Repairing a mamiya 645 1000s

[panchromatic]

I work at a camera store, and an older gentleman brought in a mamiya 645 1000s. At first i looked all right, but then i noticed it had fungus or something growing in the lens, and the shutter has mold on it as well. The lens focus but its a little snug, but not too bad. The shutter appears to fire correctly (though i haven't had it professionally tested) I shot a test roll at my work and it seems to work well, though since i was inside i shot everythign at 2.8 and i assume that at 11 or 16 the fungus will start to make a difference. Since it needs a lot of work the older guy wanted to see if it was worth fixing for him, and its a lot of work he just gave the camera to me. I remember reading of some way of killing the fungus or whatever it is without taking the lens apart. And I'm sure its a silly question, but how difficult is it to take the camera apart and clean it? (i've taken alot of things apart, but never a camera)

PS: I know your all going to tell me not to attempt it, but I just needed to hear it from you all Grazie!

 

[panchromatic]

I forgot to mention i'm friends with a guy who owns a repair shop, so i could have him repair the body in his spare time if i needed, but i though if it wasn't too bad i might experiment with it myself.

 

[David Brown]

...(i've taken alot of things apart, but never a camera)

Me, too.

So, I once took apart a Mamiya (tlr) lens to unstick the shutter. (A common problem)

"How hard could it be?"

Later, I sent the carefully packed parts to a repairman to put back together.:rolleyes:

Ask a real repairman. If the lens can be "de-fungused", that camera is worth a CLA! Actually, the camera is probably worth a CLA anyway, and a new 80mm lens from KEH wouldn't set you back much.

Cheers,

David

 

[dans]

If you look at the auction sites and a few of the used dealers online, you'll probably find that the replacement cost for the 1000s body is fairly low. These bodies are fairly old in the 645 line and you can pick them up cheaply.

As for the lens, a used 80mm 2.8 lens may be worth a CLA. You should perform some due diligence to see how much it would cost versus a used replacement.

BTW: I've got a 1000s that I use. I've often thought about replacing it with a newer body since I could keep the lenses and film holders. That may be an option here also.

Dan

 

[bohica]

Dan, I thought the same about 2 yrs ago and tried a pro, felt like cheap plastic camera compared to my 1000s or my older m645s