Mamiya M645 acquisition

[PFMcFarland]

Update: While looking for a seal kit for the M645 and various caps for the lenses, body, and finder I was perusing the various other sellers of this system and came across a couple of good deals. So I now have the Left Hand trigger grip with adjustable flash shoe (a separate item not originally included with the grip), three more lenses (55, 150, and 210mm), another 120 insert with the case, and the PD (Silicon photo diode metered) finder.

Yesterday I installed the new seals and a bumper kit for the mirror which really took it from a clack to a thump as far as sound goes. And replacing the pads on the finders took the looseness out of the mounts. It really sounds great, and everything operates smoothly. However, one thing I found is that the shutter speed dial has settings for 1, 2, 4, and 8 seconds, but only the 1 sec is somewhat correct. 2 is more like 3,5, 4 is 6, and 8 is 12. I just wonder if the alkaline battery in it is affecting this as it's designed to work with silver oxide cells.

PF

[Bennybee]

Congrats. That is a great camera.

[alexvaras]

Congrats for the set!
About speeds, no idea when electronics are involved. If you can get silver oxide batteries you can try and see.

[PFMcFarland]

Congrats for the set!
About speeds, no idea when electronics are involved. If you can get silver oxide batteries you can try and see.

I found the fix for that issue, Alex. The camera body circuits need to be adjusted. That is done on the left side of the body. The left side body panel is a two piece affair. If you take the whole panel off you have to remove the shutter speed dial, but if you just take off the outer panel you can leave the shutter speed dial in place which comes in handy when making the adjustment. Then, one adjusts the 1/60 setting (which is also the flash sync setting) as close as possible to the marked speed. After that all the other speeds should be correct.

However, I don't currently have a shutter speed tester, so I'll have to use the work-around method which is quite simple. The metered prisms have their own shutter timing circuits, so when they are mounted you set the camera body shutter speed dial to the by-pass position, and use the dial on the prism instead. The long speeds (anything 1/8sec or slower) while using my PD prism are correct, so I'll assume the rest of them are too. Time will only tell.

PF

[Santiago Montenegro]

In my experience, Mamiya 645's are the best bang for the buck ever.

[scott]

Wow - diving in headlong! Congrats on all the new gear.

As far as shutter speeds go, I’m quite certain than NONE of my gear is on speed. I don’t shoot chromes, like almost ever, and even with wonky speeds, the latitude in the film covers me well enough for scanning. I’d say put a roll through it.

[PFMcFarland]

Another Update: The camera seems to work well by using the metered prism (PD) to set the speeds. All the settings matched what I would have chosen using Sunny-16. Just have to get the film developed to see if I'm right.

As far as handling is concerned, that left hand Deluxe Grip was a good choice to get, as I never had an issue with stressing my right wrist. It was even easy to use with the brace on, but I had to be careful not to accidentally trigger the shutter by snagging the brace on the grip mechanism.

Saw a report that CineStill might come out with some 220 film if they can get enough interest for it, so I ordered five 220 inserts for $15 plus shipping. Couldn't pass on that deal. I've seen other 220 inserts priced for much more just for one, and these all came with cases. Check out the CineStill site at http://cinestillfilm.com/

PF

[alexvaras]

Any update with the Mamiya?

[GrahamS]

All I know is that the 80mm f2.8 Mamiya Sekor is a superb lens. Every bit as good as the Zeiss Planar.

[epatsellis]

Absolutely, my RB67 lenses compare quite favorably with the lenses on my Hassy. PF, if you think the 645 is heavy, don’t pick up an RB.


Erie