RZ67 shutter issue with infinity focus.

[Analog_London]

My RZ67 won't fire when the lens is retracted all the way to infinity. When I fire the shutter, the mirror flips up almost all of the way, but the shutter doesn't release until I rack focus out just a few mm from infinity. Seems to be an issue with the front element jamming the mirror operation a bit. I've tried it with and without lenses, with and without backs, in emergency mode, new battery, - it always happens. The shutter won't fire and the mirror won't fully snap up until I turn the focus knob just a few mm.

I've gotten around this for landscape shots by using mirror up mode- I'll connect the cable release to the lens, focus close, fire the shutter which moves the mirror up, focus to infinity, and then trip the shutter, but it is quite annoying and impossible to do handheld. I took my camera to a repair shop here in London the the man couldn't help me (but didn't charge me).

Any help?

 

[Ariston]

The shutter is in the lens. I'm not sure how the front element would jam the mirror. The mirrior is in the body behind the bellows, far away from the front element. Your body may need to be serviced if the mirror is jamming.

I may be misunderstanding you...

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to Photrio.
Which lens are you using? Do you have another that you can try?

 

[Analog_London]

Welcome to Photrio.
Which lens are you using? Do you have another that you can try?

It jams with the 110, 65, as well as not having any lens in it at all. Something about the front part of the body jamming the mirror operation.

 

[Mamiya_Repair]

Most likely this is caused by a slightly bent shutter cocking shaft. Looking at the front of the camera you can see the shaft at the six o'clock position and it retracts into the body when focus is racked toward infinity. If it has a bend at some point, it will bind the cocking gears and they must turn freely for the mirror to move to the up position and release the shutter. It does not take much of a bend to bind the gearing and prevent the mirror from completing its travel. It would be trivial for a competent repair shop to check this issue. The repair shop would normally check for front plate parallelism as a bent cocking shaft is usually caused by an impact to the front of the camera.

 

[Analog_London]

Most likely this is caused by a slightly bent shutter cocking shaft. Looking at the front of the camera you can see the shaft at the six o'clock position and it retracts into the body when focus is racked toward infinity. If it has a bend at some point, it will bind the cocking gears and they must turn freely for the mirror to move to the up position and release the shutter. It does not take much of a bend to bind the gearing and prevent the mirror from completing its travel. It would be trivial for a competent repair shop to check this issue. The repair shop would normally check for front plate parallelism as a bent cocking shaft is usually caused by an impact to the front of the camera.

I think you may be right! Would I be able to see anything bent or would it be within the internals of the camera?

 

[Mamiya_Repair]

If you extend the bellows all the way out and look at the shaft on the bottom of the camera, you may be able to see a bend but it may be very slight and not easily visible.

 

[bellyface]

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I had the same issue on my RZ67 and figured it out. This happens on my 90, 140, 150mm lenses but not on my 50mm. I ended up removing the front lens cover and loosening the gear mechanism cover just slightly and that was all it needed.