New to the Mamiya RZ: ? about cable releases

MatthewDunn · Jul 3, 2013

Hi all. First post here on the forums. Apologies in advance as I have seen the topic of cable releases discussed in a number of places, but I was unable to find my exact question. My question is what, if any, is the advantage of the Mamiya-brand electronic release over the double-release or just a single release used after manually triggering the MLU? I am expecting a RZ from KEH in the next couple of days and will have it sit on a sturdy Gitzo with a RRS heavy ballhead so stability should not be an issue (although weight certainly will be). I just want to make sure that my pictures are as sharp as they can be and which, if any, of the cable releases I should be focusing on.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

omaha · Jul 3, 2013

(I learned the hard way about leaving the lens in cable release mode. Oops...)

I use a plain, old (bought it over 30 years ago) cable release on my RB (after manually firing the body, as you say). Works fine.

Although to be honest, these things are so heavy, and therefore have so much inertia, and the mirror mechanism is so well damped (they have a little device internally that keeps the mirror from flipping up too fast) I'm not sure any of this really matters.

Enjoy your RZ!

MatthewDunn · Jul 3, 2013

omaha said:
Although to be honest, these things are so heavy, and therefore have so much inertia, and the mirror mechanism is so well damped (they have a little device internally that keeps the mirror from flipping up too fast) I'm not sure any of this really matters.

Good to know. As I said, I own one of the heavier (maybe the heaviest) Gitzo made as well as the 55 lb. capable head from RRS, so I have to believe that the system is going to be heavy enough to kill any vibrations. Having said that, everyone seems to recommend them, which is what gave rise to the question in the first instance.

polyglot · Jul 3, 2013

The electronic one allows very-remote release, e.g. can be adapted to radio etc. In conjunction with the motor winder, you effectively get a remotely operatable camera.

With mechanical releases, you're limited to maybe 5m of range using a pneumatic tube. Or ~1m with a cable.

The mirror slap DOES matter. For any shutter speed around 1/2 to 1/30 it will result in visible softness unless the camera is basically bolted directly to a block of concrete. Speeds at 1/focal-length or faster are OK. Very slow speeds are OK as long as there are no point-lights in the scene, e.g. if you assume there's about 1/8 of shake then for any exposure longer than about 1s, the shaking portion will be 3 stops underexposed and therefore mostly invisible. If you have point-lights though, that is no longer true; if you take a 2-minute night exposure with street lights but without using MLU then there will be visible tails on the lights because they're so bright that their motion will register on the film even in that 1/8s of shake.

For critical sharpness, always use MLU for any speed below 1/250. For a good tripod, wait 2s between mirror and shutter; for a crap tripod you might need to wait 10s but it will eventually be stable enough to get a perfect result even with the cheapest floppiest support.

MatthewDunn · Jul 3, 2013

polyglot said:
The electronic one allows very-remote release, e.g. can be adapted to radio etc. In conjunction with the motor winder, you effectively get a remotely operatable camera.

With mechanical releases, you're limited to maybe 5m of range using a pneumatic tube. Or ~1m with a cable.

The mirror slap DOES matter. For any shutter speed around 1/2 to 1/30 it will result in visible softness unless the camera is basically bolted directly to a block of concrete. Speeds at 1/focal-length or faster are OK. Very slow speeds are OK as long as there are no point-lights in the scene, e.g. if you assume there's about 1/8 of shake then for any exposure longer than about 1s, the shaking portion will be 3 stops underexposed and therefore mostly invisible. If you have point-lights though, that is no longer true; if you take a 2-minute night exposure with street lights but without using MLU then there will be visible tails on the lights because they're so bright that their motion will register on the film even in that 1/8s of shake.

For critical sharpness, always use MLU for any speed below 1/250. For a good tripod, wait 2s between mirror and shutter; for a crap tripod you might need to wait 10s but it will eventually be stable enough to get a perfect result even with the cheapest floppiest support.

Does the electronic release operate both the mirror as well as the shutter, or are you manually pressing the shutter button to raise the mirror, waiting a period of time, and then using the electronic shutter? More generally, how does Mamiya's double cable release work if you need to wait a period of time between the raising of the mirror and the release of the shutter?

polyglot · Jul 4, 2013

I don't know, sorry. I don't have the electronic release. (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

With the double cable, one end has a longer pin than the other, or maybe the trigger is buried more deeply in the lens. You press it in a little, the mirror goes up. You press it in further and the shutter goes off.

Ghostman · Jul 4, 2013

MatthewDunn said:
Does the electronic release operate both the mirror as well as the shutter, or are you manually pressing the shutter button to raise the mirror, waiting a period of time, and then using the electronic shutter? More generally, how does Mamiya's double cable release work if you need to wait a period of time between the raising of the mirror and the release of the shutter?

I do believe that the electronic release is to be used for normal operation, not mirror up.

The double cable release works like this:

1) A is attached to the lens (the socket will raise when done properly)
2) B is attached to the camera shutter release button

If you press the double cable release you will see that B is extended first, then if you press harder A will be extended. The sensitivity of this can be adjusted. So, when it's attached to the camera you slowly press it half way, you will hear the mirror raise, you wait a few seconds and then squeeze to the end and you will hear the shutter fire, you can then release the cable.

I have one, it works well. I don't have the electronic one.

I found (there was a url link here which no longer exists) in the archives.

New to the Mamiya RZ: ? about cable releases

MatthewDunn

omaha

MatthewDunn

polyglot

MatthewDunn

polyglot

Ghostman

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency