Mamiya m645 Super Questions

[MattKing]

Did you get a back for it? That's kind of necessary.

The body does need a battery, the one in my Super body is a 4G13. I don't know how hard those are to get--the Super came with it & I bought the battery with my Pro body from KEH.

The 1000s back is fixed, although you can get extra inserts.

As for the battery, here is one list of equivalencies: 4LR44, 537, 2CR1/3N, 4SR44, 544, PX28, PX28L, V28PX, L544, 28SO, 4G13, 2CR1/N3, A544, 4SR44 PX28 4G13 V28PX and S28PX

The plethora of designations arises because of the large number of manufacturers who made this battery, among other things.

In some cases, the designations are particular to the type of battery (alkaline vs. silver oxide or lithium).

Matt

 

[brofkand]

Yes, I did get a 120 insert.

Eventually I plan on getting all the finders and keeping or returning the ones I don't like, but to start off the one I got seemed to be a good start.

The good thing about the battery is Radio Shack sells the alkaline version (silver has to be ordered online from what I can tell), since apparently they're used in dog collars now more often than not. Are there any advantages to silver vs alkaline other than longer life and shelf life?

 

[Greg_E]

Probably but since the meter is broken not worth considering as all the battery does in your camera is allow the shutter to fire.

 

[MattKing]

Probably but since the meter is broken not worth considering as all the battery does in your camera is allow the shutter to fire.

IIRC the 1000s is one of the bodies that does require a battery - the shutter won't close without one.

Matt

 

[Greg_E]

That is true but it doesn't really care too much about the voltage of that battery as long as it is enough to trip the shutter. The meter on the other hand does care about the voltage.

 

[brofkand]

I didn't know if the 1000s is one of the cameras that actually uses voltage as a timer of sorts; lots of electronics use voltage as a timer, so if you use a Lithium battery or a Ni-Cad battery or an Alkaline, you'll get different results. I'd imagine the results with a camera of this design would be a very slightly faster or slower shutter.

I know this is how things used to work with the old Palms; I seem to remember my m100 being slightly less reliable with Ni-Mhs than with Alkalines. Could have just been my imagination though.

 

[brofkand]

My camera came in today. I went up to Radio Shack and bought a battery for it, and then realized I don't have any 120 film! :-X

The camera itself is in great condition. There is only one problem; brassing on the film door. I can't see anything else wrong with it. The lens has a few scratches on the barrel, but is otherwise fine. The prism is a problem; the glass in it is scratched (not overly so) and it has a pretty large gash on the top of it that has been covered with velcro tape. I may return it and either get another model prism or the same one, inoperative meter and all.

Could someone please tell me the difference between the CDS prism, PD prism, PDS prism, and the plain prism? Do they all use a glass pentaprism or a mirror pentaprism? What about coverage? Also, what's the difference in the Pd(s) and CDS prism in terms of metering? I see the CdS prism has an arm that couples with the lens, I'm assuming the PdS prism doesn't, and you can only meter via stopping down?

I'll probably return this prism and either buy a non-metering prism altogether, or buy a prism that has a working meter. No sense having that little needle there if it's broken.

Thanks for the help. This camera is awesome. I'll be traveling down to Charlotte this weekend to Biggs Camera and buying a few rolls of film for it.