New C330 owner

grokglock · Sep 15, 2015

I just ordered a C330 of an auction site. I bought it to replace my Bronica that ate 3 lenses before I had enough.

I usually shoot 4x5 so I am fairly confident in inspecting and operating large and medium format cameras.

Are there any areas or components that fail on these mamiyas or that I should pay extra attention to? I have 14 days to return if I find something wrong.

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flavio81 · Sep 15, 2015

grokglock said:
I just ordered a C330 of an auction site. I bought it to replace my Bronica that ate 3 lenses before I had enough.

I usually shoot 4x5 so I am fairly confident in inspecting and operating large and medium format cameras.

Are there any areas or components that fail on these mamiyas or that I should pay extra attention to? I have 14 days to return if I find something wrong.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

Search the internet about the foam that is inside the focusing screen assembly. It rots, and this affects the focusing accuracy. Replacing can be done easily by yourself. I have posted about this in detail one or two months ago. This is not cause for returning the camera, since it will happen just because of the passage of time.

Now, inspect the front plate (the front plate that supports the lenses and moves while focusing). It should be completely parallel to the body and should have no wobble (try grabbing it and moving it). If it has some wobble, time to return the camera. Other than that, those cameras give no problem.

Ah, the bellows, this camera has inner and outer bellows. So even if the outer bellows is damaged, this does not necessarily mean stray light would enter the film.

pbromaghin · Sep 15, 2015

The pad between the ground glass and the body can deteriorate, causing disagreement between it and the film plane. It's not an expensive fix.

I see Flavio beat me to it.

macfred · Sep 15, 2015

Graham Patterson's site about the Mamiya TLR system might be useful http://www.gapatterson.com/grahamp/

ajmiller · Sep 15, 2015

I thought the wind-on could be one area of problem? Otherwise great cameras and lenses.

Matt Fattori · Sep 15, 2015

Be cautious about what lenses you use: some of the older ones don't mount properly on the C330. I can't recall the exact details but putting a chrome 180mm lens on mine caused problems.

flavio81 · Sep 15, 2015

Matt Fattori said:
Be cautious about what lenses you use: some of the older ones don't mount properly on the C330. I can't recall the exact details but putting a chrome 180mm lens on mine caused problems.

Only the old, very old 180mm will not mount on that machine. It is marked "f=18cm". It will not mount at all due to it having no space allocated for the camera cocking lever.

grahamp · Sep 15, 2015

The body does not have a lot of issues - film advance should also operate the shutter cocking arm, the lens standard should be parallel to the film plane, and the Lock control should operate the internal film baffle. The back on the C330 uses a catch that rotates to lock. This can be confusing when it will not slide! It is not uncommon for the sliding mask on the depth of field scale to not move. The spring sometimes breaks. The DoF scales are iffy on these cameras.

On the lenses, the shutter should operate, the glass should be clean. When put on the body it should cock on film advance and release with the body triggers (one on the chin, one on the lens panel).

Sirius Glass · Sep 15, 2015

Enjoy your camera.

MattKing · Sep 15, 2015

On mine, the shutter release lock is too loose - it sometimes engages all by itself. That isn't all that important, unless you cannot figure out why the shutter won't release.

They come with a 3/8" tripod socket and usually an adapter to permit use with a 1/4" tripod screw. The adapters are generic and easy to find.

grokglock · Sep 15, 2015

Thanks guys, I'm going to run a test roll through it and hopefully the focusing is OK. I should be able to find anything within the 14 day return period.

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flavio81 · Sep 16, 2015

I can't go to page 2 of this thread! - unless i do a new post. Is anybody experiencing this problem?

DavidClapp · Sep 16, 2015

I would say make sure the film advance arm doesn't sound squeaky or feel rough. I tried quite a few of these cameras when looking for a C330f and there was a lot of differentiation in quality. My older C3 has a better mechanical feel than the later C330f that I own, many of these were wedding cameras so they can be heavily warn internally.

mjork · Sep 17, 2015

I just put my father's old C330 into service. He bought it new back then and it hasn't seen a huge amount of use.
I'm getting a very uneven spacing in-between the pictures on the roll of film. Is that normal with these cameras?
Not really a problem because so far the images never overlap, but I'm wondering if this indicates some kind of problem with the camera (or its operator...) ?

benjiboy · Sep 17, 2015

I've used a C330F for almost thirty years, the frame spacing should be equal the camera needs cleaning, lubricating, and adjusting, particularly the film winding mechanism if you need it to be in tip top condition.

Sirius Glass · Sep 17, 2015

benjiboy said:
I've used a C330F for almost thirty years, the frame spacing should be equal the camera needs cleaning, lubricating, and adjusting, particularly the film winding mechanism if you need it to be in tip top condition.

Wot he sed.

+1

grahamp · Sep 17, 2015

One possible cause for uneven (large) frame spacing is not latching both sides of the back properly. The back is flexible and the take up spool needs to wind tight for the gear wheel underneath to correctly measure each frame. If you are skipping whole frames, then look up the 'short wind off feature'. Any pressure on the shutter releases on the body will prevent the shutter from releasing, and make you advance to a new frame in error. Some bodies are sensitive to this, others not.

That's not to say that a clean would be a bad thing, but it is always worth checking physical things first. I keep a sacrificed roll of old film around for testing. I just carefully re-roll it after use. It is labeled, naturally!

Sirius Glass · Sep 17, 2015

Time for a CLA.

New C330 owner

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