mamiya 645af issue *first use*

[Jerrell]

Hello,
I just receive my first film camera, the Mamiya 645 AF from KEH and I have an issue. When I attached the 80mm 1.9 lens, and the back I was able to view find in the viewfinder, then something happen when I tried to test the camera out without film per the manual.

I removed the dark slide, opened the back, and there were a series of clicks after I pressed the shutter button. I took the back off I there's a black curtain that is down...the mirror is also down as well. I'm not able to view anything in the viewfinder--it's dark.

What am I doing wrong. I looked over the manual and it doesn't provide an answer. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[L Gebhardt]

Is there a curtain on the viewfinder eyepiece? There is on the manual focus AE finder. If you flipped this closed you won't be able to see as you described. Take the lens off and look at the mirror. You should see the focus screen reflected in it. If no light is coming in through the focus screen I bet this is your problem.

 

[keithwms]

I don't have my afd here with me but I vaguely recall encountering similar things when I got it and wanted to check it out. If I remember correctly, there is some interlock that deploys a curtain to protect the shutter when the back is open. I think you need to use MLU and then fire the shutter under bulb setting and then open the back... not take the back off, but just open the back and remove the film magazine. Something like that. Don't quote me, I don't remember the procedure exactly, I just recall that the interlock mechanism was rather intricate. To compound matters, I don't recall the manual being very clearly written. But once you figure it out, you'll be very happy!

It's an interesting choice for a first film camera. Should you find the af disappointing, well... I actually prefer my mamiya 645 pro most of the time, just because I manually focus almost everything and the camera is much more modular. The afd is very convenient whenever I want to just grab a whole kit and go quickly. Also, as you know by now, the 80/1.9 is a manual lens. You might try an AF lens ASAP and decide whether you really think the AF is worth it. I think you will conclude that it isn't. No worries... the manual lenses are super and far less expensive.

 

[Jerrell]

Thank for replying...checked it and that's not the issue.

Is there a curtain on the viewfinder eyepiece? There is on the manual focus AE finder. If you flipped this closed you won't be able to see as you described. Take the lens off and look at the mirror. You should see the focus screen reflected in it. If no light is coming in through the focus screen I bet this is your problem.

 

[Jerrell]

Thanks Keith--that seemed to work and you're right it seems very intricate. I'm actually shooting with the AF and not the AFD though and yep the manual i found on Mamiya's site dosn't really go into a lot of detail about this camera.

Regarding the 80 1.9 I won't be able to take advantage of any of the AF features on the camera--is that correct? When I look through the viewfinder I don't see any metering or camera info at the bottom at all.

Thank for the help.
jT.

 

[keithwms]

Jerrell I am not sure whether the af has this too, but in the afd viewfinder there are focus confirmation indicators. I find it quite useful. You see a circle when the focus is correct, or arrows when it is not. But there is only one focus point and it is in the center of the frame, so... it has limited use.

When using manual lenses, you may also wish to swap out your viewfinder screen. There is one with a sort of middle fresnel / split screen that some people like. I don't care for it.

I recommend picking up an 80/2.8 AF lens, or a 50/2.8 if you don't want to duplicate the 80 you have. (Actually I have three 80s and love them all: the 80/1.9, the 80/2.8 AF, and the 80/4 macro which is amazing)

 

[Jerrell]

Very helpful thanks Keith. I'll have to look into the other 80s for sure.

 

[oliverlott]

hey, when I look through the finder all I can see is a really blurry image wehre you cant make out any shapes at all.. any ideas????

Thanks

 

[HowardDvorin]

I'd call KEH. They are very helpful.

Howard

 

[cramej]

The 645AF automatically opens the shutter when you take off the back as a protection measure (so you don't put your finger through it ). You are also using a manual focus lens on an autofocus camera so you will have to use it in aperture priority mode or manual mode. Select the aperture on the lens and the camera will pick the shutter speed for you and change the switch on the front of the camera to M for manual focus. You can check for shutter operation if you only open the film back and remove the insert.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Just thought I'd give my 2c, seeing as I've also got an AF and I also struggled to get it working when I first got it.

As mentioned, the AF has a protective feature to stop you putting your finger through the shutter curtain. In theory, when you take the back off, the mirror slaps up and the shutter opens. In practice, this only works a) when you have batteries in it, b) when you have fresh strong batteries in it, and c) if it's not borked like mine is.
There are also a lot of other mechanical (non-battery-dependent) interlocks, like you can't remove the lens with the mirror locked up (nor lock the mirror up without a lens), plus the usual you can't remove the back with the darkslide out.

At first mine made a sound like it was trying to pull up the mirror and open the shutter when I removed the back, at one point it got all interlocked and I couldn't remove the back nor release the shutter, I unscrewed the base and poked around until it worked again. Now it just doesn't open the shutter when I remove a back, but that's ok because I'm careful with it.
Once or twice, a year later, it started working 'properly' again, ie flipping the mirror and opening the shutter when I removed the back, but after a while it got all interlocked and wouldn't do anything, some combination of remove batteries, darkslides, and hitting it with my Kiev and it worked again. Not the best thing to happen out in the field, but works again now.

As for the AF, no you won't get AF with a non-AF lens. But you should at least get the focus confirm '>O<' marks with every lens (that's open wide, ie f/1.9-4) when you half-press the shutter. With a non-AF lens you'll only get spot-metering, you only get full-metering with AF lenses. There are custom-functions that you can turn the focus-confirm marks on and off, if you can't see them that may be the problem. I've got a manual for mine somewhere, if it's not on the Mamiya website then I must have gotten it from butkus.org.
Also, if there are those marks in the viewfinder, but you can't see them properly, check if you have a diopter installed in the eyepiece (I think you need at least something to get it work work properly, not sure though). The viewfinder blind is bright orange, activated by a little lever by the eyepiece, it should be obvious if that's down (the metering gets very confused when on a tripod without your eye sealing it dark, learn to love this blind).

 

[markbarendt]

hey, when I look through the finder all I can see is a really blurry image wehre you cant make out any shapes at all.. any ideas????

Thanks

You may want to start a fresh thread, your issue is getting confused with the other problem on this ancient thread.