Mamiya Pro S Adapter (HX702)

<p>Does anyone in here already buy / test it?<br>

Saw the price in adorama ($1,499) ... phewww ... need a lot of thinking to justify it, especially im in south east asia.<br>

Any comments are welcome.</p>

<p>Cheers,<br>

Dodi</p>

<p>I've got the HX-701, works great for me on the RZ67II platform with an Aptus 22.</p>

<p>You looking to put a digital back on the RB67? Personally I'd rather upgrade to the RZ67II platform. For the cost of the adapter you can get a full RZ setup with multiple lenses. </p>

<p>Sheldon,<br>

Thanks for the reply.<br>

I have RB67 pro S that still works great (with couple of lenses) and film back.<br>

Im thinking, to use it for my commercial / fine art projects in near future as my tools.<br>

How's the aptus 22 review from your own result? Is it good?<br>

Cheers,<br>

Dodi</p>

<p>There's a Taiwan-based ebay seller who has these various RB/RZ HX70* adapters for UK£460 - £590. That's a lot less than the Adorama price you mentioned. I caution you that if you search via ebay.com, you won't find these items. Use ebay.co.uk instead (or ebay.ie if you prefer to spend Euros). This is because that seller will sell to anywhere on the planet - except the United States. This goes back to Mamiya's historically fractured distribution system - their USA market supplier (MAC then, Mamiya Leaf now) was always an entity to itself and had exclusivity and autonomy on its own supply chain, branding, marketing, website, pricing, promotions, warranties etc.</p>

<p>Anyway. For the RB67, there are two adapters to Mamiya 645AFD-mount digital backs. The slightly cheaper one (HX704) is a "dumb" adapter with no electronic contacts, which works with the Leaf backs because they are in a constant state of "wakefulness". The one you've been looking at, the HX702, is self-powered and has electronic contacts to "wake up" other backs, which sleep in between exposures to conserve power and reduce heat - backs like the Phase One line, Mamiya's ZD back, and Kodak DCS645M. The HX701 and HX702 were actually developed specifically by Mamiya for their ZD back - that's why they are supplied with a focusing screen marked for 48x36mm - but they are ideal for these other backs as well.</p>

<p>It is also possible to use a dumb adapter with the Phase One backs, but then you must wake them up via an additional cable and switch. It's not convenient. The ZD and DCS645M backs don't have the port to do that kind of wake-up.</p>

<p>So to summarize, for digital backs with a 645AFD mount, you have:<br>

- For the RZ:</p>

<ul>

<li>HX701 for backs that need to be woken up via contacts - NB this requires the RZ Pro IID model camera!</li>

<li>HX705 for backs that don't need wake-up, or backs with an additional wake-up cable - this works on any RZ model.</li>

</ul>

<p>- For the RB:</p>

<ul>

<li>HX702 for backs that need to be woken up via contacts - works on the RB ProS or ProSD</li>

<li>HX704 for backs that don't need wake-up - works on the RB ProS or ProSD</li>

</ul>

<p>Ray, is it safe using HX704 ? Im worried if the digital back will get a lot of heat and it will burn itself since it will always on/wake up ...</p>

<p>Yes, it's safe. The HX704 adapter is not doing anything to the back to keep it ready for shooting - the back does that itself; it's just the way the Leaf backs are designed. Once they're powered on, they're "awake", and they require just 1 signal to activate - an exposure trigger, which in most leaf-shutter cameras comes from the lens' flash synch port. The Leaf backs have fan ventilation to keep them cool.</p>

<p>Those other backs I mentioned require two signals - wakeup, then exposure trigger. Some have firmware control over "latency", which is essentially a tradeoff between how quickly the back can wake up and respond to an exposure trigger, and how much battery power it needs to be constantly using. "Long latency" means it's fully "asleep", and then it takes longer to wake up (in some cases it takes two consecutive shutter releases), but it uses less battery power while sleeping. "Short latency" means it's pretty much awake constantly. Cameras or adapters which use electronic contacts can normally avail of both short and long latency modes.</p>

<p>Remember the early years of digital cameras, where people complained about "shutter lag"? You'd press the shutter button, but it would take the camera a noticeable fraction of a second to actually activate the shutter. That was essentially "long latency" in action.</p>

 

<p>Ray, thanks a lot for your kind reply. I like how you explain my questions.</p>

<p>Btw, if im using HX702 / HX704 , but not using Leaf DB. Can i using different DB brands? PhaseOne, Kodak, etc? Is there any different in contact pin / size of DB that i cant use with HX*** on Mamoya RB67 Pro S?</p>

<p>Cheers,<br>

Dodi</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Btw, if im using HX702 / HX704 , but not using Leaf DB. Can i using different DB brands? PhaseOne, Kodak, etc?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Dodi, if you intend to use something other than a Leaf DB or possibily some of the newest PhaseOne DBs, then you should really get the HX702 rather than HX704. I think it keeps all your DB options open - the electronic wakeup contacts are there for the backs that need them, and the backs that don't need them can just ignore them.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Is there any different in contact pin / size of DB that i cant use with HX*** on Mamoya RB67 Pro S?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>All these HX*** adapters are for DBs in Mamiya 645AFD mount. They have a rigorously standard contact pin layout and focal plane distance, and a pretty standard exterior dimension - they all have to fit on the same Mamiya 645AFD body rear interface, and must have clearance for the overhanging prism viewfinder. I would not envisage any problems, but it is certainly worth double-checking with the HX*** seller whether your particular DB fits. </p>

<p>Ray, many many thanks for your respond.</p>

<p>will check it now. Thanks a lot for your help.</p>

<p>Cheers,<br>

Dodi</p>

<p>I'm considering moving my existing Leaf Aptus 22 to an RB or RZ. I currently have a 645AFD that died, with which came the Leaf back. I mainly used it in manual mode on a tripod at ISO 25 or 50, mirror-up, mostly 1/2-second+ exposures. The RB/RZ seems attractive with its macro focusing. Shutter accuracy isn't so critical with the DB given the histogram, so the RB seems OK to me, if not better because I'm leaning toward simplicity, reliability and ease of repair. I found an affordable RB adapter on eBay but an RZ is 1K more, and it sounds like there's no issue with triggering the Leaf back from a sync cord.<br>

Any suggestions why an RZ would be better with a Leaf back? I read a bit on the lens quality and availability for RB. I'm looking for input on any unforeseen problems or inconveniences. A 2-step wind/cock process is a pain but I can live with it for a $1000 difference in adapter prices. The RB seems good enough for me, because I was envisioning a DB adapter for my C220.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>