Mamiya C330

Ibiza19 · Jul 16, 2009

Hello All
today i received my new Mamiya C330 that i purchased from Ebay. I read the manual and got some of the stuff but still some of the options dont make sense. First when I look at the prism finder there is a red line appearing at the top of the viewfinder (on lock). Like its not right in the middle but I can see it at the top, its like this red crooked line. Is it supposed to be there even when its on locked mode? its not in the middle like when its on unlocked mode but its still at the top. Also there is a small screen beside ASA which you can change. Do you set that to 100? (im talking about the small screen on the left side of ASA). There is also another screen which you can change and there is 3 different options. One is like this red dot, the other one is like a bulb, and the other one looks like a black dot. Which one should my camera be set on? Also how do I make sure the shutter sounds correctly? I set the shutter to 1 and tried counting, and I hear the shutter sound for 2 seconds. I set it to 2 and I hear it for 1 second. Is this right? Also on the manual I read that the shutter wont be released when its on SINGLE and there is no film inside but mine does. Is there something wrong with the camera?

Also when I look at the viewfinder on the prism finder I see some small black dots is that going to show on my pictures? The lens looks clean I dont know what the dots are though.

Anscojohn · Jul 16, 2009

Ibiza19 said:
Hello All
today i received my new Mamiya C330 that i purchased from Ebay. I read the manual and got some of the stuff but still some of the options dont make sense. First when I look at the prism finder there is a red line appearing at the top of the viewfinder (on lock). Like its not right in the middle but I can see it at the top, its like this red crooked line. Is it supposed to be there even when its on locked mode?
******
When you are focussing closer, it moves downwards to give you the location of the top of your image. It's for parallax correction.

its not in the middle like when its on unlocked mode but its still at the top. Also there is a small screen beside ASA which you can change. Do you set that to 100? (im talking about the small screen on the left side of ASA).
*****
Beats me. Its been a looong time since I owned one.

There is also another screen which you can change and there is 3 different options. One is like this red dot, the other one is like a bulb, and the other one looks like a black dot.
*****
Probably a film reminder dial. the bulb for tungsten film?

Which one should my camera be set on? Also how do I make sure the shutter sounds correctly? I set the shutter to 1 and tried counting, and I hear the shutter sound for 2 seconds. I set it to 2 and I hear it for 1 second. Is this right? Also on the manual I read that the shutter wont be released when its on SINGLE and there is no film inside but mine does. Is there something wrong with the camera?
******
Sounds like you might need a CLA

Also when I look at the viewfinder on the prism finder I see some small black dots is that going to show on my pictures?
******
No.

MattKing · Jul 16, 2009

Question 1:

First when I look at the prism finder there is a red line appearing at the top of the viewfinder (on lock). Like it’s not right in the middle but I can see it at the top, its like this red crooked line. Is it supposed to be there even when its on locked mode? its not in the middle like when its on unlocked mode but its still at the top.

Answer:

The red line is there to warn the photographer that the lens is unlocked. It should disappear from view when the lens is locked in. It may be that it is just slightly out of adjustment, and won't otherwise affect the operation of the camera, but I would be concerned.

Question 2:

Also there is a small screen beside ASA which you can change. Do you set that to 100? (im talking about the small screen on the left side of ASA). There is also another screen which you can change and there is 3 different options. One is like this red dot, the other one is like a bulb, and the other one looks like a black dot. Which one should my camera be set on?

Answer:

None of these settings affect the operation of the camera. They only serve as a film reminder

In the same area, there is as well a concentric ring where you can set the focal length of the lens. This affects how the parallax indicator in the viewing area shows when you focus on close subjects.

Question 3:

Also how do I make sure the shutter sounds correctly? I set the shutter to 1 and tried counting, and I hear the shutter sound for 2 seconds. I set it to 2 and I hear it for 1 second. Is this right?

Answer:

The shutter may be in need of a CLA (Clean, Lube and Adjust). This is normal for a camera of this age. It may be that the faster speeds will be fine.

Question 4:

Also on the manual I read that the shutter wont be released when its on SINGLE and there is no film inside but mine does. Is there something wrong with the camera?

Answer:

Take a look at page 19 of the manual - you will see that this applies only if there is no take-up spool in place. FWIW, I had to look up the manual to see what you were referring to, because in approximately 30 years of use I've never noticed this behaviour - maybe because I always move the empty take-up spool into place when I remove the exposed film from the camera

Question 5:

Also when I look at the viewfinder on the prism finder I see some small black dots is that going to show on my pictures? The lens looks clean I don’t know what the dots are though.

Answer:

The small black dots are dirt on the focusing screen. They won't show on your photos.

If I were you I would unlock the camera and remove the lens. I would then open the back (assuming you don't have any film in it) and see if you can tell if the light baffle that comes into play when lenses are removed properly blocks light.

Have fun - it is a great camera.

Matt

wentbackward · Jul 17, 2009

There is also another screen which you can change and there is 3 different options. One is like this red dot, the other one is like a bulb, and the other one looks like a black dot.

The red dot means colour - daylight, the bulb is colour, tungsten and the black and white dot means, black and white. It's a reminder for the film type.

grahamp · Jul 18, 2009

You may find the Mamiya TLR information here - http://www.gapatterson.com/grahamp - useful. The Single/Multi operation, the multiple exposure interlock, and latching the back completely seem to be the areas that catch people out on initial aquaintance with the camera.

Mamiya C330

Ibiza19

Anscojohn

MattKing

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wentbackward

grahamp

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