Mamiya Six Folder

AlexiaMane

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Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well.

My Mamiya Six version KII has arrived from Japan after only 3 days in transit! Its condition is pristine as well as its case, it really is a beautiful little camera! The viewfinder is only slightly hazy so I'll have to get that cleaned in the future. I've got a few questions regarding the camera though;
  1. Am I able to connect a shutter release cable to it, if yes, what sort of cable should I be looking at?
  2. I've already loaded a roll of film in it, but it doesn't have a frame counter so I suppose I'm supposed to look through the small window on the back of the camera to see which frame I'm on?
  3. Maybe a dumb question, but I can set the ASA up until 200, after that there appears an "S" on the dial, what does this mean/stand for?
  4. I've loaded it with Portra 400, will the colors be different/less saturated because it was meant to only shoot black and white film?
I've never shot such an old camera before so any help/tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
 

Donald Qualls

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The ASA dial is just a reminder for the photographer -- if I've loaded 800 speed in mine with good results. A standard cable release should screw into the shutter release button on the top deck. And yes, you use the red window(s) on the back of the camera. Mine is dual format, so I have to be sure I set the selector inside the door to match whether the format flaps are in or out.

And optics don't care whether it's black and white film or color, it'll be fine either way. The first roll I shot in my Mamiya 6 was color -- looks great!

Be sure to watch a video on the correct way to load the camera (hopefully you already did that) -- if you don't thread the film right and get the pressure plate back in on top of it, stuff won't work as it should.
 

Ariston

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Hi Alexia, you've chosen an awesome camera.

1) I believe it connects to the lens (the leaf shutter is in the lens).
2) Yes, open the window, roll to the next number, close the window, and shoot.
3) I'm not sure because I don't have my camera in front of me. But that dial (if it is an ASA dial) doesn't matter. It is just there to help you remember which film you have loaded.
4) No. Color film will still be color film. That camera was only "meant" to shoot black and white because perhaps color film didn't exist yet. Regardless, it is just a box with a lens, so color film will react normally (as long as it fits).

My only tip is to make a routine so you don't double expose or skip a frame. I always wind right before I shoot so I don't have to guess whether I've already exposed the frame I'm on, especially if the camera has been setting with film in it.
 

Donald Qualls

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Ariston said:
1) I believe it connects to the lens (the leaf shutter is in the lens).
Click to expand...

I just checked mine (even though I'm at work, it's in my coat pocket): the shutter release button on the top deck is threaded for the cable release. There is no socket on the shutter itself (though there is a PC flash sync connector on the shutter housing).

And there's one of the wonderful things with this camera -- a 6x6 medium format camera, in a coat pocket.
 

tokam

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Mine has a male thread surrounding the shutter release button. I tried a Nikon AR-2 cable release but the threads don't quite match up.

I still have a couple of issues to resolve with mine. If I can't fix it I'll probably look for another copy from Japan, particularly the models that do 6x4.5 as well as 6x6.
 
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AlexiaMane

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Hi everyone! Thanks for replying so fast! I managed to connect the shutter release cable to the camera, I apparently just didn't how it worked (had never used one before) I'll make sure to share some photos once my first roll is developed! Would love to see a few of yours as well I'm so excited to start shooting with this little one!
 

Andrew O'Neill

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AlexiaMane said:
Aww too bad! Hope you'll be able to get it soon!
Click to expand...

Would be nice to get it now, but I can wait until I'm allowed to go over there to pick it up...and use it!. I'm hoping Spring, 2022.
 

Wayne

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I just picked up a KII also. You got a better deal-I wanted a case but grew tired of waiting for one with everything I wanted and jumped on the one with the best looking lens. Even still it came with all sorts of unseen and unmentioned fungus but it cleaned up well.
 
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AlexiaMane

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Hahahaha it definitely was a bit more pricey than all the others but it was worth it! How did you clean up the fungus? Mine K-II's viewfinder is slightly hazy, I screwed the top off but wasn't able to clean it that way so it's probably on the inside...
 

Wayne

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I used what I had available...microfiber cloth, lens cleaner and ethanol. It came off pretty easily. I also have a hazy viewfinder that needs to be dealt with. Have you looked at this page? I bookmarked it but haven't really read it.

https://tinkeringwithcameras.blogspot.com/2016/03/mamiya-six-restoration.html
 

tokam

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The rangefinder on mine needs to be disassembled and cleaned. I have the acetone and/or methylated spirits. I plan to re-glue it with black nail enamel, (left over by my niece).

Just gotta get the nerve up to start on this.
 

Wayne

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tokam said:
The rangefinder on mine needs to be disassembled and cleaned. I have the acetone and/or methylated spirits. I plan to re-glue it with black nail enamel, (left over by my niece).

Just gotta get the nerve up to start on this.
Click to expand...

I hope you will take pictures and notes through the process, because I think I will have to do mine too. But I'm scared of small delicate things, and they are scared of me.He does show it here but since every one of these things seems to be slightly different... the RFs probably are too https://tinkeringwithcameras.blogspot.com/2016/03/mamiya-six-restoration.html

I was able to take the top off and adjust my rangefinder today though. Its hard to find the screw through the access hole, but it was a breeze with the top off.

I shot my first roll today, or should I say half roll. I honestly cannot see the $%#$ frame numbers in that little red window half the time and I went past the next frame multiple times. I need to find a better way to advance the film, get a new red window, mark the advance lever, or something...mine doesn't have a counter.
 

MattKing

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Wayne

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MattKing said:
Get one of those pocket sized LED flashlights - they make the world of difference.
This sort of thing: https://www.amazon.ca/RISEMART-Flas...d+light&qid=1613339235&sr=8-9&tag=googcana-20

View attachment 266607
Click to expand...

There's only one flaw with that method. I have to remember the flashlight. That's how I read it when I took a couple shots in my house, but part of the reason I got this was for portability and I don't really want more moving, loseable forgettable parts in my 6 kit. And I was worried about fogging the film. Gotta be a way to mark the advance knob and maybe the top too, not so much to count but to know when I've advanced one frame. Though I suppose that might change a little as I advance through the frame and the takeup roll gets bigger. Not sure if its enough to matter though.
 

MattKing

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The flashlight also helps you see the dials on the camera and find stuff in the camera bag .
I keep one in each camera bag - $4 at the Dollar store.
 

Wayne

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MattKing said:
The flashlight also helps you see the dials on the camera and find stuff in the camera bag .
I keep one in each camera bag - $4 at the Dollar store.
Click to expand...

Ah that's right, you carry yours in a bag. I have a ton of small flashlights but I could still lose it in a camera bag. But I plan to carry mine either in its case (once I get one) or in a pocket.
 

Donald Qualls

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MattKing said:
The flashlight also helps you see the dials on the camera and find stuff in the camera bag .
I keep one in each camera bag - $4 at the Dollar store.
Click to expand...

If you're in an area that has Harbor Freight stores, you can often get a little pocket flashlight there for free -- sign up for their sale mailings, they do this at least two or three times a year. Those free flashlights include 3xAAA in a little holder -- I wondered for a long time why the removable holder, until I realized that the entire holder was substituting for a CR123 lithium primary cell, which will outlast the 3xAAA cells by a factor of five or so (and can be had online for significantly lower cost than fifteen times as many AAA cells).

I carry one of these lights in my pocket, all the time (along with my Leatherman tool, fifty year old Victorinox pocket knife, magnesium/ferrocerium fire starter, and some bits of this and that). My first one finally gave up the ghost a couple years ago -- after eight years of daily use -- so I got another one, free again. Strong refutation of the adage that anything free is worth what you paid for it...
 

Donald Qualls

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I use my pocket flashlight at work, where I don't want to risk getting my phone greasy, and that establishes a habit of reaching for the flash, rather than the phone, for light.
 

MattKing

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The light from my flip phone isn't all that great .
It works really well though as a phone!
 

Wayne

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A smartphone is an abomination and I'm with Matt.
 
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