j_m_brown

Jeffrey, take a look at the Koni Omega (or Rapid Omega) model M, 100, or 200. The M and 200, almost identical, allow mid-roll back swaps, while the 100 does not. Stick with one of those three models. With a standard 90mm lens and a 120 or 220 back, these sturdy rangefinder cameras can be had via eBay for $175-$250. Typically, you will have to replace the deteriorated foam seals in the film back, but that's an easy job you can do yourself for $10, or pay a repair person $40 or so to do it. The lenses are very sharp, and the 6x7 format prints to standard sizes with virtually no cropping. They are totally mechanical, no batteries, no meters. With the rest of your money, buy a used spot meter for $200 or so. For landscape use, an in-camera meter is of limited usefulness. For full info on the Konis, check out: http://people.smu.edu/rmonagha/mf/korapid.html.

Well, here is one way to accomplish your mission:

 

1) With the lens on and the darkslide in place, cock the shutter and compose the shot normally.

 

2) Remove the lens and replace it with the modified body cap. For your pinhole shutter, use a piece of black tape over the pinhole.

 

3) Remove the darkslide.

 

4) Trip the shutter button on the camera body to raise the mirror and the light baffle that lies behind it.

 

5) Make the exposure by removing and replacing the black tape.

 

6) On the film back, find the small button under the tip of the film wind lever. Press it to the left to release the wind lever, then advance the film.

 

7) Repeat 9 times.

 

8) Relax. Unlike Hasselblads and Bronicas, it is impossible to jam an RB67 if you mate a cocked part to an uncocked one.

 

I don�t agree with Roger�s suggestion to use a small hole in the body cap for your pinhole, because the thickness of the cap will increase diffraction distortion. And hey, the last thing you want here is to compromise optical quality, right? <g> You will get better results by using a very thin material such as brass shim stock, about 0.010" to 0.020", available at auto parts stores. You can use a needle to punch a hole in it, but then you should lightly sand around the hole on both sides with crocus cloth to deburr its edges. Push the needle through from the opposite side, sand again. Repeat several times to get a clean pinhole. Radio Shack sells (or once sold) a 30X lighted microscope, Cat. No. 63-851, for about $10, that will make inspection easy.

 

Tape or glue the brass piece to the inside of the body cap, then place the black tape shutter on the outside, so as not to allow any sticky stuff to contaminate the pinhole.

 

To get a longer effective focal length, just rack out the bellows. All the way out, double the exposure time.

 

If you use a fairly large sewing needle to make the pinhole, try bracketing sunny day exposures from 30 sec. to 4 minutes or so with film in the ISO 100-400 range.

 

Make your shots more interesting by taking advantage of the unlimited depth of field. Try including objects that are only a few inches from the pinhole, along with others all the way out to infinity.

The cleaning of photographic glass seems loosely linked to voodoo rituals -- everyone has his own!

 

I noticed some bias against microfiber cloths, so I thought I'd jump in with my opinion. I think the bad rap comes from the way I've seen folks store these cloths; usually loose somewhere in the camera bag. Would you use a photo cleaning tissue that had dropped into the dirt? Of course not.

 

I've sold hundreds of large, coarse weave, general purpose microfiber cloths. They excel at cleaning virtually anything, without chemicals or soap. Mirrors, windows, greasy stovetops, eyeglasses, chrome, buggy windshields, calculators, computers, painted surfaces, etc. I even clean my entire automobile with a 14" cloth and about a quart of water. It even removes road tar from behind the wheels!

 

I use a separate (very clean) one for cleaning my camera glass. I even clean front-surface mirrors with it, and have never scratched anything. But then, I don't drop it in the dirt, and after using it a few times, I clean it with soapy water and rinse it thoroughly.

 

Microfiber cloths are made of polyester and sometimes polyamide (whatever that is -- I'm no chemist). Mine are 85%/15%. Other than that, they contain no chemicals and they are very soft and absorbent.

 

If a microfiber cloth scratches something, it's because you've let some abrasive foreign substance lodge in it. It probably just needs cleaning. After doing that, keep it clean and barely damp by storing it in its own little ZipLoc bag.

 

More tips: Use a camel-hair brush first to knock off any gritties (so they don't get into the cloth). Make sure your hands are reasonably clean before using the cloth. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER laying the cloth on any surface that is not totally clean! Use one side of the cloth today, the other side tomorrow, then clean and rinse it. (Hint: if your cloth has no label or other identifying mark, use a needle and thread to sew a single stitch into it, long on one side, short on the other, so you can identify which side you last used.) Microfiber cloths are not magic, but given the same care you give your body every day, a single cloth will serve you well for years.

I don't use an RZ (still on an RB), but I checked out the online RZ manual at mamiya.com. Still not sure what it said, so you should check it out and see what you think. Pages 28-30 or so.

 

Seems to say that, on the lens, if you slide the switch near the aperture pointer so that the "T" is visible, you can can press the shutter release to open, then slide the switch back to close. This is a mechanical feature, so it uses virtually no battery power.

 

If that doesn't help you, I hope someone who knows what he's talking about will jump in here!