Mamiya Sketch-- how to open?

[dave_s]

Hi everybody. I just wanted to show you this remarkable object, and (this is embarrassing) ask if anyone knows how

to open the back. Or-- better yet-- does anyone have a scan of the manual?

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Mamiya's Sketch was made around 1959 and is said to be uncommon. It shoots 24 x 24mm square frames on

35mm. The lens is a 3.5cm f/2.8 and it's coated. I think it's a tessar formula from a casual look at the internal

reflections, but I haven't sat down with a magnifier and had a careful look. The fit and finish on this thing is beautiful--

it's probably a bit better than my contemporaneous Canon P, and it's head and shoulders above the 1970s

rangefinders I've had (a Canonet and a Konica S2).

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I'm not really a collector, so I haven't encountered a camera with a back like this one. Look at the picture:

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Of course, most cameras have two independent catches or interlocks on the back, so you can't open it by mistake.

With the Sketch, the little hinged key marked 'A' lifts up and rotates. When I rotate it to 90 degrees, I can feel the

back 'pop' a bit inside, so it seems to be releasing one catch.

<p>

The question is, where's the second catch that I have to release? It's not the film rewind crank, which is a simple

folding crank that doesn't pull out. I don't see any buttons, like on later SLRs. Does anyone know what else I have

to do to get it to open?

<p>

I suspect the 'R' disk marked 'B' simply disengages the film advance, so you can rewind the film. It doesn't seem to

be involved with releasing the back.

<p>

I may post this to Mr Ron Herron's Mamiya collectors' site as well, but I thought I'd try here first. Any and all advice

appreciated. Thanks!

[leicaglow]

Sorry I don't know, but man is that a good looking camera!

[User_503771]

I don't know either. But have you tried a gentle pull to see if it's the bottom that comes off? Is there a hinge at either end of the back? Does the rewind crank pull up?

[charles_stobbs3]

I am not familiar with cameras that have two latches. Most of my Japanese cameras of that era opened with a single pull up on the rewind crank. If you can't see a hinge on either end the bottom must pull down as Michael H. suggests.

[dave_s]

Jackpot. You guys are geniuses.

<p>

I had discounted the possibility that the bottom comes off, because I misinterpreted <A

HREF="http://www.kochi-med.net/moto/camera/sketch/sketch.htm">this page</A> on Mr Saki Taka's site. See the

third photo down-- it looks like the door is on a hinge, and swung open in the usual fashion. But if you

look more carefully, he's got the back right off the camera, and he's also removed the baseplate to service the

camera. My

mistake.

<p>

So I read your comments, and applied a bit of gentle pressure. I didn't want to brutalize the little thing, and it

probably hasn't been open for decades. After a little coaxing, I got the whole back and baseplate

assembly to slide down in one piece, like on a Nikon F. This thing is finely machined, and there is really no

perceptible play between the back and the body when it's closed. Since the back and baseplate come off, it loads

from the back of course-- it's not a bottom-loading Leica-type camera.

<p>

Here's <A HREF="http://www3.kiy.jp/~daddy/sketch/sketch.html">another page</a>, just so you know I've done my

due diligence. The translation says it's indeed four elements in three groups, so it's a tessar. Mamiya's museum (in

Japanese language) also has a <A HREF="http://www.mamiya.co.jp/home/camera/museum/saishu-

page/1950/mamiya-sketch.htm">page on it here</A>.

<p>

Charles is indeed correct that there's only the one latch. What I meant is that most cameras have a lock and an

interlock of some sort-- you need to make two independent motions to open the back so you can't open it

accidentally (or your three-year-old can't open it). In this case they're both combined in the latch 'A'.

<p>

Thanks again-- I'm looking forward to putting some film through this <i>objet d'art</i>.

[chuck_foreman1]

Wow,

 

What a beautiful piece... Make sue the lab doesn'T cut your exposures to shreds after all that effort just to load the thing!! Be sure to post!

 

 

Thanks

[patrick j dempsey]

Hey, awesome camera! Be sure to post images when you get them... I'm a sucker for square format and I always wished there were more square format 35mm cameras out there... I know you can always crop, but theres just something special about a square viewfinder!

[steve_mareno]

I have a Robot Royal 24 that takes 24x24 photos too. It's for sale at the usual auction site if you're interested in one Patrick. The square format is great, but I've had a dickens of a time scanning them on a film scanner. It's worth it though. I love your camera. Nice that it came w/ the hood too. Must be rare because I have never even heard of one.

[the celt 2]

I want one of these!!!!! Where did you find this little beauty?

[patrick j dempsey]

Yeah I bet that's true steve, alot of the scanners have stupid automatic edge detection software to center and "derotate" the image which leads to problems with half-frame negs as well.