Mamiya C3 - 65mm lenses problem

[Paul Jenkin]

Last weekend, I acquired a Mamiya C3. It's a bit old and carries a few scars (I know how that feels) but it's solid. The main attraction was a set of 80mm / f2.8 "blue dot" lenses which I presume aren't contenporary and are in extremely good order. I've run a roll of film through it using my Minolta AutoMeter IVf for readings and the results are great.

However, I'm looking for a set of "wide" lenses and have stumbled across a set of 65mm / f3.5 lenses. The glass is in beautiful condition and the shutter spring seems fine. However, the iris is quite sluggish to open and close. The owner applied a drop of isopropyl to free it up - which it did initially - but now it's back to where it was.

Is this something that can be remedied fairly readily and not too expensively? I live in the UK. Any constructive advice / recommendations would be welcome.

 

[sevo]

My recommendation would be to have the shutter cleaned - the first DIY attempts aren't likely to be successful and accurate in the long run, so you'd better train your DIY skills on something more affordable.

Johnsons (http://www.johnsons-photopia.co.uk/) are the UK distributor for Mamiya, and have their own service department, which was able to adjust one of my (even more obsolete) Press lenses a few years ago, so they should be able to clean a recentish TLR lens. Just be sure to call them first.

 

[z.bruce.li]

At least in US, the service cost might not justify the current market price of 65/3.5. If you have not bought the lens yet, I would say skip it and try to find another copy. There should be plenty of 65/3.5 out there, which is a fine lens. If the price is reasonable, maybe opt for the later black ones with a good shutter.

 

[grainhound]

The blue dot lenses are the latest you can get for Mamiya TLRs. I would agree that if you haven't bought the lens, you should keep looking. If you go for other Mamiya lenses, stick with blue dot black ones. Apparently, parts to fix shutters on chrome lenses are no longer available, and the black lenses have improved optics.

The 65mm is very nice, but the 55mm is my most used lens. I like wides.

 

[mike rosenlof]

The drop of alcohol or sometimes lighter fluid is a standard technique to free up a sticky aperture or shutter. And then the stuff evaporates and you're most likely right back to the same place.

In the US, a CLA on a shutter is not terribly expensive, but it does cost money and inconvenience.

I have a few of the so-called Blue Dot lenses. I do believe that they are from later manufacturing runs, but I don't think they're special compared to the other black-shutter lenses I've got. I'm tempted to get some model paint and turn mine into green or purple dot lenses (shutter, really).

The end photographic result is most dependent on the condition of the glass which you can sort of evaluate and the history of the lens (bumps, lens cell swapping) which you probably can't evaluate at all. The very newest of these things are 20 years old now, and most are 30+.

I have at least one sample of all the black shutter lenses except the 250mm. I think the 65 is my least used, but that's just me and my one sample.

 

[sevo]

I have a few of the so-called Blue Dot lenses. I do believe that they are from later manufacturing runs, but I don't think they're special compared to the other black-shutter lenses I've got.

They probably aren't even special compared to silver lenses. There were two versions of the 105mm, D/DS and non-D/DS, but that may have been all optical variation there ever was, at any rate the schematics in the Mamiya product literature never changed. If any, they may have multi-coated the late lenses - but Mamiya themselves never said so. One thing to be aware of is that the earliest generation silver lenses won't cock on bodies from the C33 on.

 

[mike rosenlof]

There are some definite optical changes. The 105 as Sevo states, and 180 "super" vs older version. The super connects to the auto cocking, but I think there was also an optical change. The newest of the 80mm got an 'S' designation (and I think no blue dot in that shutter!) but I am uncertain of optical changes.

There is even disagreement about which lenses were coated or not or multi-coated. I'm not sure I've ever seen a definitive statement from Mamiya on that.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Thanks for the info, guys. I've decided not to buy the 65mm lenses mentioned earlier as I've found a very nice set of "blue dot" vintage for just a few £££ more.

I have a Mamiya 7 with 65mm lens (+43mm and 150mm) and expect that these will give a similar angle of view (albeit that the C3 is square and the Mamiya 7 is 6x7), so they'll probably be the ones I leave on the camera most.

Can't wait to get shooting with them.