Mamiya Sekor 500 DTL Mirror Issue

[LeonHGeuze]

Hi, I recently purchased a Mamiya Sekor 500 DTL from eBay. I loaded the film earlier today, however after taking 2 pictures there seems to be an issue with the mirror and the viewfinder is entirely black. I didn't notice any problems when taking the first picture (Shutter speed of 500 and aperture of 16) However when taking the second picture (Shutter speed of 60 and aperture of 2.8) The viewfinder turned black and I couldn't press the shutter button, upon further expectation I noticed that the mirror seemed to be stuck, I tried pushing it back however this didn't work. What could the issue be, and how could I solve it? Thanks, FYI this is my first film camera, and I know pretty little about shooting film.

[rodeo_joe1]

16 hours ago, LeonHGeuze said:

What could the issue be, and how could I solve it? 

That it's about 55 years old and now needs repair? 

Sorry, but this old stuff doesn't go on working forever without some intervention. 

My guess would be that the shutter end-of-travel sensor hasn't tripped, but it could be any one of several other faults. There's probably no easy DIY fix. So two options - send it back or pay for a repair. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by rodeo_joe1

[chuck_foreman1]

Sound advice ..especially if you can send it back!  Proably sold in good faitzh but thetre are plenty of other similar film cameras out there..so just try another.

 

That said; you might want to try gently touching the curtain... sometimes the release for one or the other curtains is stuck. At a 60th of second  you are typically moving to the slow escapement and the closing curtain is waiting for the first to reach the end of its travel..to  trigger or trip the second curtain.  If you can see a vertical metal bar that joins the curtain ..you might gently push  either right or left .. gently displacing a few millimeters. This might trigger the othe curtain etc. 
Many people/cameras have the  gears for the shutter tripping in the bottom plate  and if it's easy to access the bottom plate you might take a gander and as above try pushing one thing or the other. 

 

 

[rodeo_joe1]

The shutter looks mostly closed in the OP's picture and what usually stops a closed shutter from tripping the mirror return, etc. is a lack of spring tension. 

Sometimes you can get to the tensioning 'screws' through the base, sometimes not. One or other, or both of them, may be obscured by the cocking or speed train mechanism. 

Whatever the case, I don't recommend a novice to start stripping their camera and fiddling with the shutter tension. If indeed that's the fault. 

Could also be a sticky or dirty shutter track, or any of 5 or 6 other points of failure. The repair is usually fairly trivial - If you know what you're doing and which bits to strip and which to leave severely alone! 

Edited February 25, 2023 by rodeo_joe1

[orsetto]

The Mamiya 500 DTL is not nowadays considered a model worth the trouble or expense of repair: if you are still within your return window, return it for refund. If you spent over $50 for it, request a return/refund from the seller even if you're a few days past your return window. This is a camera model that until recently sellers couldn't give away for $10, today every film camera seems to be selling for vastly inflated prices. Mamiya wasn't tremendously successful in the booming 1960s/1970s 35mm SLR market, they were primarily relied on as a mfr of professional medium format roll film cameras for studio work.

Mamiya 35mm SLRs were well-built in one sense, but gimmicky and over-complicated in others which can make them unreliable and difficult to service today. For example, I would not advise attempting to remove the bottom plate to poke around: this can be helpful with many 35mm SLRs but some of the Mamiyas have a beyond-peculiar battery switch mechanism in this location which you can wreck if you don't remove the bottom plate just right. Also the Mamiya DTL bodies can be very picky about lenses: not all M42 screw mounts are compatible, and the DTLs were notorious for permanent jamming if incompatible M42 lenses were attached.

If you want a nice cheap screw-mount 35mm SLR, there are tons to choose from (even Mamiya improved and simplified with their similar newer DSX-500). Chinon made several nice, very usable electronic AE screw mount bodies (also sold under GAF branding).  Also Vivitar, Fuji, etc. If you don't care about a specific lens mount or lens line, consider a Nikon Nikkormat FTn. These sold in the millions, have bulletproof shutters, flood eBay in every country, and most still work perfectly aside from the meter maybe being dead (a very common problem on all non-electronic SLRs).

If you're willing to accept an electronic SLR, something out-of-fashion like an Olympus OM20 is a good, very affordable choice. Lots more options available in the $100 price range, unfortunately below that threshold can be slim pickings in today's overheated cult of the film camera. The best buys out there are late '80s second-wave AF film SLRs like Nikon N8008 or N2020: not chic or retro looking, so nobody wants them for hipster jewelry, but they're great to use and take common AA or AAA batteries.

Edited February 26, 2023 by orsetto

[kmac]

I would recommend removing the bottom cover and see if something in that mechanism is stuck. The lubricant is probably non-existent by now after all these years and the gears and pins need a smidgen of grease. Returning the camera to the seller is ok, but posting here first was the right thing to do, old early SLRs are usually easily fixed, remembering that your first shot at 500/sec worked, and your next shot at 60/sec, although it didn't work, it doesn't sound like a major catastrophe. A bit of poking around under the bottom cover and little grease on the moving parts will likely fix it. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by kmac

[Bettendorf]

10 hours ago, orsetto said:

not chic or retro looking, so nobody wants them for hipster jewelry,

Outstanding choice of words orsetto.

[kmac]

9 hours ago, Bettendorf said:

Outstanding choice of words orsetto.

He's the best wordsmith ever.