Mamiya 645 won't fire

Jimor · Oct 12, 2013

I recently assembled a Mamiya 645 Super by buying a body, a film back and an AE Prism finder, all separately, on Ebay. I have now assembled it in accordance with the manual, but cannot get the shutter to fire, even in the 1/60th manual mode. The Multi button is not activated, or the Shutter Lock button. Is it because I havent got a winder on the body? There is a winder on the film back, so I assumed this would have the same effect, but I suspect now that it doesnt. Also, is there a separate manual for the AE Prism finder?

Jon Shiu · Oct 12, 2013

Okay, I don't have that camera, but here's some tips:

Some cameras won't fire if the dark slide is in.

Does it wind? Some cameras need to use Multi to wind with no film in.

Jon

tkamiya · Oct 12, 2013

Jimor said:
I recently assembled a Mamiya 645 Super by buying a body, a film back and an AE Prism finder, all separately, on Ebay. I have now assembled it in accordance with the manual, but cannot get the shutter to fire, even in the 1/60th manual mode. The Multi button is not activated, or the Shutter Lock button. Is it because I havent got a winder on the body? There is a winder on the film back, so I assumed this would have the same effect, but I suspect now that it doesnt. Also, is there a separate manual for the AE Prism finder?

I am speaking from memory, since I do NOT have that camera anymore.

As far as I can recall, to dry fire that camera, you MUST have dark slide removed, AND the multiple exposure lever ENABLED. There is not a winder in the film back. The winder (if you have it) is a separate attachment. You'd remove your hand crank and attach it to the side of the body. Make sure battery is fresh.

mwdake · Oct 12, 2013

The darkslide usually has a little v-notch cut in to it near the handle.
You can just pull the darkslide out enough to expose this notch to dry fire.
As others pointed out it has ti be in multi-exposure mode if there is no film in the camera.

Jimor · Oct 14, 2013

Thanks for comments, but...

Thanks for comments, but...

I have a film loaded and have advanced it using the winding knob on the film body. There is no winding knob on the main body. The battery is fresh and even if I turn the shutter speed to 1/60th (which should work regardless of battery condition) the shutter doesn't fire. I suspect that the knob/crank on the main body, as well as winding on the film, 'primes' the shutter and that simply winding on the film from the film body does not achieve this. Does that make sense?

Jim

rbultman · Oct 14, 2013

The shutter should fire without the film back installed.

Jimor · Oct 14, 2013

Sorry, tried that and it doesn't work. An eBay seller has offered to sell me a crank on an 'if it doesn't solve the problem, send it back' basis, so I think I'll probably try that.

Jim

rbultman · Oct 14, 2013

Yeah, I did not read your post closely enough. The body winder cocks the shutter and advances the film. I've never tried just turning the advance on the film back.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Nathan King · Oct 14, 2013

rbultman said:
Yeah, I did not read your post closely enough. The body winder cocks the shutter and advances the film. I've never tried just turning the advance on the film back.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

This. You need to use the winder on the body and not the knob on the film back.

Jon Shiu · Oct 14, 2013

Yes, you need to cock the shutter by winding the body crank. You could probably wind the metal plate with your fingers for testing.

Jon

Jimor · Oct 14, 2013

Winder crank

Thanks for confirming what I suspected. I've just got a crank on EBay. Will let you know if it works.

Jim

mweintraub · Oct 15, 2013

Yes, the body winder cocks the shutter, lowers the mirror, and winds the film.

k_jupiter · Oct 15, 2013

I guess as an engineer, I have to point this out to you. They don't put extra parts on a camera. It costs them money. So if there is a spot for a winding knob, you need to have it.

And that's the nicest way of saying it.

I am glad you got this all worked out. The 645 is a great camera.

tim in san jose

MattKing · Oct 16, 2013

k_jupiter said:
I guess as an engineer, I have to point this out to you. They don't put extra parts on a camera. It costs them money. So if there is a spot for a winding knob, you need to have it.

And that's the nicest way of saying it.

I am glad you got this all worked out. The 645 is a great camera.

tim in san jose

The OP has been putting together his kit piece by piece - he may have bought the body with the intention of acquiring and using the power winder instead of the manual crank.

Many of the original Mamiya 645 Pro cameras were definitely sold with a power winder and without the manual crank. It may be the same for the Mamiya 645 Super.

k_jupiter · Oct 16, 2013

MattKing said:
The OP has been putting together his kit piece by piece - he may have bought the body with the intention of acquiring and using the power winder instead of the manual crank.

Many of the original Mamiya 645 Pro cameras were definitely sold with a power winder and without the manual crank. It may be the same for the Mamiya 645 Super.

Yaaaa... I know that. But to think the wind on the film back would cock the camera's shutter indicates a lack of understanding of the mechanics of the tool. Not his fault. Most people these days grow up with no knowledge of the technologies they use.

Just a fact of life. Live and hopefully learn.

tim

Jimor · Oct 17, 2013

Solved!

Yes, it just required a winder on the main body, as some of you confirmed. I did assemble it in bits and, in my defence, I would say that this is very different to the 35mm cameras that I am used to. Without having examined one before, it was not immediately obvious to me that the winder on the film back would not cock the shutter.

Thanks for all those who contributed; at least my problem has enlightened more than just me!

Nathan King · Oct 17, 2013

The Mamiya 645 is very modular, which is neat for customization purposes; however, my experience parting them together was similar to yours because of the options and not knowing exactly what comes with what.

mweintraub · Oct 17, 2013

Nathan King said:
The Mamiya 645 is very modular, which is neat for customization purposes; however, my experience parting them together was similar to yours because of the options and not knowing exactly what comes with what.

That's one reason my first two MF kits were full operational kits because I was very new to the MF world. Now knowing how module everything is, I can easily figure out what is the required parts to work.

k_jupiter · Oct 18, 2013

Jimor said:
Yes, it just required a winder on the main body, as some of you confirmed. I did assemble it in bits and, in my defence, I would say that this is very different to the 35mm cameras that I am used to. Without having examined one before, it was not immediately obvious to me that the winder on the film back would not cock the shutter.

Thanks for all those who contributed; at least my problem has enlightened more than just me!

My words always come out harsher than they are meant. My apologies to you.

tim in san jose

Mamiya 645 won't fire

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