AE Prism Finder Trouble

[jeremy_trombley]

<p>Hey, I've looked all over and tried every google search term I can think of but nothing comes up with this specific issue, so I hope someone out there can help me. <br /><br />I recently bought a nice RZ67 on Ebay, and got an AE prism finder along with it - the first one with the single dial on the side. It seems to work perfectly - I have to wipe off the contacts now and then to get the LEDs to light up inside, but generally it seems to be reading light and metering accurately. The problem is that it doesn't seem to have any effect on the shutter speed of the camera. I set it on "A" (and have the dot selected on the body's shutter speed dial), press half-way, the LEDs light up showing the selected shutter speed and then I push the button and the shutter goes off at 1/400 regardless of how it was set in the finder. I've also taken it off the "A" setting and set it to a manual shutter speed - 2 seconds, for example - snap the picture, and it still seems to be going off at 1/400 instead of 2 seconds. If I go back to using the body's shutter speed dial, everything works fine except I can't use the prism's metering functions, obviously. <br /><br />Did I get a bad finder? Is there anything I can do to fix it or some setting I'm forgetting to check? I could still use it to meter and then adjust the shutter speed with the body's dial, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an AE finder. Any ideas?<br /><br />Thanks!<br />Jeremy</p>

[lubos_soltes]

<p>the body shutter speed dial should be set to the red dot between 400 and B if using a metered finder ... did you do that ?</p>

[jeremy_trombley]

<p>Yeah, the dial is set correctly, and as I said, the metering seems to function properly. It just doesn't seem to be communicating the shutter speed to the camera body no matter what I do.</p>

[Dustin McAmera]

Which camera do you have? I think the oldest prism may be incompatible with the II.

[Dustin McAmera]

<p>The manuals for the RZ67 and RZ67 Pro II are both available as pdf at the Mamiya Leaf site:<br>

http://www.mamiyaleaf.com/documentation.html (and scroll down for the older cameras).</p>

<p>In the one for the original RZ67, the prism finder is mentioned as to be 'available in the future'. The 'parts' pictures on page 4-5 shows an 'electrical contact cover' under the finder. This must be there if you're using an old prism finder made for an RB67, and must be taken off if you're using a finder with electrical contacts, made for the RZ67. It would be worth checking if that cover is in place, but I guess you'd have noticed if your finder had nothing electrical to connect to.</p>

<p>The manual for the RZ67 Pro II also mentions a similar cover. Again, this must be in place if you use a finder made for the RB67.<br>

Page 39 of this manual says this:</p>

<p><em>The previous models of AE Prism Finders or AE Magnifying Finders cannot be used with the RZ PRO II unless their circuits are modified. Contact your country's Mamiya Distributor for further information.</em><br>

<em>The AE Prism Finder FE701 can be directly mounted on the RZ PRO II.</em></p>

<p>I think that means if you have the Pro II body, you must have the FE701 prism for the meter to work.<br>

<br /> </p>

<p> </p>

[jeremy_trombley]

<p>It's not a Pro II, just a regular RZ67. I don't see a contact cover - the electrical contacts are all exposed, and, like I said, the meter functions fine. The LEDs light up, they seem to meter correctly, etc. The only thing that isn't working is the communication of the shutter speed to the camera body/lens. This is the case whether I have the finder set on AE or on a manual shutter speed. Set at 2 seconds, I would expect to hear the initial clunk as the mirror is raised followed by a click as the shutter closes 2 seconds later. That's what happens when I just use the body's shutter speed dial, but when I use the finder dial it all happens at once as if it's set to 1/400 seconds rather than 2. I'm thinking it's just broken and communicating for whatever reason. For now I'll use it to meter, but manually set the shutter speed on the body when I take the shot. It'll be cumbersome, but it's better than nothing...</p>