Mamiya RB67 Help Needed!

Hello,

I recently purchased a Mamiya RB67 on eBay. I shot a test roll on it and it came out blank. I had a read up on why this could have happened and I ensured that I had the switch on the lens set to N rather than M. I went out and shot a second roll and it has again come out blank...

One thing I have noticed is that every time I take a picture and attempt to advance the film using the winder, I'm not able to until I've moved a small silver lever on the film back (please see attached photo) Is that correct or is there some sort of fault? When shooting the counter goes up with no problems, so I'm a bit perplexed.

Any help would be amazing as I've wanted to get one of these cameras for ages!

Cheers

Tom

Moving the silver lever on that back is normal. Did you remember to pull the dark slide? Some of the old ones didn’t have an interlock, and sometimes it doesn’t work.

Thanks for your reply.

O.k good to know that moving the silver lever isn't out of the norm. I have ensured I removed the dark slide whenever I've been out shooting.

Do you know of any other reason that I'm having problems?

When shooting - and you can do this with no film in the camera - does the viewfinder go black after triggering the shutter? Do you have a second lens to try? You could remove the lens and check to be sure it is cocked correctly. There are articles online about how to do that. Be careful - I don't remember all the details. Look into the lens from the front with the f/stop open. Can you see the shutter open? There's not much that could cause this other than the lens not opening and the mirror not coming up if the darkslide is out.
I don't want to sound insulting, but I've made more mistakes and had more troubles than there are grains of sand on the beach. You say the film numbers advance, so I suppose the film is in the correct way.

The view finder looks like this after being triggered (see attached image)

I don't have a second lens to try unfortunately. I haven't removed the lens and checked if the lens is cocked properly, I will look that up to see how to do that.

Don't worry about asking about the film being in the correct way, I've been asking the same questions to! I'm used to shooting with Bronica's so the Mamiya is a little different, so I'm open to any suggestions.

I know this is a rude question, but are you sure that you inserted the film correct? I once put the roll in the wrong way so that the backing paper was facing to the camera with the wrong side. Very clear pictures taken that way.

Not rude at all.

So the new film goes on the left and you wind it until the arrow on the film matches the arrow on the inside of the film back.

Unless I'm missing something, I believe thats correct...

Tom16 said:

So the new film goes on the left and you wind it until the arrow on the film matches the arrow on the inside of the film back.

Click to expand...

The arrows are visible also the film is inserted the wrong way. The backing paper has to face the camera with the black side. Not the printed one.

Yes, and the film faces out towards the lens. I have to look carefully because it seems backwards to me.

Tom16 said:

Hello,

I recently purchased a Mamiya RB67 on eBay. I shot a test roll on it and it came out blank. I had a read up on why this could have happened and I ensured that I had the switch on the lens set to N rather than M. I went out and shot a second roll and it has again come out blank...

One thing I have noticed is that every time I take a picture and attempt to advance the film using the winder, I'm not able to until I've moved a small silver lever on the film back (please see attached photo) Is that correct or is there some sort of fault? When shooting the counter goes up with no problems, so I'm a bit perplexed.

Any help would be amazing as I've wanted to get one of these cameras for ages!

Cheers

Tom

Click to expand...

I had this same problem and had to get my body serviced. When I get back home, I’ll try to look up the thread I started here. The cocking mechanism was not working properly. Upload a photo of the front of your body without the lens attached so we can see if it is the same thing. The ring that cocks the shutter was not turning (or resetting?) back to its proper position.

EDIT: You are having to trip that lever because the lens has not been cocked and fired (Though it seems like it because the mirror is cocking and firing), so you have to manually release the film advance.

Ariston said:

I had this same problem and had to get my body serviced. When I get back home, I’ll try to look up the thread I started here. The cocking mechanism was not working properly. Upload a photo of the front of your body without the lens attached so we can see if it is the same thing. The ring that cocks the shutter was not turning (or resetting?) back to its proper position.

EDIT: You are having to trip that lever because the lens has not been cocked and fired (Though it seems like it because the mirror is cocking and firing), so you have to manually release the film advance.

Click to expand...

Thats interesting to know. Please find attached photo of the front of the camera with the lens attached.

madhatter said:

The arrows are visible also the film is inserted the wrong way. The backing paper has to face the camera with the black side. Not the printed one.

Click to expand...

O.k so this is right I think?

You can verify the lens and its shutter is working off the camera. There are two pins on the end of the lens that attaches to the camera. If you hold both of them and then rotate them you will cock the shutter. Then press the little button near those pins while rotating the pins back the other way, When you reach the end, the shutter will fire if on N. If the lens is on M, just rotate it to N and it will fire. Look through the lens to see if it is working. You can change the shutter speeds to check at all settings.

There is some good service info in the Mamiya manuals which you can download from Butkus. Note that there are different RB67 models so get the right one. https://butkus.org/chinon/mamiya.htm Good luck.

Hey Alan,

Thanks for your reply. I've just removed the lens and have moved the pins to the red and green dots, but when i push the tiny silver button nothing happens...

You have to manually move the two pins back to where they started while you hold the silver pin. When you reach the original start point, the shutter goes off.

You have to recock the shutter to re-insert the lens onto the RB67.

Alan Edward Klein said:

You have to manually move the two pins back to where they started while you hold the silver pin. When you reach the original start point, the shutter goes off.

Click to expand...

Ok cool i've just done that and the shutter went off with no problems. How do I recock the shutter on the lens, do I just manually move it around to the green and orange dot?

Did you look through the lens and see it open? Did you verify the aperture is moving correctly too? Try a few different settings just to make sure.

To put the lens on the camera, recock it first. Than put the lens on the camera. Here's instructions for RB67.

Tom16 said:

Thats interesting to know. Please find attached photo of the front of the camera with the lens attached.

Click to expand...

I am on vacation, so I don’t have mine to compare. The dark circular plate between the two chrome circles needs to be in a specific position when cocked. Maybe someone else can post a photo of a functioning RB to compare.

Welcome to Photrio.
It appears to me that you have the original model RB67 Pro. That model, and in particular that version of the film backs, does require you to move the silver lever on the back for each shot.
When you look at the negatives, are you able to see edge printing? If not, the problem is with the developing.
When you take a photo with an RB67, a series of events happens.
1) the leaf shutter in the lens closes down;
2) the mirror flips up, darkening the viewfinder;
3) the leaf shutter in the lens opens, exposing the film to the light;
4) at the end of the exposure, the leaf shutter in the lens closes.
After all that, you are left with a closed leaf shutter, film that has been exposed to light, and a dark viewfinder.
After that, you operate the lever on the side of the camera, which first lowers the mirror to both protect the film from further exposure, then cocks and opens the leaf shutter, which allows you to use the viewing system for your next photo.
And then you move the silver lever, and wind the still protected film on to the next frame.
If you prefer, you can wind the film first and cock the camera second.
It appears to me that step 3 in the numbered list above is not happening, so the film isn't being exposed to light.
There is a likelihood that this is due to a problem with the function on the lens that allows you to take photos with the mirror up.
In my copy of the manual for your camera, the description of that function is entitled "Mirror-Up Photography", and is found on page 30. The description of how the camera operates is found on the next page of that manual.
I have on at least one occasion in the past had a problem with one lens that was giving me blank frames. As it turned out, I had inadvertently bumped the flash synch selector on that lens to a position half way between the M and X positions. Setting it to X fixed the issue.
Most of those lenses have either never been used with M flashbulbs or haven't been used with M flashbulbs for decades. For that reason, the sshutters often don't work properly if you set that switch to M, accidentally or otherwise.

Alan Edward Klein said:

Did you look through the lens and see it open? Did you verify the aperture is moving correctly too? Try a few different settings just to make sure.

To put the lens on the camera, recock it first. Than put the lens on the camera. Here's instructions for RB67.
View attachment 246439

Click to expand...

So I've looked through on all the aperture settings and they all seem to open and close with no problems.

Could the reason for the blank films be as simple as the lens not being cocked when I received the camera?

Thanks for sending over the instruction page.

Hi Tom16,

Couple of simple tests to see where the problem is.
1. Cock camera and remove lens. Remeove roll film back. Hold camera up to your face and look through the back and fire the shutter. Does the mirror rise and can you seee light through the camera and does the mirror stay in the raised position until you cock the camera again?

2. With the camera cocked and the lens cocked fit the lens and select 1 second speed and widest apature. Looking through the back again fire the shutter. Can tou see the shutter open and remain open for abput 1 second then close?

Regards

Willyekerslike said:

Hi Tom16,

Couple of simple tests to see where the problem is.
1. Cock camera and remove lens. Remeove roll film back. Hold camera up to your face and look through the back and fire the shutter. Does the mirror rise and can you seee light through the camera and does the mirror stay in the raised position until you cock the camera again?

2. With the camera cocked and the lens cocked fit the lens and select 1 second speed and widest apature. Looking through the back again fire the shutter. Can tou see the shutter open and remain open for abput 1 second then close?

Regards

Click to expand...

Hey,

thanks for your message.

i've just tested the first and second steps above and it seems to be working fine.

The one problem is that the lens does not reset after firing more than once. It makes a funny whirring noise when you remove then lens...

Any thoughts on why?

Tom16 said:

The one problem is that the lens does not reset after firing more than once. It makes a funny whirring noise when you remove then lens.

Click to expand...

Just to confirm -- if you cock and mount the lens to the cocked body (with the film back off), you can see the lens fire once, but when you recock the body the lens won't fire a second time? And the pallet (internal timing delay for slow speeds) whirs when you dismount the lens? Is the lens then uncocked?

Check the M-X synch setting - put it on X.