Mamiya AE Prism Finder II at 8 sec

[bruce_collier]

Hi Folks,

 

Was hoping someone might be able to help me with a potential problem

on a new AE Prism Finder II for the RZ67 pro II.

 

I recently purchased a kit (body, 110 mm lens, 120 filmback), a

second lens, and the prism finder. At all shutter speed settings

other than 8 sec, the meter works great showing proper over- and

under-exposure. However, at 8 sec, the meter will indicate no

under-exposure no matter what the light level is. It "bottoms out" at

the green light (optimum exposure indicator). I tried both lenses,

different aperature settings, rotated the back, different ISO

settings, reseated everything, cleaned the contacts, you name it, no

change. The good news is that the shutter time is 8 sec, so at least

its firing the shutter properly.

 

Because it's a boundry-condition (8 sec is the slowest shutter

setting), I send it to Mamiya for analysis/repair since it sounds

fishy (why only one setting - could it be a design flaw?). They found

no fault with the finder and now want me to send in my whole kit.

This poses a bit of a problem for me, so we agreed that they should

send me back the finder for now, let me try it with a second filmback

that I'm going to receive shortly, and then send in the whole set-up

if the same problem exists. BTW, the manual explicitly shows what

indicators light up during an underexposure at 8 sec, and it's what

you would expect (the '-' sign).

 

In the meantime, I thought I'd ask if anyone else has seen this

problem or could check their cameras. I purchased the kit over the

web, so can't go back to the store to try out different units.

 

The camera seems to work just fine (actually, spectacularly), and I

know using the camera at 8 sec will be rare. It's just for that kind

of money, it should be flawless.

 

Thanks!

Bruce Collier

[jared_purdy2]

Go to the link: harrysproshop.com and send an email to Brian explaining your situation. When you see what he's charging for this equipment though, you may wish you had gone to him in the first place! When I get home this eve. I will check mine, and see what it does, and then get back to you with my results. My feeling is that it should tell you either way if you need more exposure, even if it only goes to 8 secs. Regards, Jared Purdy

[enrico_pocopagni1]

I just bought an AE Prism Finder II that I fit on a RZ Pro (non II) body. I made same test right now obtaining the same result. Maybe it is the normal behaviour of the meter.

[bruce_collier]

Thank you Jared and Enrico for the responses. Since my original post, I sent my finder to Mamiya America in NY and they found no fault with it and suggested I send in my whole kit. We agreed instead to send me back the finder and allow me to try it on my kit as I had two lenses and two filmbacks. This also yielded the same results, so I sent back the finder and kit. Again, no-fault-found. I finally asked them how the test works and they said that they have a test unit that injects a known amount of light per camera setting that will "green light" the meter per each setting. Well, that works great for making sure a "pass" condition results in a pass, but doesn't test that a "fail" condition doesn't pass a test, which is the problem I am having (and now sounds like Enrico is having). With this, I explained to them how to make it fail (yes, it was also in an enclosed letter) and once they tried it out, they too saw the problem.

 

Then, Mamiya said the problem is because I'm letting light in through the eye-piece and it's confusing the meter. I replied that I did the test in a pitch-black room with no light source (other than the little LEDs inside the meter...), but they still said it was my problem. I asked them to try it with a totally different set of camera/finder which they said they would. I waited a day to hear the results of this, but when I called, they said they'd sent it back to me with a note explaining what I was doing wrong (the eye-piece...). Since I couldn't seem to communicate with them any further and my camera was on its way back, I got the info on how to apply for a refund. I'm not sure if I'm going to do this. I wanted to test a unit at a store but when I went in, they said they had problems with their viewfinder and sent it back (didn't sound like it was the same problem). So, I'm still waiting for the store to get theirs back and I will make this test with theirs. If theirs does the same thing, then I will notify Mamiya Japan of the design flaw. If it's truly a design flaw, I guess I will keep mine as there really isn't an alternative. I do have a standalone meter, but I also like the convenience of having one on board. If it's a mine-only, then I'd do the refund and buy it locally. I probably couldn't convince Mamiya America that it's my unit only and get an exchange...

 

Bruce

[brian_lewington_416_538_65]

Hi Bruce

I believe the problem you are experiencing is not a design flaw.

The RZ has a cutoff circuit to preclude battery drain.

When the exposure drops to 1 minute or longer the camera will not fire.

If you were testing the camera indoors at a medium or small aperture

the light meter would cut off forcing you to use the mechanical shutter provision or T setting.

To confirm this is in fact the case try repeating the experiment in higher light levels.

Good luck,

Brian,

harrysproshop.com