RZ67 Not Advancing Correctly?

tron_ · Jul 22, 2012

So I am having problems with my RZ67 again, this time when I advance the film and go to fire the shutter, the orange light in the viewfinder comes on and the shutter does not fire (nor does the mirror flip up).

When I flip the camera to multiple exposure mode the camera works just fine. The battery is good (tested it with a volt meter) and even tried another battery.

Has anyone else had a similar problem to this?

tron_ · Jul 22, 2012

I noticed that when I advance the film in the regular mode, the frame counter on the back does not advance. Is this a sign of a faulty back?

Also, with the back removed, the camera does the same thing (orange light in viewfinder, mirror does not flip up and shutter does not fire.

Edit: When I manually spin the feeder spool (on the left) the frame counter does not advance on the back. This would indicate a faulty back too?

polyglot · Jul 22, 2012

It sounds like the advance is not coupled properly between body and back. When you crank, there's a little 4-tooth wheel that drives the back and that can have problems engaging sometimes. One of my bodies will advance reliably in portrait orientation but not landscape. To work around this problem, crank the camera then advance the back using the wheel on its top-right until it clicks (number has moved on, red-tab (if any) has moved out, knob will advance no further).

The back has a pin that indicates to the body whether it's been completely advanced to the next frame or not. Until the back has advanced and indicates as such, the body will show orange-LED unless you bypass double-exposure-prevention with the M lever. And you will be causing yourself a double exposure.

Edit: with the back open, the spools are completely disconnected from the advancement and frame-counting mechanisms. So yes, they spin freely. Opening the back is how the back knows when to reset the counter.

tron_ · Jul 23, 2012

Hey, thanks a lot for the heads up. I think I might have a problematic back after reading your post. I switched the back from portrait to landscape orientation a few times and then cleaned the coupling pins and the camera seems to be working fine now. I have been meaning to pick up a second back anyways so I will probably give that a shot if this happens again.

Also, just curious but should the camera fire normally without film in it? I swear when I got the camera I test fired it without film, but now it won't fire (I get the orange light again) if the back is empty.

EdSawyer · Jul 23, 2012

"Also, just curious but should the camera fire normally without film in it? I swear when I got the camera I test fired it without film, but now it won't fire (I get the orange light again) if the back is empty. "

If you set the multi-exposure lever to M (multiple exposure) you can fire it without film in it or without a back attached, I believe.

tron_ · Jul 23, 2012

Yes I can confirm it can fire without film in the multi-exposure mode. But I was wondering if it can fire without film in normal operation?

Also, I received an awesome pm suggesting leaving the camera on multi-exposure mode and after each frame, manually advance the film via the wheel on the back.

jayvo86 · Jul 23, 2012

EdSawyer said:
"Also, just curious but should the camera fire normally without film in it? I swear when I got the camera I test fired it without film, but now it won't fire (I get the orange light again) if the back is empty. "

If you set the multi-exposure lever to M (multiple exposure) you can fire it without film in it or without a back attached, I believe.

Doesn't the M mean manual?

Setting it on M allows you independent control of the back and the body.

When you set it on the "dash," the camera should advance the film when you cock the shutter. (Of course, only with film it in.)

Keep in mind you will have to manually advance the film to the first frame via the back. Then the body will advance the film on "dash" mode.

jayvo86 · Jul 23, 2012

tron_ said:
Yes I can confirm it can fire without film in the multi-exposure mode. But I was wondering if it can fire without film in normal operation?

Also, I received an awesome pm suggesting leaving the camera on multi-exposure mode and after each frame, manually advance the film via the wheel on the back.

The camera is set up to prevent you from making mistakes.

If you want the camera to ignore the back is empty, you need to set it to M.

Otherwise, with a properly loaded back, the camera should advance the film after each fire.

polyglot · Jul 23, 2012

Yeah, M is for Mistakes Mode

I suspect you can fire it in orange-dot mode (1/400-or-T mechanical shutter release, selected with the ring around the release button) too with no film.

Go to butkus.org and download the scan of the manual.

jayvo86 · Jul 24, 2012

polyglot said:
Yeah, M is for Mistakes Mode

I suspect you can fire it in orange-dot mode (1/400-or-T mechanical shutter release, selected with the ring around the release button) too with no film.

Go to butkus.org and download the scan of the manual.

Thanks for keeping it real!

tron_ · Jul 25, 2012

Keeping it real indeed, I guess the back was the problem after all!

RZ67 Not Advancing Correctly?

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