damage that appears (to me) to have been caused by an attempt to clean the silvered surface of one of the internal mirrors.

In searching for "finder only" a large % seem to have a similar problem.

Maybe I should:

just return this camera?
find a waist level finder?
live with the almost 60% blockage over the focus spot?

Any thoughts?

- Gary

grsnovi · Dec 21, 2023

In this video someboby with more patience than me digs into a PD finder that exhibits the same problem as mine.

In looking for a replacement finder there seems to be plenty available with a similar issue.

It's not mold or fungus. It's a defect in the assembly process where a piece of foam sits against the back of the mirror and as it degrades (likely due to the adhesive and foam chemistry) it eats through the silvering on the mirror from the back side.

I think my best option is to just

a) get an entirely different camera that isn't exhibiting the problem ,
b) get a replacement metered finder or
c) just go with the waist-level (un-metered) finder.

It's always something

- Gary

grsnovi · Dec 21, 2023

I have a different finder on the way. It doesn't seem to have the mirror rot that seems to be so common to these finders due to the way they were assembled 50 years ago.

Milspec · Dec 21, 2023

I think you will really enjoy it! So much information on the negs, just look incredible! Unfortunately Maymia has been a GAS issue for me, I don’t know if they make anything I don’t like!

grsnovi · Dec 21, 2023

...that they had such a problem with their pentaprism mirror boxes.

Hopefully the CdS finder will provide a clear view of the focus screen and that the meter will be accurate (otherwise I suspect that I'll need to shell out for a waist-level finder).

- G

grsnovi · Dec 23, 2023

In addition to the damage to the pentaprism mirror the meter in the PD finder doesn't work so I took my gx9 set to ISO 400 and duplicated the settings on the same 10 shots.

I'll be looking for light leaks and general shot quality once I develop the roll.

I may wait until I get the clean CdS finder and shoot another roll and get them processed at the same time.

aenoether · Dec 25, 2023

grsnovi said:
In addition to the damage to the pentaprism mirror the meter in the PD finder doesn't work so I took my gx9 set to ISO 400 and duplicated the settings on the same 10 shots.

I'll be looking for light leaks and general shot quality once I develop the roll.

I may wait until I get the clean CdS finder and shoot another roll and get them processed at the same time.

My last two attempts to get into medium format through ebay have been expensive duds

Examine your photos carefully for focus issues. There are so many factors that can effect acurate focus that it probably won't be worth trying to troubleshoot.

grsnovi · Dec 25, 2023

aenoether said:
grsnovi said:

In addition to the damage to the pentaprism mirror the meter in the PD finder doesn't work so I took my gx9 set to ISO 400 and duplicated the settings on the same 10 shots.

I'll be looking for light leaks and general shot quality once I develop the roll.

I may wait until I get the clean CdS finder and shoot another roll and get them processed at the same time.

Click to expand...

My last two attempts to get into medium format through ebay have been expensive duds

Examine your photos carefully for focus issues. There are so many factors that can effect acurate focus that it probably won't be worth trying to troubleshoot.

What cameras were you trying?

I fiddled around with watch making for a while and I've splurged for the m645 service manual (cost = $1.00) but I doubt that I'll attempt any adjustments if I can't get an in-focus shot out of the body.

My bigger concern would be accuracy of the shutter timing.

- Gary

Oldwino · Dec 25, 2023

grsnovi said:
In addition to the damage to the pentaprism mirror the meter in the PD finder doesn't work so I took my gx9 set to ISO 400 and duplicated the settings on the same 10 shots.

I'll be looking for light leaks and general shot quality once I develop the roll.

I may wait until I get the clean CdS finder and shoot another roll and get them processed at the same time.

It is getting hard to find any of the Mamiya prism finders that both work and don't have separation. I still haven't found a good one, but my 645 came with the waist level finder, so I really am ok. Great camera. The 110mm and the 35mm lenses are spectacular.

grsnovi · Dec 25, 2023

I thought I was getting a bargain at $259 for the camera, finder and 210 lens. Not thinking straight, I then went out and purchased an 80mm for another $200 and after seeing both problems with the PD finder I spent another $100 on a CdS finder.

If my first roll comes back without light leaks and in focus, I may invest in a strap that will attach to the goofy strap attachment points.

aenoether · Dec 27, 2023

grsnovi said:
aenoether said:

grsnovi said:

In addition to the damage to the pentaprism mirror the meter in the PD finder doesn't work so I took my gx9 set to ISO 400 and duplicated the settings on the same 10 shots.

I'll be looking for light leaks and general shot quality once I develop the roll.

I may wait until I get the clean CdS finder and shoot another roll and get them processed at the same time.

Click to expand...

My last two attempts to get into medium format through ebay have been expensive duds

Examine your photos carefully for focus issues. There are so many factors that can effect acurate focus that it probably won't be worth trying to troubleshoot.

Click to expand...

What cameras were you trying?

I fiddled around with watch making for a while and I've splurged for the m645 service manual (cost = $1.00) but I doubt that I'll attempt any adjustments if I can't get an in-focus shot out of the body.

My bigger concern would be accuracy of the shutter timing.

- Gary

Agfa isollet was the cheaper and more recent of my purchases. The focus ring is frozen. I might try to fix that myself.

The big disappointment was the bronica ec. The camera was back-focusing. I paid to have it repaired and had to return it to the repairer to try again but the best they could do was find a work around. Now the mirror is sticking when I fire a shot and the only way to get it to flip back down is to take the film back off and press on a pin on the side of the camera. I can't get through a roll of film without it sticking at least once (sometimes every second shot). I was thinking of buying another body but I've already spent 900aud on the camera including "repairs" and there's no guarantee the new body won't have issues of its own. So basically, I have a very expensive desk ornament.

--
Sometimes I feel the true purpose of my life is to serve as a warning to others
https://www.flickr.com/photos/197137483@N03/

Pulled the trigger on another film camera

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