pentax 67 Mirror lock up question

Hi everyone,
I finally got myself a pentax 67. My first medium format camera. I have read the manuals and all, and it seemq really cool and not to hard to use.
There is one thing though I can't figure out:

When pushing to mirror lock up button, indeed the mirror flips away and one can't see anything anymore trough the viewer. But how to undo that? Other than pressing the release button and actually making a photo?

Thanks for any help, Best regards Sam

you can't. you've got to press the shutter release. If you've got multiple exposure capabilities like the 67II does then you can put the lens cap on, stop the lens all the way down, put shutter speed to 1000 and shoot the back of the lens cap, then just cock the shutter again and you're good to go.

congrats on the new camera. i got a late model 67, and it's one of my favorite cameras now. i have the f4/45, my most used lens since i like wide angle.

Yup...yer stuck! Be sure mirror lock-up is the very, very last thing you do.

ok, thanks for explaining, quess this is quite clear.
I don't see why they don;t make a mechanism that automaticly triggers the mirror in sync with the exposuretime, but what the hell. I'll manage.
In a few months it'll be a routine.
I will surely get a 55 mm wide angle. and on longer terms a tele lens, for now I will use my 105mm, just like I mostly used my 50mm lens on my 35mm camera.

By the way: One more thing:

If I look trough the camera, ergo the lens, the image is somewhat warmer than in reality. Some orange like glow. My old camera had none of this. I checked if a filter was present in fornt of the lens, but that was not the case. Anyone a clue??

Thanks again, SAM

game said:

ok, thanks for explaining, quess this is quite clear.
I don't see why they don;t make a mechanism that automaticly triggers the mirror in sync with the exposuretime, but what the hell. I'll manage.
In a few months it'll be a routine.

Click to expand...

Now I am confused, the mirror in the Pentax is synced with the exposure time and the shutter release, just as ever other camera I have ever used with the mirror lock up feature, all cameras that I have used in the last 25 years, the mirror lock up feature is the last thing you do before you make the exposure...??? but they have all been synced to the shutter so that it releases and comes back down after the exposure has been made!

Dave

You are correct and thus it is with the Pentax 67. But - since the mirror on this camera is only slightly smaller than New Jersey, it is often manually locked up to avoid the small earthquake that occurs when it flips op. That way, you can wait for the shaking to stop b4 you trip the sutter.

Pentax 67

I have several of these bodies. I love the camera. The previous posters pretty much covered the MLU question. To reiterate, the mirror flips up when you press the shutter and goes back down at the end of the exposure time. MLU is used when you don't want to endure the shake from the mirror. You push the MLU button, the mirror flips up, you press the shutter and the mirror returns after the exposure time.

The 105 lens tends to yellow as it ages. I don't remember if it's a coating or the type of glass that's used but I'm sure someone here will be able to elaborate.

Finally use a good battery. I used to use lithium but silver batteries are better for this camera especially if you are using the metered finder. I can't tell you the number of times that I've tripped the shutter only to have the mirror stay locked up because of a low battery.

great post, thanks.
Only weird that the lens tends to yellow with age, can someone elaborate on that matter?

3 points.

a. The mirror locked up can be released by depressing a tiny black button on the front left ( if you are facing the camera ) and then hitting the shutter button.
see attached image

b. The early 70's Pentax lenses sometimes used glass with trace amounts of radioactive elements that decay over time causing this "yellowing" effect. You can undo this by letting the lens sit and get hit by sunlight ( UV ) over a period of time. Otherwise, the yellowing will warm the photos you take. The lens is NOT dangerous but I wouldnt keep it close to your eyes for any length of time...see http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00D80Y

c. read about Pentax 67 lenses here

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/p67ss.htm

thanks for that post. very usefull. I will surely use that Uv treatment.
one thing about that little button to flip the mirror back in it's position: I also read that in de manual, but I don't fully get it. You push that button shoot a picture and then?

How does it work?

Best regards and thanks Sam

We may be talking of 2 different buttons related to MLU. The slide button at the lens mount point is the MLU trigger. Push this one just before firing the shutter button. The other button mentioned is the very small round button mounted on the body front, just below the shutter release button. This will unlock the mirror if it is in the up position and requires a pointed object to press it easily.

I'll second the importance of battery health and also that I've found better luck with the silver cell over the alkaline alternative. There is a small voltage difference and all of my bodies seem sensitive to this factor and will misbehave with the alkalines.

hmmm, I will surely go for that silver baterie. But what about those two buttons? I mean the bigger black slide one is what locks the mirror up to prevent shaking. the other button "unlocks it". what is that supposed to mean?

Thanks for explaining, Sam

Pressing the shutter cycles the shutter and the mirror then returns to its normal down position. The small button is for unlocking the mirror if it is in the up postion and not releasing Also, if you put a battery in with the mirror in the up position, the battery will drain as long as the mirror is up. The safety button allows you to unlock the mirror in this case.

Try it

I think the easiest thing you can do is try it. When I first got one I played with all the buttons to make sure I understood everything. You will either have to put a roll of film into it or set the film counter above 1 so the shutter will trip.

John

I will

craigclu said:

Pressing the shutter cycles the shutter and the mirror then returns to its normal down position. The small button is for unlocking the mirror if it is in the up postion and not releasing Also, if you put a battery in with the mirror in the up position, the battery will drain as long as the mirror is up. The safety button allows you to unlock the mirror in this case.

Click to expand...

I will try to fully crasp the camera. It's great to take photo's not havin to think about that kind of stuff.
But, hope i'm not to repetitive, I still don;t fully get the quoted thing.

For as what I read this is described:

1. you slide the button to lock the mirror up to prevent shaking when taking a photograph.

thats perfectly clear.

2. after that photo the mirror is back in position. clear as well.

then 3. Their seems to be a second little button that unlocks the mirror.
I found it and when pressing nothing happens.
As quoted above, the mirror should return to it's original position right? The same effect as takin a photo withouth actually exposing film, right?
well as said. Nothing happens. Still can't see a thing looking through the camera, which indicates the mirror is still flipped up.
So what does the button actally do, as it is not bringen the mirror back? and what should be done?

Sorry but someone has to describe this in a very overdone way. I am not to slwo understanding these kind of things. normally that is

Thanks a lot everyone so far.
Bet regards SAM

My only suggestion is to make sure you are fully depressing the button. I usually use a toothpick or something similar. The only time I have had the mirror not return was whenever I was having battery problems. In those cases I had to remove the battery.