Rangerfinder issue with Mamiya 7

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

The last two days i have been shooting a rangefinder for the first time. The focus is fine on all my shots but i cant shoot closeup. I downloaded the manual and it states that i can shoot from one meter, isn't one meter apx 3.26 feet? My rangefinder wont line up until 5 feet from the subject. Is it defective or should i not worry about it?

Thanks!

sanking · Sep 15, 2009

J Rollinger said:
The last two days i have been shooting a rangefinder for the first time. The focus is fine on all my shots but i cant shoot closeup. I downloaded the manual and it states that i can shoot from one meter, isn't one meter apx 3.26 feet? My rangefinder wont line up until 5 feet from the subject. Is it defective or should i not worry about it?

Thanks!

It is not defective but apparently needs aligning. I have several Mamiya 7II and 7 bodies and the rangefinder on all of them will focus to about three feet with the 65mm lens. And the 7 body looks fairly abused, at least cosmetically.

It seems odd that the alignment on your 7 would be off by that much! Are you sure that you are focusing correctly with the rangefinder.

Sandy

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

sanking said:
It is not defective but apparently needs aligning. I have several Mamiya 7II and 7 bodies and the rangefinder on all of them will focus to about three feet with the 65mm lens.

It seems odd that the alignment would be off by that much! Are you sure that you are focusing correctly with the rangefinder.

Sandy

I align the images until they are imposed over each other. Do i need a shop to align the rangefinder or can i do it myself?

Thanks

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

I just measured from the point of focus to the lens and it is 5' 4" exactly.

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

Here is something odd! When i rotate the lens to focus closeup the lens stops a little under 2 meters (the scale on the lens). Could my lens be damaged? I cant turn it far enough for the scale to align with the red line at 1 meter. This is my first rangefinder so please excuse me for not having knowledge on this subject.

ic-racer · Sep 15, 2009

Focal length? (They don't all focus to the same near distance) Do you have the 150? Its minimum is around 6 feet.
If you have the shorter lenses, then there is a problem in the focus mechanism of the lens rather than your body. It sounds like your rangefinder is aligned correctly.

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

ic-racer said:
Focal length? (They don't all focus to the same near distance) Do you have the 150? Its minimum is around 6 feet.
If you have the shorter lenses, then there is a problem in the focus mechanism of the lens rather than your body. It sounds like your rangefinder is aligned correctly.

Its a 65mm lens.

J Rollinger · Sep 15, 2009

Update! I turned the focus ring about 10 times back and forth and now it focuses fine with the rangefinder at 3 feet. Could this issue have happened because the camera was sitting for 5 years untouched. The lens would not turn any farther than 2 meters but now it perfect. Has anyone ever heard of this happening from a camera sitting for 5 years. Works great now!!!

Tom Stanworth · Sep 17, 2009

Could be that something got gummed up!

elekm · Sep 17, 2009

Cameras and lenses are mostly mechanical devices that contain lubrication, including grease. Grease can thicken and harden (Agfa lenses) because of not being used. That's quite normal.

Also, how cameras are stored can affect lubricants.

jp80874 · Sep 17, 2009

elekm said:
Also, how cameras are stored can affect lubricants.

Mike,

Can you expand on this, possibly starting a new thread if expansion would high jack this one.

Thanks,

John Powers

Rangerfinder issue with Mamiya 7

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency