Mamiya 645 Pro winder?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I have a nice 645 pro that has all of a sudden stopped working. I changed the batteries in the grip/winder and it still does not work. Anyone have any ideas on this? Suggestions? Thanks.

Jim

 

[Greg_E]

Does the camera body work without the winder attached?

Which winder? (6aa cells, 6aa cells and cable release socket, 2cr battery)

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Greg, no the body does not when I take the winder off. The winder has 6 aa batteries with the cable release socket. I also changed the camera battery just to be sure. The battery check light works but nothing else. Strange.....

Jim

 

[Greg_E]

Try removing the finder (if it is an AE finder). Remove the back, and maybe even remove the lens. After all that stuff is removed, if it still won't function, probably better get another body. I don't know if it will be worth fixing the body you have since the price on them is so low. And I can't think of any other things to try to get it working. You could try hitting it, maybe it will knock it loose, and probably can't hurt it if it doesn't start working.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Greg, thanks. I did all of that and it is still no go. I'm going to check the battery one more time. I think the camera battery may be toast.

Jim

 

[MattKing]

Jim:

The winder batteries have no effect on the camera. Or, to say it another way, if the camera battery isn't good, it doesn't matter if the winder batteries are.

Do you have a manual wind crank? If so, I'd try it on the camera.

Any chance that you have the shutter lock engaged on the camera?

Any chance you have the dark slide in?

Do you have a metering finder? If so, does it appear to be functioning?

Matt

 

[Greg_E]

No shutter lock on a Pro body. And taking the back and lens and finder off would clear all that stuff from being the problem. You could try setting different shutter speeds a nd see what happens, but it is unlikely to fix anything.

You could try turning the release protection ring to the timer position and see if it will fire under the timer. If the shutter failed after exposure and became uncoupled from the winder, then the camera will play dead for ever more. You can test to see if the camera has power by putting a metered finder on the camera and press the shutter half way to activate it. No lights means that either the shutter release in non-functional, or no power is getting to the camera, and the battery check may not be through the actual camera power.

What leads me to believe the worst is that with good batteries in the 6AA winder, it is supposed to feed power back through to the camera body (I think all the winders for the Super/Pro do this but can't remember for the 2cr winder). The winder should be enough to allow the metered finder to work, but I can't remember if it is enough to trip the shutter.

 

[Greg_E]

Also check the multiple exposurelever/knob/thing to make sure it isn't half way between multi and single. Mirror lock up is all mechanical so it doesn't do a thing, part way up is fine with it.

All in all I think you have a parts camera.

 

[MattKing]

Greg (and Jim):

My 645 Pro has a shutter lock position on the collar that surrounds the shutter release at the bottom right front of the camera. You turn it to the red mark (white is normal, yellow is self timer). This is described on page 17 of the manual.

In the manual (also on page 17) it indicates as well that if you don't have the AE finder, but have the shutter speed set to the AE positions, the shutter won't work.

Here is the link to the manual:

http://www.mamiya.com/assets/pdfs/645/645_Pro3.pdf

The manual also doesn't say anything about the power winder powering the camera. I have the older 6 AA winder designed for the Super, and I know that it doesn't power either my Super or my Pro body. The newer winders might be different, but I would think that the manual would indicate that fact.

Matt

 

[Greg_E]

Oh that lock, that's just the button lock and shouldn't prohibit you from tripping the shutter from the grip. I know it works this way on my Pro, can't remember if the Super is the same.

I'll have to check my cameras to see, as I do remember reading that the winder will power the camera body and save the camera battery.