RZ67 AE finder modified for Pro II

[brian_schall]

<p>Question: How can you tell if a RZ67 AE Prism has been modified for the RZ Pro II body?<br>

The reason I ask is I 'bought' a Prism on Ebay. The picture in the auction showed a AE II prism (knobs on too). What arrived from Switzerland (and I'm in New Mexico) was a AE prism (knob on side). I know an AE prism will not work on a Pro II body without modification (replace a circuit board?). I mounted the prism and all functions seems to work. I get an exposure that's close to what my spot meter and Luna Pro gives. The prism gives an AE exposure, reads manually just fine, all the LED's light up, shot a 1 sec exposure on AE and the shutter fired at 1 sec (to my ear).<br>

Before I jump on the seller with both feet, I'd like to figure out if the prism is going to work on my camera. If it does, I'm only going to jump on him with one foot.</p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>Ha, well put.</p>

<p>My Pro II came with an AE prism, but it didn't work at all. No clue if it wasn't modified, or just broken. The whole camera was so beat up that I'm figuring it was completely unfunctional.</p>

<p>I bought another AE prism, and it worked fine on the Pro II. The seller didn't clarify it having been modified, but I took a chance and got lucky.</p>

<p>So, I'd say you're fine. The price difference is significant, but I don't think the performance is any different. I think it's just because of this apparent compatibility issue. I read that both meters do stepless metering in auto mode, so you don't lose the half-stop capability that the Pro II gives you....but I could be wrong.</p>

<p>It's also annoying that the one-knobbed AE prism is designation free (no FE701 to call it by), so there seems no way to keep them "organized". Probably why so many people mistakenly use AE II photos with their AE prisms...it's what comes up on Google.</p>

[christoph_sensen]

<p>The original RZ and the respective AE prism for that model only have adjustments in full steps. The AE II prism has half steps, just like the RZ II body. Have a look here:<br>

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Mamiya_RZ<br>

That's actually my very own AE II prism in the image,<br>

Christoph </p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>Christoph,</p>

<p>I was referring to automatic mode, which both models list as "stepless" in the manual. I can only presume this means that the actual shutter speed is set to increments even finer than full or half stops when in auto mode. </p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>Wow, now I'm confused. This other thread <a href="00Vsxg?start=10">http://www.photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/00Vsxg?start=10</a> agrees with my recollection, but I just looked for the FE701 manual, and it mentioned half-steps in AE mode. I recall doing the same search before and finding the word "stepless" in documentation for both.</p>

<p>So, all bets are off. ;-)</p>

[christoph_sensen]

<p>The automatic mode indeed works stepless, but if you want to set speeds manually, the first version of the AE finder, as well as the "AE chimney hood" can only be adjusted in full steps, while the second version of the AE prism can be adjusted in half steps.<br>

Christoph</p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>Christoph,<br>

Why not just set speeds manually on the camera, if you need that half step?</p>

<p>Not that I recall ever shooting manual unless I'm using the WLF...</p>

<p> </p>

[marc_batters]

<p>Old thread, I know, but there seems to be some confusion here.</p>

<p>Remember, when you mount an AE prism to the camera, the shutter speed dial on the "camera body" must be turned to the AE position. With an AE prism attached, all of your exposure control is given over to the prism.<br>

With the prism attached, you now have automatic exposure controll, but you have to choose between "shutter" priority, or "aperture" priority.</p>

<p>The half stops of the shutter speed dial on the AEII prism, or the full stops of the AE prism's shutter speed dial,<br /> is for when you choose a given shutter speed for operating in "shutter priority mode". <br /> In shutter priority mode, whatever speed you choose, the shutter fires at that speed</p>

<p>When the shutter speed dial on the "AE prism" is set to "A", then you're in "aperture priority mode". <br /> Only in "aperture priority mode", do you have step-less shutter speeds.<br /> You choose one mode or the other.</p>

<p>The side switch changes the "metering mode", to spot, auto shift, or average [metering].</p>

<p>http://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_rz67_pro_ae_prism_finder.pdf</p>