Mamiya RZ67 ProII - shutter / darkslide problem

[WET-photo]

Hello there!

I think I'm having a problem with my newly purchased RZ67 and I hope you guys could help me out.

The ProII film back seems to have two problems:

First, I am able to release the shutter when in landscape mode with the darkslide IN! No warning LEDs, nothing. The camera just happily fires away.
Second, I'm not able to release the shutter in portrait mode with the darkslide OUT. The red warning LED is glowing and I can only shoot in portrait mode when using the multi exposure feature.

So I quickly browsed through the manual if there's any crucial thing I screwed up but apparantly the back/camera has a defect.

Just for the record:

I crank the advance lever, I focus with the knobs, then I pull out my darkslide, de R-M lever is aligned with the white square, the shutter release collar is aligned with the white dot. I press the shutter button - the camera does nothing apart from letting the red LED glow because I'm in portrait mode.

Battery's fine, shutter times seem to run correctly.

What the heck am I doing wrong or is my gear defect?? Any tips would be highly appreciated!

Best regards,
Markus

 

[illumiquest]

I had the same problem with an RB67... Then I bought a Hasselblad.

 

[WET-photo]

NOT an option ... I rephrase: "Any HELPFUL tips would be highly appreciated!"

For what it's worth: seems that the second problem is due to contact problems when attaching the back. First problem remains ...

Cheers!

 

[EdSawyer]

Try a different back for starters.

 

[WET-photo]

Yeah, that'd be nice but I don't have one available right now and spending more money is not an option right now. Anyway, after wasting 2 films I found my workaround: Just leave the darkslide in the storage slot of the back, I don't have any backs to change anyways. And as already mentioned, portrait orientation seems to have a contact problem and that's solved by pressing the locking lever reeeeaaally hard to the left side.

Thanks for trying to help!

 

[WET-photo]

Digging up this thread to show one possible solution:
I convinced a trusted electrician (hey Dad!) to tinker around with my RZ67 and voila, problem solved! Short story even shorter: the base of the darkslide contact broke. We glued it back together and documented the whole operation. Feel free to check it out and if you have any input I'd be glad to update my guide

Mamiya RZ67 Darkslide Repair Guide | wet-photo.at

 

[k.hendrik]

As a father of a RZ I wouldn't dare to operate on my own son ! You did a great job, thanks for the pics; like to take a peek inside his head.