A Few Question for Newby RB Owner

[neil_poulsen8]

<p>I recently purchased a ton of Mamiya RB equipment at a very reasonable price, and I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask about this equipment.</p>

<p>FIRST QUESTION: Among my equipment, I have a Pro, a Pro S and a Pro SD. I notice that the Pro and Pro SD has foam seals, whereas the Pro S does not. It surprises me that Mamiya would return to seals in the Pro SD. Do these seals require changing? The seals on my SD appear to be in pretty good shape.</p>

<p>SECOND QUESTION: Were there different eye pieces for people with differing sight? (Some cameras have this.) It appears to me that it's easier to focus, and that images are sharper in my non-metered prism versus the metered prism that I got.</p>

<p>THIRD QUESTION: Are the meters in the metered prism or chimney any good for color. Is the meter in the chimney primarily for spot reading, given that it thas that sensor that swings into the center. (Kind of strange.)</p>

<p>As a followup to the first question, given the lack of seals on the Pro S, might that not be the better camera? Also, there would be no need for the adaptor rings on the Pro-S.</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>I have a Pro-S and it does have seals. It had them originally but the one on the back face of the rotating mount perished. I used the RB for some long time without it with no apparent ill effects but I have now had them all renewed.<br>

There are correction lenses for the eyepiece. I recently bought a +2 dioptre lens to accommodate my increasing long-sightedness. They just push in to the eyepiece.</p>

[jim_momary]

<p>Mr. Butkus has an amazing shareware site, small donations appreciated.<br />System (incl diopters)-<br /><a href="http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_rb67_pro-s_system.pdf">http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_rb67_pro-s_system.pdf</a><br />Most accessories are interchangeable between the 67, ProS and SD.<br />Chimney finder-<br /><a href="http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_rb_cds_finder.pdf">http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_rb_cds_finder.pdf</a><br />Know it works, but with CdS there is alwyas a sluggish response from dark to light and vice versa. I have one, but seldom use it.<br />Main Mamiya menu-<br /><a href="http://www.butkus.org/chinon/mamiya.htm">http://www.butkus.org/chinon/mamiya.htm</a><br />Bear in mind age, the SD if all things are equal is a lot more recent a beast.<br />The SD is the only model that had no foam seals on film back. -<br /><a href="http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/68062-mamiya-rb67-pro-sd-back-light-seals.html">http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/68062-mamiya-rb67-pro-sd-back-light-seals.html</a><br />Pros and cons of models-<br /><a href="http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/50658-mamiya-rb67-pro-s-vs-pro-sd.html">http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/50658-mamiya-rb67-pro-s-vs-pro-sd.html</a><br />I have ProS and SD bodies. Strict amateur here. I find them for my non-pro use to be both about the same. The advantage of the SD is the wider throat that takes a couple of larger throated lenses where the ProS and others do not.<br>

Regarding meters, I prefer to use either a handheld with the waistlevel finder (wlf) or the PD prism, which then gives me that slr type handling. That meter is newer and has photo diodes (pd) which are a lot more responsive and easy to use. They are a bit harder to find, but work great. Don't confuse it with the model 2 which doesn't include a meter.<br>

<br />Jim</p>

[brian_osterhout1]

<p>1. Which seals? The film backs are interchangeable, I use a Pro-SD back on a Pro-S to avoid the deterioration of the seals. Over time the seals may require replacement. If you search around you should find DIY kits.<br>

3. Depends. The chimney finder I have is CDS and still seems to work ok. But over time they may not work as well. Yes, the sensor is under that paddle, so it is more of a spot meter than matrix.<br>

Have fun!</p>

[jim_momary]

<p>Also, the finders do add bulk and weight.</p><div></div>

[gary_watson]

<p>#1 Seals? Assume you mean the seal between the RB surface and the film back? Very easy to replace on the Pro and Pro S with craft store adhesive-backed sheet foam. Critical areas on the backs are at the hinge and clasp ends of the outer shell surrounding the film insert. Frankly. I'd only worry about the RB surface and back seals. This site covers the basic anatomy of the body and back seals:<br>

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

<p>#2 The early Mamiya metered finders weren't hyper-accurate, especially the swinging thingie chimney finder. If you don't own one, consider a basic incident meter like the Sekonic 318/328(inexpensive used) or the newer 308. Money well-spent given that film/processing/printing aren't getting any cheaper.</p>

[neil_poulsen8]

<p>Thanks for the responses. </p>

<p>My Pro-SD adaptor between film magazines and the body definitely has seals. It's labeled SD, and the opening is wider than the openings on either the Pro or the Pro-S. Maybe my model SD is an earlier version? Did any of the SD's have seals?</p>

<p>My so labeled Pro S adaptor between the film magazine and the body definitely does not have seals. Maybe they're missing? There's a only about a 16th inch or 3/32nds inch groove that could possibly hold seals. Dunno. It looks pretty narrow, though.</p>

[gary_watson]

<p>Can't comment on the ProSD RB adapter but the ProS version did have a seal in the shallow square channel surrounding the light path opening. This made the junction between the RB adapter and the film magazine/back light-tight. It's a very simple fix with some 2mm sheet foam, a straight edge and an X-acto knife.</p>

[william_carnahan]

<p>Neil, Last year I found a used diopter on the KEH website for a reasonable price; just slips right on the viewfinder. Wow, big difference on focusing as my eyesight fades with age.</p>