Argh! RZ67 help

moomike

moomike

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Hi all,

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with my Mamiya RZ67 as I am utterly stumped!

I processed a film from a studio shoot (using strobes) and all of the pics turned out fine (one roll of b&w and one colour) I did an on location shoot the other day using what remained of the same roll (for fun thank goodness rather than for a client) using natural light & not one of the images turned out (transparent negatives)

To verify it was ambient only that I was having issues with, I shot a roll of film tonight and as I suspected, blank negatives - except for one! Right in the middle of the roll was one exposed image - I took notes on what I'd done for each shot just in case I needed to narrow down what the problem was & this particular shot has absolutely nothing that makes it stand out from the others - 1 second exposure at f/8 - shot on a tripod using the waist level finder (I wanted to eliminate the prism finder as a potential cause but the others with the wlf didn't turn out either - the previous one on the roll was a 2 second exposure at f/11 and even though the settings were similar to the image that turned out, absolutely no image)

I understand why the studio images turned out with the leaf shutter and eliminating the ambient entirely, but does anyone have any ideas as to what may be causing this - I'd ideally love to not have to send it off to be looked at this close to Christmas if I can help it :(

Thanks in advance,

Mike (y)
 
did you use a cable release for the two that came out but not the blanks? just wandering if you fired the shutter or just locked the mirror. its dependant on switch position on the lens I think,
 
Have you tried firing the shutter with the back removed to see if the shutter opens at all speeds/ apertures.?
If it is opening intermittently then take a look at the contacts between lens and body and maybe give them a clean.

This thread is quite bizzare as I started a thread with a RB67 lens problem only the other day, and no I haven't yet resolved it :(
 
niko said:
did you use a cable release for the two that came out but not the blanks? just wandering if you fired the shutter or just locked the mirror. its dependant on switch position on the lens I think,
Click to expand...

Nope, only used the cable release for the last image - I checked the mirror released before running the film through. On the RZ, when you screw in the cable release it activates the mirror lock up, there's no switch.

Asha said:
Have you tried firing the shutter with the back removed to see if the shutter opens at all speeds/ apertures.?
If it is opening intermittently then take a look at the contacts between lens and body and maybe give them a clean.

This thread is quite bizzare as I started a thread with a RB67 lens problem only the other day, and no I haven't yet resolved it :(
Click to expand...

I'll take a look at your thread in a minute Asha, I also have an RB.

I tried firing the shutter with the back removed and the camera set to multiple exposure and the shutter opened but I'm not 100% sure the speed actually varied - the camera set to an 8 second exposure definitely didn't keep the shutter open for 8 seconds - I assumed it was because the back wasn't attached - the RZ is funny about long exposures sometimes I've heard.

I'll give all of the contacts a clean and have another look.

Thanks both for the advice : thumbs:
 
It couldn't be something so simple as battery becoming week could it?
 
Asha said:
It couldn't be something so simple as battery becoming week could it?
Click to expand...

I've tried it with a couple of new batteries so it's not that. I've just gotten a full 8 second exposure out of it by twisting the lens collar where it attaches to the body whilst pressing the shutter though, so I'm assuming the problem lies with the lens connections - will investigate further tomorrow and once it's sorted I'll try to replicate the Sekor problem you were having to see if I can help.

Cheers again
 
I can't shed any light on your problem, sorry. But it's just sparked a light bulb moment that I've two (2x) Mamiya RZ67 120 film backs lying upstairs in a cupboard collecting dust, not sure on their current condition (?) but I must get round to putting them up for sale.

Regards;
Peter
Scotland
 
macvisual said:
I can't shed any light on your problem, sorry. But it's just sparked a light bulb moment that I've two (2x) Mamiya RZ67 120 film backs lying upstairs in a cupboard collecting dust, not sure on their current condition (?) but I must get round to putting them up for sale.

Regards;
Peter
Scotland
Click to expand...

Good man :) let me know when you’re putting them up for sale, definitely interested.
 
Kevin Allan said:
Do you have a different lens you can try ? Given that the shutter is in the lens, then the lens seems like it may be a more likely culprit.
Click to expand...

It was the lens - I'm not entirely sure what was going on with it but I removed it, gave it a really good clean and reattached it - entire camera is working fine now - at the very least it's taught me to triple check everything before I think I'm getting the shot :LOL:
 
moomike said:
It was the lens - I'm not entirely sure what was going on with it but I removed it, gave it a really good clean and reattached it - entire camera is working fine now - at the very least it's taught me to triple check everything before I think I'm getting the shot :LOL:
Click to expand...

That really does sound like it was the contacts.

I've had the RZ refuse to fire due to dirty contacts between body and film back!
 
moomike said:
I had originally cleaned the contacts but the problem was still there - I am not entirely sure I just didn't have the lens screwed on tightly enough :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Glad you got it figured out nonetheless as it's quite unnerving when kit suddenly stop functioning properly.
 
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