Mamiya C33 - Does it need film loaded for the shutter to release? plus another question!

[tim_readhead]

<p>Hi,<br>

Just bought the C33 but it seems the shutter isn't working? Also, do i need another back for single exposure photography?... I just want to take a set of 6x6 photographs on 120 film....</p>

<p>please help me! Any info would be much appreciated.</p>

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

<p>Make sure that the knob on the left side has the red arrow pointed at the word "locked."</p>

<p>On the right side, move the little knob, by the film advance lever, to "sheet or multi-exp."</p>

<p>Don't need additional back other than the one you open to put in the film. The sheet or multi-exp setting you may want to change back to roll once you determine all is well with your camera. That way with the roll setting, if you make an exposure with film in the camera it won't let you do it again until you advance the film, preventing double exposure. Unless, of course, you want to make multi exposures then move the little knob to multi.</p>

<p>Does this help?</p>

[dave_s]

<p>You should be able to 'dry-fire' and wind a Mamiya C33 with no film in the chamber, right through to 12 on the exposure counter.</p>

<p>There are many reasons the shutter might not be firing. To familiarize yourself with the camera, I suggest three things: (i) search prior photo.net threads on Mamiya TLRs. (ii) Go to Graham Patterson's excellent web resource on Mamiya TLRs (just Google it). (iii) Read the manual, which you can probably find on the Butkus site or elsewhere on the web.</p>

<p>Having said all that, this is what I'd do.</p>

<p>(i) Remove the lensboard from the camera. The Mamiya shutters are leaf shutters much the same as those on press and view cameras. Manually <em>wind </em>the shutter with the cocking lever, and <em>fire </em>it with the release lever. Do this a few times on all speeds. If the shutter's working OK, the problem isn't intrinsic to the shutter and you have to look to the camera. If the shutter's not working OK, it's time for a CLA, or just buy a new lens pair in shutter-- won't cost much.</p>

<p>(ii) With the lensboard back on the camera, see if the cam linked to the winding crank cocks the shutter when you wind the film. If it's not doing that, the shutter isn't being wound when you wind the film, and that's your problem. You may have to rotate the shutter a few degrees in the lensboard. This has been discussed here recently.</p>

<p>(iii) If the above are working OK, the problem may be the safety interlock that prevents you from making multiple exposures. This has also been discussed here recently, in the context of a Mamiya C3. First simple trick you might try is rotating the little round selector switch on the right to the 'multi' exposure setting, and see if that frees up the shutter. </p>

<p>If the problem turns out to be the interlock, the way it is supposed to work is this. With each exposure, you are supposed to free up this interlock, every time you push the body release on the right front of the camera. The body release trips the shutter just before it releases the interlock, so you have to push it down all the way.</p>

<p>Next question: if you just want to take regular single exposures on 120 film, all you need is the regular hinged camera back that almost certainly came with your camera. If, heaven forbid, you were to want to take single exposures on sheet film, like it's 1965 and you have a passport studio, you could get sheet film adapter backs for these cameras. You see these things on ebay for a few dollars, but they have no practical use now.</p>

<p>Good camera. Let us know how you get on with it.</p>

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

<p>Here is a place for a pdf on the instruction manual:</p>

<p>http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_c33_pro.pdf</p>

[tim_readhead]

<p>Thanks Bill and Dave. Very useful advice. It seems you have to wind until the winder locks and then wind backwards slightly to set the shutter speed. Shutter seems to be sticking at speeds of 1/4 and less. Damn. It's a nice lens though, the 80mm from the black series. Any tips on sorting out the shutter speeds or will have to be proffesionally done?...</p>

[tim_readhead]

<p>ALSO... should the exposure counter wind when there is no film loaded?? cheers guys!</p>

[dave_s]

<p><em>Shutter seems to be sticking at speeds of 1/4 and less.</em><br>

<em> </em><br>

If you use those slow speeds a lot, you could get it overhauled. Many people recommend Flutot's Camera Repair (Google them), where a minor superhero named Carol Miller does excellent leaf shutter overhauls at a reasonable price. Having said that, I've never sent a Mamiya TLR lens to Flutot's, but I bet Carol works on them.</p>

<p>If the slow speeds are just a stop slow or something, and if you use negative film, see if you can just live with it. Set it to 1/8 when the meter calls for 1/4, or 1/2 when the meter calls for 1 sec, etc. I recognize this is probably anathema to zonies and other retentive types, but you'll probably be OK as long as you err a bit on the side of overexposure. <br>

<em> </em><br>

<em>should the exposure counter wind when there is no film loaded?? </em><br>

<em> </em><br>

I'm pretty sure it should on a C33, and the counter doesn't care whether there is a roll of film in the camera. There's a little switch on the back of the film chamber which resets the counter when the back is opened, and then re-engages the counter when the back is closed again. I have a C33 at home and can confirm this if it's important to you-- let me know.</p>

[tim_readhead]

<p>Cheers Dave! I'm already starting to get to grips with the camera now (although i havent tested a film) - but it seems to me the shutter speeds have improved a little bit as i keep winding and shooting...<br>

I knew it was built well but this camera is a true beast - it weighs so much! I cleaned the housing of the camera and it has come up very nicely! The viewing lens is bloomed and i would like to remove this... is that possible and if so, how? And is it hard to remove and clean the viewfinder / how?</p>

<p> </p>

[dave_s]

<p>Tim, I just pulled out my old C33, and what I said before was misleading. The camera doesn't care whether there's a roll of film in the bottom position, but it must have a spool in the take-up (top) position in order to engage the counter. </p>

<p>I can't offer any advice on cleaning the inside surfaces. I suspect it's a simple camera to work on, but I send things to a repairer when there's a danger I'm going to do any hamfisted damage. You may have the requisite skills, and certainly many people on this forum would find it an easy job. </p>

<p>Of course, you can unscrew the front cell of the viewing lens easily, if that helps, and you can obviously remove the waist-level finder to get at the top of the screen. For myself, I would be hesitant to take it apart to clean the mirror, because front-surface mirrors are damaged easily, but YMMV.</p>