Rank Mamiya

[pete63uk]

Trying to get my R M working and managed to do something that made the shutter work. The meter on the top doesn't seem to work and I can't find any off/on switch anywhere, nor can I find anywhere for a battery to go?? Does anyone know anything about these rangefinders. I think it's a D4 but I could be wrong, especially if they all look the same.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Trying to get my R M working and managed to do something that made the shutter work. The meter on the top doesn't seem to work and I can't find any off/on switch anywhere, nor can I find anywhere for a battery to go?? Does anyone know anything about these rangefinders. I think it's a D4 but I could be wrong, especially if they all look the same.

A Mamiya D4? Never even heard of it, and I've worked on and researched a whole lot of cameras, so I doubt it is a Mamiya D4. Do you have a photo?

 

[pete63uk]

Yea, sure. Here they are.

It's a lovely piece of work. Shutter is so smooth and quiet. Film advance is probably the best I've ever tried. Lovely camera, especially for a fiver 🙂

 

[FPjohn]

Hello:

That is an interesting own brand Mamiya.

The meter is a selenium cell which generates it own current. Hence no on/off switch. If the camera was stored in the dark, it may be still working.

yours
FPJ

 

[johannielscom]

unknown to me, but pretty sure no battery is involved, the meter has a selenium cell on the front!

Try rotating the sprockets inside with your finger before winding, sometimes this is an uncoupled mechanism, and it would need the film to rotate the sprocket, allowing to arm the shutter!

Good luck!

 

[pete63uk]

What would be involved in changing the selenium cell (if it's possible)? Are they still available?

 

[pete63uk]

That is an interesting own brand Mamiya.

I believe they were badged this way for the UK market. In the states they were probably Mamiya.

 

[venchka]

Perhaps

Perhaps

What would be involved in changing the selenium cell (if it's possible)? Are they still available?

Yes. No. Maybe. GOOGLE search for Quality Light Metrics in California. The address is probably right here at RFF in threads about light meters. I know they fix dead Weston meters.

It will cost more than finding a working camera.

 

[pete63uk]

Interesting update. First of all, when I first got the camera, the shutter wasn't working and mysteriously started. I said earlier in this thread that the meter wasn't working, well that has also started working again. Maybe it's because it's been idle for so long and things are starting to kick in? The shutter speeds seem fine so I look forward to putting a film through it.

 

[pete63uk]

Put the film in, left the lens cap on. Bummer.

 

[Benjamin]

Rank Mamiya

The clue is in the title.

 

[pete63uk]

The clue is in the title.

Not sure what you mean?

 

[Al Kaplan]

Quality Light Metric can repair meters and replace dead cells but I don't think he works on meters that are in cameras, just seperate meters.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Yes. No. Maybe. GOOGLE search for Quality Light Metrics in California. The address is probably right here at RFF in threads about light meters. I know they fix dead Weston meters.

It will cost more than finding a working camera.

They will replace a dead selenium cell in a handheld meter but not in a camera. They just won't do it. A possible solution though might be to send them a cheap dead meter off of ebay and then take the selenium cell out of it for transplant.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Yea, sure. Here they are.

It's a lovely piece of work. Shutter is so smooth and quiet. Film advance is probably the best I've ever tried. Lovely camera, especially for a fiver 🙂

That is a Mamiya 4B, released in 1963 and sold in England (with a better Mamiya-Sekor lens instead of the normal 4B's inferior Mamiya-Kominar lens) as a Rank Mamiya. It was a lower priced version of the Mamiya Ruby, released in 1959. I've looked for a few minutes for a Mamiya 4B manual with no luck, but maybe you are more motivated?