Mamiya 7 Aperture Priority issue

Hi guys / gals,

I just finally, finally got myself a Mamiya 7, something I have been wanting to shoot with for about a decade now. Anyways, overall most everything seems to work just great, manual mode works fine, AEL works fine, but as soon as I try to use aperture priority, the viewfinder just blinks "LT" at me constantly regardless of aperture or ISO setting even in very bright outdoor conditions. I thought maybe the battery was bad so I went and bought another to test it out but it was the same response. I tried cleaning the lens and body gold contacts carefully but still the same response. I'm trying to figure out if this is going to be indicative of a larger issue to come and if I should look into returning it and continue shopping for another setup.

Any thoughts?

Are you sure your new battery is providing full power? Did you ck it w/ a volt meter? I found the following thread on the issue. I also hear that cleaning the lens contacts w/ an eraser may fix it. It seems to be a communication issue w/ some lenses.

http://photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/00X9ln

I tested all three batteries with my voltage meter, the original battery is at 5.95v, the replacement that came with the camera is at 6.23v and I bought a fresh battery today which is at 6.27v (all 6v batteries)

I tried leaving the battery out for the past hour or so and now it seems to work most of the time, occasionally it will still trigger the LT blink but otherwise seems to operate normally. Tested with all three batteries. I don't have other lenses to try out so I can't confirm / deny that it is the lens and not the body. As long as it's working, I'm happy, but I'll have to keep an eye on this.

Has anyone experienced this issue before?

Clearly if the AEL works, its not a communication problem. The AEL is the same as the AE except it meters once when you press the button half way, and on AE it will meter continuously whenever the button is half pressed.

What is the Aperture priority you are trying to use and does not work?

Well regardless of the aperture or ISO setting (but at the time I had HP5 rated at 400 in the camera) I could point the camera at the brightest possible light source and it would just flash "LT" which indicates underexposure, where in AEL it would work just fine (the mode I prefer to use anyways). I just found it odd, it seems to be working now, but I can't help but wonder if it's something that's going to become a problem.

I wish that my Mamiya 7II can work, since i bought it long time ago, i didn't have it working for me, one first roll i used ever in it ended up with only 2 frames exposed, and then i tested 3 rolls after that all came out blank, i tested 6 batteries all new, none of them working with my Mamiya, i tried cleaning that body/lens contact carefully with eraser, again no success, all the time i press the shutter that red light is appearing continuously always, so i gave up to know what is the issue, the camera is brand new from online authorized dealer, and the lens also brand new from ebay.

Sounds like the meter works. My hope is it's a dirty contact in the knob. Try spinning the shutter speed knob through all positions for a few minutes. If that doesn't get it working I'd send it in for a cleaning. In fact that's probably not a bad idea anyway.

It is possible the lens curtain is stuck, try closing and opening the curtain a couple of times to see if that helps.

Sorry I forgot to check back in guys, the past couple months have been a bit hectic!

Anyways to update you all, the camera seems to operate fine most of the time but still occasionally will exhibit this LT problem, it works fine in AEL mode which is what I typically use anyways. I wound up purchasing a 43mm lens as well and the behavior is no different so I suppose I can rule out the lens as the potential problem. I'll probably have to send it in before long, but the thought of a $400+ checkup is daunting right now.

L Gebhardt said:

Sounds like the meter works. My hope is it's a dirty contact in the knob. Try spinning the shutter speed knob through all positions for a few minutes. If that doesn't get it working I'd send it in for a cleaning. In fact that's probably not a bad idea anyway.

Click to expand...

This is what I believe the problem is as well. I had a Mamiya 6 body that did exactly as yours and sent it to Bob at Precision Camera Works in Chicago and he cleaned the contacts inside and around the shutter dial and its work perfectly since. Sounds like yours just needs a little cleaning. Call Bob!

Ok i tried spinning the dial a bit as suggested, and that seems to have done something.

Though I do notice now that if I use A and meter a scene, then switch to AEL and meter a scene without moving the camera I get a very different shutter speed reading. Any thoughts as to what would cause that?