Mamiya C3 Professional TLR film advance crank

Hi folks --
One of my favorite cameras is a Mamiya C3 I've had since last winter. It functions quite well, but there's a few things about it I'd like to improve if possible.

Foremost, the film advance crank is missing; the round plate on the camera's side only has the metal nub with a hole through it. To advance the film I turn the plate/nub, which works well enough for now, but I'd like a replacement crank. If someone out there in APUG-land has a replacement or an extra, I'd be very thankful and would gratefully pay for it plus shipping as necessary.

Less importantly, the Lock/Unlock knob is somehow broken; it wobbles back and forth rather freely. I don't use it at all, so I'm not sure it's worth getting professionally repaired.

Also, the focus mechanism isn't working quite correctly. I can't focus to infinity, only to 3 ft/65mm or 5 ft/80mm on the scale before the focusing mechanism stops abruptly.

Any helpful hints or tips would be appreciated. I love this TLR and want to get it back operating as well as possible.

Ottrdaemmerung said:

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Also, the focus mechanism isn't working quite correctly. I can't focus to infinity, only to 3 ft/65mm or 5 ft/80mm on the scale before the focusing mechanism stops abruptly.

Any helpful hints or tips would be appreciated. I love this TLR and want to get it back operating as well as possible.

Click to expand...

I don't know about the rest of your issues, but I saw a similar focus problem on my Flexaret TLR when I was taking the viewing assembly apart to replace the focus screen - I dropped a small screw inside the camera, and the screw ended up blocking the focusing mechanism so that the focus indicator stopped significantly short of infinity. After shaking out the screw, all was good again.

So, perhaps a small piece of something is stuck in the camera. Not sure how to get it out in your particular case, however - maybe take off the ground glass, focus as close as possible, and try shaking it out.

Good luck!

Bump... Still looking for a crank for my Mamiya C3 TLR, in case someone has a parts specimen or a spare.

I recently spotted someone on the auction site selling C330 cranks. Does anyone know if one of these would work? Thanks.

Ottrdaemmerung said:

Bump... Still looking for a crank for my Mamiya C3 TLR, in case someone has a parts specimen or a spare.

I recently spotted someone on the auction site selling C330 cranks. Does anyone know if one of these would work? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hello, I have a similar problem now, did it work with a crank from a different model? Eyeing a C3 on ebay, just because of the missing crank on my c330.

Mamiya_Repair is a member. Maybe PM him.