Mamiya 6 in Cold Weather?

Is there a way to use Mamiya 6 in cold weather? Is there any external

battery pack for Mamiyan 6?

 

TIA

 

Chris

Chris, How cold is your cold? This winter I spent 8 days in Kosciuszko NP in the Snowy Mountains (Aust), shooting in temps down to -10C, so not exactly northern hemisphere cold but getting down there nonetheless. My Mamiya 6 worked flawlessly, no special battery packs or precautions. I just keep it inside the tent and/or camera bag, and keep it away from direct exposure to frost and snow. You may wish to post a question on the MAC site's M6 forum. Don't forget spare batteries (easy since they are so tiny). I have heard you can swap the batteries for warm ones if it gets so cold they quit. cheers,

Mine worked fine at 18,000 ft trekking in Nepal (when my Camelback had frozen solid). I've also seen pictures from a real mountaneer on the web whose takes his to the top of various 8000 meter peaks.

The only problem I've had using a Mamiya 6 in extreme cold (-30F) has been with focussing -- the lubricants in the ring sometimes freeze making focussing rather problematic. At that point I just bring out the Leica. The Mamiya 6 body seems to run just fine.

I vaguely recall reading something about a Nikon external pack/connector (F3 maybe?) being usable with the M6.

I have encountered problems in cold weather, but I also know how to solve it.

The problem: When the camera is used at low temperatures -15C to -30C, firing the shutter is not a problem, but there is a release for the film winding that doesn't release. When this happens you can hear that the clicking of the camera is more quiet than usual. This is a small release that only allows you to advance the film after the shutter has been fired. If it doesn't release, you can't advance the film. The release is pulled by a magnet, but the magnet may not be strong enough if the lubricants freeze up. I have changed that magnet once and it helped for a limited period of time, a year or two. This coming winter I will send my Mamiya 6 to the service center to have this fixed again, or maybe I will try to do it on my own. If this is something that has to be done every 2 or 3 years there is a lot of money that can be saved by doing it on my own.

 

If anyone knows more about that Nikon battery holder (model number), I'm curious about it.

<p>I'm going to revive this old thread, since Ravi describes the issue perfectly. Does anyone know if the magnet he refers to can simply be removed? </p>

I vaguely recall reading something about a Nikon external pack/connector (F3 maybe?) being usable with the M6.

 

Just thought to add to this thread in case someone is wondering about the same thing.

 

So yes, the Nikon External Battery Pack designed for the old F-series of Nikon SLRs (e.g., FE, FM) does work on a Mamiya 6. You just need to install the two AA batteries in reverse of what's indicated on the pack. The reversal compensates for the fact that the way button batteries are installed on the Mamiya 6 is opposite to the way the button batteries are installed on the F-series SLR bodies. The Nikon catalog number for the external battery pack is DB-2.

<p>I'm going to revive this old thread, since Ravi describes the issue perfectly. Does anyone know if the magnet he refers to can simply be removed? </p>

Have the same question and would like to know whether you have received any information on how to change the magnet?