justjasper
Member
Hi folks, I’ve been using my Plaubel Makina 67 for a little over a year and have loved every moment of it. Great (if quirky) to shoot with, lovely lens, all going swimmingly … until today: the dreaded (and reasonably well-publicised) light meter problem.
From what I understand, it’s something to do with the folding mechanism: the tongs that allow the lens to collapse have a wire running through them which relate to the light meter and get worn out over time.
I have been using it fairly extensively (50+ rolls through it so far) but carefully — always resetting the focus to infinity before collapsing the bellows, adjusting focus smoothly, not letting the winder snap back, and so on.
What’s curious is that the light meter still functions when the bellows are collapsed and when they are not fully extended, i.e. when the focusing distance is further than ~2m. When I focus closer, the meter stops working.
Not an insurmountable problem in itself, but not ideal, and has me worrying that it will soon stop functioning entirely. Of course, the camera does function perfectly well without the light meter, but it’s a very capable little spot meter and which I’ve found convenient to have. I’m reluctant to start carting around an external meter or rely on my phone.
So, does anyone have experience with this issue, know if it’s likely to develop further or what it might cost to repair? It seems that received wisdom is that Wiese Fototechnik in Hamburg are the best people to go to as they bought up Plaubel’s equipment and parts. Going to them would be doable, but if anyone knows any UK-based repairers who would be capable and willing to perform a repair that would be more straightforward.
Any advice on this would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jasper
From what I understand, it’s something to do with the folding mechanism: the tongs that allow the lens to collapse have a wire running through them which relate to the light meter and get worn out over time.
I have been using it fairly extensively (50+ rolls through it so far) but carefully — always resetting the focus to infinity before collapsing the bellows, adjusting focus smoothly, not letting the winder snap back, and so on.
What’s curious is that the light meter still functions when the bellows are collapsed and when they are not fully extended, i.e. when the focusing distance is further than ~2m. When I focus closer, the meter stops working.
Not an insurmountable problem in itself, but not ideal, and has me worrying that it will soon stop functioning entirely. Of course, the camera does function perfectly well without the light meter, but it’s a very capable little spot meter and which I’ve found convenient to have. I’m reluctant to start carting around an external meter or rely on my phone.
So, does anyone have experience with this issue, know if it’s likely to develop further or what it might cost to repair? It seems that received wisdom is that Wiese Fototechnik in Hamburg are the best people to go to as they bought up Plaubel’s equipment and parts. Going to them would be doable, but if anyone knows any UK-based repairers who would be capable and willing to perform a repair that would be more straightforward.
Any advice on this would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jasper
