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
radialmelt
Newbie
Definitely sounds like a loose connection. You might try reaching out the guy in Florida who offers CLAs on the the PM67/W67/670 via eBay: https://www.ebay.ca/usr/wizcam
justjasper
Member
Thanks for the heads up! I’ve written to him via eBay. It seems unlikely that it’ll be possible for him to work on my camera given the geographical complications, but maybe he’ll be able to advise nevertheless.
radialmelt
Newbie
Let us know how things work out!
justjasper
Member
Got a response from wizcam, unfortunately doesn't sound good:
I had asked him whether there's anything one can do to slow the wear, but nothing forthcoming, and the quoted repair price was very high.
In any case, given there would be no good way for me to get the camera to him, I'm still on the look-out for other ideas, suggestions or experiences. If anyone knows anyone UK-based or has experience with Wiese Fototechnik in Germany, I'd love to hear about it!
justjasper
Member
An update (but not a good one): the light meter has now stopped working entirely.
Has anyone here previously dealt with Wiese Fototechnik in Hamburg? Planning to reach out to them to see what they think about the possibility and cost of repairing it.
Has anyone here previously dealt with Wiese Fototechnik in Hamburg? Planning to reach out to them to see what they think about the possibility and cost of repairing it.
radialmelt
Newbie
Damn, sorry to hear that. Good luck
steveyork
Well-known
Once you start "carting around" a hand held meter, you may end up memorizing most of your lighting situations and then Sunny 16 most of it there on out. But it sounds like you're more worried about whether this an early sign of the camera going kaput. Are Makina's that unreliable?
justjasper
Member
The camera is otherwise mechanical, so I'm not too worried about it. It's the light meter that has the reputation for fragility — otherwise, to my knowledge, the cameras are pretty reliable.
Re: the light meter point, I'm fine using sunny 16 even now for certain things, but the accurate spot meter made even more involved metering scenarios pretty straightforward and fast. Other metering solutions take more time and involve more gear.
justjasper
Member
A further update, just in case anyone has similar issues in future. I contacted Wiese Fototechnik, and they quoted me an absolutely astonishing figure (around 3 times as much as wizcam) as it apparently requires a complete disassembly of the camera. Not really affordable for me, unfortunately!