Mamiya 6 Dead as a Doornail

[mattg]

With no warning my mamiya 6 decided to stop working today.

I had my tripod set up when I noticed that the viewfinder readout wasn't showing. I changed batteries and it still wasn't working. I tried changing lenses, using set shutter speeds, AE mode and B but there were absolutely no lights inside the finder.

It seems that the whole of the cameras electronics have given up the ghost. Of course this means the shutter doesn't work either.

I am in Korea at the moment and would really like to get this fixed quickly. Has anyone had similar problems? What was the exact problem and how much did it cost to fix?

Thanks in advance, (a slightly deflated) Matt.

 

[back alley]

bummer!
sorry to hear that matt.

please forgive the obvious, but just in case...did you check the new batteries and clean the contacts?
i can't remember, does the 6 have a reset button?
are the 'bellows' extended fully?

these are are the desperate things i would do in your shoes.

maybe someone else knows a good repair shop in korea?

joe

 

[FrankS]

It' s happened to me and in my case the problem was the lens not fully extended. Try redoing that with a bit of a snap.

 

[jan normandale]

Matt condolences, I suggest you call/email Mamiya for a reputable shop in Korea .

 

[mattg]

Leaping Lazarus

Leaping Lazarus

Thanks for the good suggestions. Thankfully the thing has come back to life.

1st I cleaned the batteries and the contacts were pristine anyway. No Joy.
2nd I checked the shutter button was working as I'd been using a cable release a lot lately. No Joy.
3rd I fiddled. Eureka!

Really I've got no idea why it would stop like that and then suddenly start again. It is possible that it was a problem with the lens mount extension and I'll certainly remember that in the future.

The day it happened was execptionally dry, there was a lot of static about. Is it possible that the nylon camera bag lining caused a charge to build up on the camera body and this is what caused the problem?

Anyway I'm very happy that it's working again, Mamiya does have a repair facilty in Korea but I was dreading the cost involved.

 

[Ariya]

I have had that same problem. The threaded mount for the cable release had come loose and was turning when I attached and removed the cable release. Moving it back and forth would go from not seeing anything in the viewfinder to having the display lit 100% of the time. I ended up sending to Mamiya for their expensive "Average Repair of $257" - but they repaired it quickly, replaced the dreaded winding mechanism and aligned both my lenses at the same time.

Peter

 

[mattg]

Thanks Peter that information will be invaluable if it happens again.

 

[Ariya]

Matt,

Did you ever find out for sure what caused the problem?

 

[mattg]

No I still don't know.

I do know that it wasn't the mount being partially retracted as my viewfinder lights no matter where the lens mount is positioned.

It hasn't happened again and I've put at least 10 rolls through the camera since then. I've attached a scan from The Seoul Fireworks Festival last weekend just for fun.

As I said I've been using a cable release lots and this is still probably the best bet. Maybe the shutter button wasn't making proper contact or something was stuck down in there. The release thread is secure and not rotating so I'm just hoping it doesn't happen again.

 

[jan normandale]

No I still don't know.

I do know that it wasn't the mount being partially retracted as my viewfinder lights no matter where the lens mount is positioned.

It hasn't happened again and I've put at least 10 rolls through the camera since then. I've attached a scan from The Seoul Fireworks Festival last weekend just for fun.

As I said I've been using a cable release lots and this is still probably the best bet. Maybe the shutter button wasn't making proper contact or something was stuck down in there. The release thread is secure and not rotating so I'm just hoping it doesn't happen again.

Hi Matt, nice shot that you just put up. I noticed that there are 'watermarks'? in the centre of the shot. It almost looks like a fluid was dropped on the neg/print that you have scanned, or could this be something to do with the problems you were originally encountering.

 

[mattg]

Hi Jan,
I don't think there are any water marks here. I think you mean the area just to the right of the fireworks and perhaps in the firewoks as well? If so it's just caused by the smoke from previous fireworks being illuminated by the current ones. It was about a 20sec exposure so you can see a couple of baners suspended from balloons that moved around a bit too.

I haven't taken my camera swimming with me yet Jan!

Lots of shooting today and still no recurrence so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

 

[naturephoto1]

Matt,

Nice shot, pretty steady hands for 20 sec. (ha ha)

 

[oftheherd]

Hi Jan,
I don't think there are any water marks here. I think you mean the area just to the right of the fireworks and perhaps in the firewoks as well? If so it's just caused by the smoke from previous fireworks being illuminated by the current ones. It was about a 20sec exposure so you can see a couple of baners suspended from balloons that moved around a bit too.

I haven't taken my camera swimming with me yet Jan!

Lots of shooting today and still no recurrence so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

Nice shot. What part of Seoul were you in? That looks like NamSan Tower in the background. Still, not the skyline I remember. Course I haven't been there in 18 years. Surprising I can even remember back that far! 😀

 

[Ariya]

Ditto the compliment - great shot.

 

[mattg]

I was standing at the bottom of the 63 building in Yoido. The fireworks were a lot closer than they look in the photo. I'm glad you can see the tower in the background, I tried to make sure there were some distant details there but only one shot out of 12 had them, the others were obscured by fireworks.