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Mamiya RB67 light leaks


evanbell

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Hi all. I have been noticing light leaks of varying degrees of severity on the negatives coming out of my recently purchased Mamiya RB67. Not every frame has a visible light leak on it--some come out fine. However I developed two rolls of HP5 and the same negatives on each roll were affected. For example, the 9th exposure on each roll both had almost identical severe light leaks. The leaks always appear in the bottom left area of the frame (for landscape). What do you think could most likely be the cause of this?

 

I contacted the sellers of the camera and they gave me some options on what to do. I could a) return the camera and get refunded, b) let them attempt to repair the camera, or c) exchange for a different back. If this is most likely just a problem with the camera back then I would want to go with the option of exchanging it. I'd appreciate any thoughts!

 

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Yep, your call. You can get them to repair it, or you may consider to replace the seals yourself. Not that hard to do just needs patience. If it is the Pro or Pro S film back professionals used to do them each year or two. For amateur use prob a lot longer. The Pro SD film backs don't need foam replacing.

 

It's also not just the film backs, it could also be the back of the RB67 body and around the rotatable unit.

 

http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/Mamiya-RB67/Light-seal/index.php

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First guess, which is often right, is the light leak comes from the hinge on the film back. This is a vulnerable point with raw daylight on one side and absolute dark required on the other side. Replacing the deteriorated foam light seal with an appropriate piece of sticky-back black foam tape usually does the fix. Good luck!
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