Mamiya RB67 mirror won't go up

[dj_judas21]

Last week I bought a Mamiya RB67 Pro-S in several orders from eBay. The revolving back hasn't yet arrived so I haven't been able to attach a back, but I'm not sure if the camera is working properly.

The camera seems to be half-cocked. The cocking lever hits a hard limit near the top and can't be pressed down. The mirror is half-up and won't go higher. If I press the mirror down I can then use a small screwdriver to fully cock the body using the lens mount.

Firing the shutter causes the mirror to move back up to the half-way position. The lens mount only half returns to the uncocked state, and the cocking lever is still locked.

When the body is cocked and I try to mount a cocked lens, the lens mount locking ring does not rotate the full 1/4 turn - it seems to stick about halfway. Undoing the lens mount, it can't be undone without doing the trick of inserting a paperclip into the hole by the lens mount.

As I said, I don't have the back mounted yet - would this cause the camera to behave differently? Is it broken?

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide

 

[mickster]

It sounds like the body has a problem. The the mirror should move down cleanly & completely when cocking, and should move the mirror all the way back up when firing. It should do this even when no lens or revolving adapter is attached. Does the mirror stick even when no lens is attached?

It probably needs a good overhaul by a repair shop. If the body was sold as working then i'd return it

HTH

 

[dj_judas21]

Thanks - this is the news I was dreading

When the body first showed up with a lens, I mounted the lens and tried cocking and firing a few times. It seemed to work. I didn't do anything other than swap lenses and then I put the camera aside for a couple of days. The next time I tried to swap lenses, the lens mount ring wouldn't fully untwist and the camera was in the state I described above.

The fact that I think it worked when it first arrived means I can't blame the seller, although I don't think I broke it either. The last thing I did to it before it broke was attempt to use T mode. The shutter never closed, and that was that.

Any ideas how much a repair shop might cost?

 

[paul ron]

Send it back, it's not your fault.

 

[mickster]

Thanks - this is the news I was dreading

Any ideas how much a repair shop might cost?

Hard to say - i'd estimate something around 100quid mark for a body overhaul, lube and adjust. I'd first try and return it if you can and get another setup on ebay etc.

If you go the repair route I can recommend Graham Playford in London http://www.playfordrepairs.com/ and Protech in Sussex http://www.protechrepairs.co.uk/ for cheap, good quality repairs and overhauls. It'll cost you some money but then you'll at least know the camera will be reliable and will last you for several years. These cameras are ultra reliable once they've been CLA'd.

 

[Athiril]

In T mode you need to close the shutter yourself, by rotating back to 1s or by pressing the mirror return.

It sounds like it may well be a faulty lens.

Does it function/fire and mirror return without the lens?

 

[dj_judas21]

Yes, all three of my lenses function normally when unmounted from the body. The fault is certainly with the body.

Given that I have a complete set of all accessories for the camera, it would probably work out cheapest overall to buy just a new body and sell on the old body for parts.

Thanks for your recommendations of camera repair outlets - when I've get a complete setup that I like I'll have it all serviced.

 

[dj_judas21]

I tinkered with the body a little, and now it is doing something different. It seems to cock almost normally, but when firing the shutter, the mirror only returns halfway up and the lens mount cocking ring only returns halfway too. I took a short video:

[video=youtube;1cGqSVOjv70]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cGqSVOjv70[/video]

The cocking lever meets no resistance for the first half of its travel. It's not until the second half that the mirror starts to move - you can see this particularly well in the video, the second time I cock the camera.

After firing, when the mirror is halfway up, it's quite loose. I can lift it all the way up to the top with a finger but it doesn't stay up. When the mirror is moved up, the cocking ring doesn't turn.

Does this mean a spring is broken or worn? Is it an easy fix?