Mamiya 7ii calibration

Hello, very very new to the mamiya 7 and first time posting in this forum. Howdy.

 

My rangefinder needs calibrating! I just spent all my money on the camera (which I need to use ASAP for a uni project) so need to do

this myself. I've googled this extensively and especially on photo.net there are helpful instructions everywhere, but none specific

enough to my situation or which are generally comprehensive enough to fill me with confidence

 

David axelblank, my photography tutor who has many years experience shooting with the mamiya 6, has said that it looks as though

infinity is correctly aligned, but it is the closer distances which seem to be off-kilter.

 

My question is, does this sound likely, and if so what should be my methodology when easing the screws behind that little plug at the

back of the camera be? Any suggestions of equipment/methods/websites with decent instructions would be greatly appreciated

 

Cheers guys!

<p>I'm no expert, but I have aligned my Mamiya 7 by following the usual instructions that are around on the net. My understanding is that the adjustment for focus is quite simple: get it right at infinity and it will be right at closer distances.<br>

This is different to the Leica M rangefinders, where there are two adjustments for focus. The Mamiya gets away with a simpler system perhaps because there are only a few lenses available, all from one factory and all designed around the same time.<br>

If it looks as though your infinity is aligned correctly, what are the symptoms of your finder being out at closer distances?<br>

I can post the instructions that I have, for what they are worth. Next post.</p>

<p>This is something I copied from the net sometime, with some comments of mine in <>.<br>

<start of copy><br>

Mamiya 7 Rangefinder Adjustment <br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />The following procedure assumes that your Mamiya 7 was at one time in good, known focus. This is NOT a re-columniation, though I’ll cover that under another procedure. <I don't have a copy of that article><br /><br /><br /><This is from another post at the Medium Format Megasite: "The new information here is that gunk on the cam wheel will throw off focus sometimes. It's like the gunk which builds up inside a computer mouse. If the RF is adjusted to a spot with the gunk, then everywhere else will be off. I don't know where the gunk came from...I swear I haven't been blowing my nose in the camera."><br /><br />If you’ve ever browsed for Mamiya 7 things on e-B$y you’ve probably noticed folks selling a rangefinder adjustment kit for as much as $50. <br />That’s a bit much.<br /><br />I went to Lisbon last year and noticed that after I stuck the 150mm lens on the camera, the rangefinder was off in both vertical and the horizontal. It wasn’t much, but it was noticeable and with the 150mm being notoriously difficult to focus wide open, I wanted the camera right. <br /><br />I went to the Columbo mall and then to Aki to buy a set of jewelers screwdrivers (6 Euros)…<br /><br />Be aware that Mamiya themselves have posted a procedure on their user forum site, but it’s hard to find, and I didn’t, at the time, have the benefit of looking for it, deciding to handle the matter in hand, so to speak. Having read it after the fact, there is a warning I want to include:<br /><br />***WARNING***<br /><br />Do NOT turn the vertical adjuster more than ¼ turn in either direction, or damage to the camera may result.<br /><br />***End of warning***<br /><br />Be aware too, of course, that these repairs are on you. Neither I nor this site take any responsibility for damage to you or your camera. Basically, if you break your camera in half, you get to keep both halves.<br /><br /><br />Here we go:<br /><br />Pop the little plastic cap off the back of the camera. It’s soft-ish plastic, so do it gently. Everyone in the world will know that you adjusted the rangefinder anyway, but take some care to pull the plug out in such a way as to minimize any damage or impressions—it’ll fit better later.<br /><br />Look inside the hole that the plug covered. You’ll see two screws. Those are the rangefinder adjustment screws. The upper (and more recessed one) is the vertical alignment, the raised one is the horizontal adjustment.<br /><br />Making sure that there is no gunk on the rangefinder coupling (either the lens or the camera side!), mount the 80mm and turn it to infinity. Find a spot with a cell tower (common in Europe) or radio/TV antenna a mile away (1 km worked fine for me) in view. <br /><br />Look through the viewfinder and see where the images align. This rangefinder has a TOUCH of dependencies between the vertical and horizontal adjustments, but it’s not as bad as some I’ve adjusted. Go for the vertical first. <br />Put the right sized screwdriver (use one that really fits the slot!) into the upper and more recessed screw and turn just a bit- 1/16th turn is probably too much. Look through the viewfinder and see how much you’ve done. If too much (likely, of you weren’t too far out of adjustment with which to begin) back it off slightly, or go for a tad more. Adjustments here are slow. Take your time, and get it right. Complete it and make SURE that the adjustment is as close to perfect as you can.<br /><br />Working on the horizontal, first double check that the lens is at infinity. The screw to adjust is the raised one. Same thing as the vertical adjustment, do only small motions with the screw and make it perfect. You might at this time have to re-adjust the vertical adjustment if you had to do more than a ½ turn on the horizontal. Get it RIGHT. Once you are done, crank the lens to close focus, then back out to infinity, just to check. I hit the camera against the palm of my hand to jar things, but I understand wanting to forego that step. Check vertical and horizontal again, and re-run the procedure if necessary.<br /><br />Once you are done, and it’s PERFECT, try your other lenses and just make sure that none of them are not set for infinity correctly. My 150mm was EXACTLY the same as the 80mm when it came to infinity focus, contrary to what Mamiya has said about the 150mm focusing slightly past infinity. <br /><br />The final step, should you choose to do it, is to put a drop of locktite (thread locking compound- THE WEAKEST) on the horizontal (raised screw) adjuster. I didn’t do it, and for the remainder of my trip, my rangefinder was just fine- it never crept out adjustment again.<br /><br />It’s an easy fix that took 15 minutes in the field. I saved several dollars from going to someone who’d send me an instruction manual and screwdriver for $50, and it didn’t have to go back to Mamiya. Better yet was my feeling of certainty when using the 150mm lens on the camera.<br /><br />Good luck & light!<br />__________________<br />JD<br />My RFF Gallery <br>

<end of copy></p>

<p>okay SO here's what I just did<br /><br />fist of all i checked infinity on a lamppost (and the moon last night): seems fine<br /><br />took the focusing screen out of my hasselblad and used teeny tiny pieces of blu-tac (i know. very scientific) to stick it over the area where the film would be.<br /><br />i turned all my lights off and duct taped my iphone to the wall of my bedroom with a picture on the screen that made it really easy to focus on (i know. very scientific)<br /><br />i set the shutter to 'B', put the camera on a tripod and set the lens to the closest focus i could. then i held down the shutter so that i could move the camera back and forth and see the image on the ground glass come into focus<br /><br />when the image was as sharp as it could get (took a fair bit of back and forth) i compared it to the one in the viewfinder: nowhere near aligned, to the extent that the two images of my phone i could see didn't even overlap (they weren't that far off but the difference between the focusing screen and the viewfinder is certainly significant)<br /><br />it may be that my test was too unscientific or that the millimetre or so that the ground glass was 'off' from where the film sits when it's in the camera made all the difference, but somehow i doubt it.<br /><br />what i don't understand is why infinity appears to be fine, while the close focusing is so wrong. <br>

I'll probably end up taking it back to London Camera Exchange: I spoke to them and they said they'd sort it for free, but they also said it might take up to a fortnight, so it'd be nice if i could fix it myself.</p>

<p>Maybe a stupid question but, could you adjust the rangefinder for closer distances, instead of infinity? If so, does the same ammount of patch misalignment appear then at infinity?<br>

I used to adjust my Mamiya 6 years ago with success. It was easy. I wonder if the whole rangefinder mechanism in your camera is right. I don´t remember to experience that discrepancy.</p>

<p>Charlie, you haven't said anywhere above that photographs taken with your camera at close distances are out of focus. Are they? </p>

<p>Rod; you're quite right, I didn't. Yes, they are very out of focus. I am currently attempting to calibrate. I used the ground glass (and magnifier to be absolutely sure of focus) from the hassy and focused it on my phone again at a fairly close distance. When the image was the sharpest it would get I opened the plug at the back and have tried gently turning the correct screw but it seems to be fixed down. I'm tempted to use a pin with nail varnish remover but don't want to jump into putting nasty chemicals into my lovely new camera just yet!</p>

<p>another update - kept trying to persuade the screw and was successful, painstakingly made sure the phone aligned properly, closed it all up. Went outside to check infinity: Way off. I just don't understand what the hell made this happen</p>

<p>From the Fotoman auxiliary rangefinder manual:<br>

Accuracy: while a precise instrument, your ARF (like all products) has an allowable manufacturing tolerance. This tolerance results in a potential for error of 2.5%. If you calibrate your ARF to infinity, the potential error will show up at the closest distances. As such, we suggest that you re-calibrate your ARF (if required) to a distance where it will be most likely used (5 to 10 meters, or 15 to 30 feet). Please note that once re-calibrated to a distance closer than infinity... Infinity itself may not reflect correctly on the ARF as now the potential for error will be place equally between the closest distance and infinity. This should not be viewed as a shortcoming, as a rangefinder is not required to ascertain where infinity is.</p>

<p>On the other hand I believe the difference you see is out of specs. Why don't you try to calibrate for a middle to far distance and see how it goes?</p>

<p>Thanks for the response Giovanni! However, the misalignment is significant. I'm taking the camera to get repaired tomorrow: What I should have done a week ago. Thanks everyone. If the saga continues after I get it back (heaven forbid) I'll try out what you said.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Charlie, I've been away, traveling with work, but was going to suggest that very course of action.</p>

<p> What you describe is very strange. Perhaps someone has messed with the rangefinder adjustment previously. Perhaps the cam inside the lens mount has been bumped out of alignment. Another variable is the lens itself; is there any evidence that it has been disassembled? </p>

<p>I, for one, would be interested in hearing an explanation of the fault from your repairer.</p>