peterphotography

Hey all, So I recently acquired a stunning Bronica ETRS with AE II Finder from a friend. I've been shooting film for a while (namely with 35mm cameras) and my beloved Mamiya RB67 and M645 1000s. However this is my first Bronica experience and I'm a bit confused. So I placed the AE II prism on the body, heard a click and it appears to be rigid/firm in place. When I look through the viewfinder, it's blurry. Not completely blurry but enough I can't be certain of the focus when shooting. I wear glasses (-2.75) whilst my flatmates (both 20/20 vision) also struggled to see through it. So after doing some research, it appears that the diopter on it could be responsible? I unscrewed it and it was a -1.5 diopter. When I looked through it without the diopter, it was nice and crisp but lacked the magnification to see the details. So I put it back and now I'm a tad confused. I was planning on gifting my dad the Bronica but I'm unsure what to do now. He has 20/20 vision (lucky guy) and I'm wondering what diopter I need to buy or magnifier for the Bronica so he can use and for it to appear non blurry? Secondly, after I screwed the diopter back, it appears that I can't unscrew again (screwing anti-clockwise). The screw just turn & turns in place. How do I take it out? Really appreciate your responses.

The films were new and they got it from the supplier from US to Aus. Thanks for the link! I'll investigate it further and I also share the similar rhetoric of restoring the camera to as-new as I can. But given the lack of repair shops around me and the need for the CLA which will likely cost more than the actual camera... I may sadly need to replace it.

I'd assume so. I bought it on eBay from another city, but I also bought 35mm film in the same order and there's never been any troubles.

I totally agree with that as well ;) So update: I went ahead and resealed it with new body foam. Same problems. On top of that, I pretty much covered the entirety of the camera (I'm talking about over-the-top level of gaffer tape) and still had 1-2 photos with markings. In terms of lens cap, I always keep it on during film advancement so I guess that didn't seem to work? Since I bought for $180AUD or $132USD, and the rare camera repair store in Sydney which charges $100 for the initial quote, I've decided to sell this camera off for whatever peanuts I can get and just buy a different M645 1000s.

Thank you! If only I lived in US, would've been so much easier to find the parts and repairs :/

I'll give it a try. I'm gonna look for a thick foam from a hardware store. I'm still confused in that sense as I've gaffer taped/sealed the back and all hinges when I tried it with roll #2, and I still got the same amount of light leaks. So I'll check out the shutter blinds.

Thank you! I'll grab my LED torch and see if I can locate a leak. If not, I'll just go repair it :)

I've tried gaffer taping the back of the camera (2 layers of black tape) and still had light leaks with my 2nd roll. Also attached are the photos of the light sealing. They seem okay? Should I still get them replaced just in case?

How would I be able to check? These are the scans I got from the lab and with the negatives, they seem to be contained in the picture area.

What do you mean in terms of 'exercising'?

Just tested it! Fired the shutter 7x each for 1/1000, 1/500, 1/125 and 1/60. Curtains did not appear to stay open. In terms of being unused, I can't say. Owner did say it hasn't been touched for a while. In terms of grabbing a new Mamiya, I meant grabbing another 645 1000s! Heard about the faultiness with the newer models plus I love the aesthetic of the 645. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Hey all, I've recently jumped on board the medium format train with a Mamiya 645 1000s I bought from a market? I've been absolutely loving it. I shot my first roll and came across 2 streaks which I assumed were light leaks. So 2/15 had a light leak. https://i.imgur.com/yHX6mcA.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iuLmW4V.jpg 2nd roll, I decided to gaffer tape up the back of the camera to prevent any light getting through. 1/15 had a light leak. https://i.imgur.com/qiTwKK8.jpg 3rd roll, no gaffer tape on the back. Only 1 had a light leak. (Warning may be NSFW, did a shoot with a female friend of mine on the beach) https://i.imgur.com/9hjhYHa.jpg So I'm kind of lost now in terms of how to resolve this issue. Is it a light leak, if so, why is it being so unpredictable? Are there any ways I can fix it since the gaffer approach didn't help much? Or should I just go grab a new Mamiya (this body costed me $180 AUD)