Looks like my Mamiya C220 I bought off ebay has an aftermarket ground glass?

[apneasuesan]

Hi all, I'm new to medium format and just won a C220 from ebay and realized the ground glass is not original.
The original listing did not have a detailed view of the finder and the ground the glass so I had no idea until I received it today.
In the left upper corner it says "Rev. PIC 10/94", whatever that means.
There's a dotted rectangle drawn on the glass(size close to one 35mm slide film) and then the previous owner taped a black rectangular frame on the glass with silver tapes.
I can understand the replacement of the ground glass with an aftermarket piece, but why all the tapes to cover up most of the ground glass?
I thought the whole point of 6x6 tlr was to look into a wlf and see the square image on the ground glass ?
I haven't removed the tapes just in case the seller wants it back in the same condition he sent it.
Here are the pictures

 

[Roger Cole]

They may have liked to print rectangular images and masked it off to match how they usually crop.

I'd have never done this though I could see taking a marker (dry erase would be easily removable) and marking the corners of a rectangular frame. I would have done that for both horizontal and vertical rectangles though. I did mark the corners of a 6x7 frame matching my roll film back on my 4x5 GG but this doesn't interfere with it's use for 4x5.


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[apneasuesan]

You were right. Couldn't resist the urge and ended up removing all the tapes to see what was underneath. It was actually a clear plastic sheet sitting on top of the ground glass. I guess it was a commercially available product for those who want to crop rectangular images on 6x6.

 

[Sirius Glass]

You were right. Couldn't resist the urge and ended up removing all the tapes to see what was underneath. It was actually a clear plastic sheet sitting on top of the ground glass. I guess it was a commercially available product for those who want to crop rectangular images on 6x6.

Welcome to APUG

You did the right thing. Now enjoy your camera.

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to APUG.

I am intrigued by the choice that the previous owner made. I would be willing to bet that most users of C220s who wished to restrict use to one, rectangular format would choose a portrait orientation.

 

[gone]

The previous owner was probably a landscape shooter. I've never liked the fact that I have to turn a 6x4.5 camera sideways for this.

 

[EdColorado]

Get yourself a Bronica ETRSi Momus. It shoots landscape as standard, portrait rolled on its side. I know the Pentax is normally portrait, not sure about the Contax or Mamiyas.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Get yourself a Bronica ETRSi Momus. It shoots landscape as standard, portrait rolled on its side. I know the Pentax is normally portrait, not sure about the Contax or Mamiyas.

With the square format, one does not need to roll the camera on its side. See Victor was right.

 

[winger]

The previous owner was probably a landscape shooter. I've never liked the fact that I have to turn a 6x4.5 camera sideways for this.

Pentax 645N is landscape. And it has tripod mounts for both orientations.

 

[Roger Cole]

The previous owner was probably a landscape shooter. I've never liked the fact that I have to turn a 6x4.5 camera sideways for this.

My Mamiya 645 Pro also shoots in landscape orientation without turning it. Turn for portrait.


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[mtjade2007]

Hi all, I'm new to medium format and just won a C220 from ebay and realized the ground glass is not original.

It is a plastic frame from the view finder of a Camerz long roll portrait camera. I have a Camerz camera which has that thing on top of its ground glass.

 

[grahamp]

The daft thing about masking the ground glass is that all the finders have a recess in the base for holding things like the 55mm exposure compensation scale (useless for a C220 as it does not have the moving parallax bar). This recess can be used for grids, masks, whatever. There is a marginal parallax issue, since it sits just above the actual screen, but it does allow you to put in a grid or composition aid when you need it.

 

[EdColorado]

Pentax 645N is landscape. And it has tripod mounts for both orientations.

Is the older non N Pentax normally portrait? I could have sworn I read that they were but I'd expect the N to be the same.

 

[winger]

Is the older non N Pentax normally portrait? I could have sworn I read that they were but I'd expect the N to be the same.

I've never even touched a pre-N P645. The N added autofocus, data imprinting, and changed the position and data on the LCD. The film in a P645N travels vertically with the opening being landscape oriented. This let them get 16 frames per roll. In googling, the insert for the original looks the same as the 645N, so maybe both are landscape?

 

[Roger Cole]

The frames per roll is a separate thing. My Mamiya 645 Pro, as I mentioned, also shoots in landscape orientation, by virtue of the film traveling vertically in the back as you mention, but I only get 15 shots per roll.