neil_grant

Is it possible to get to the helicoid by removing various parts from the rear of the lens? Namely, the helicoid key and the circlip it's screwed to and also the focusing cam cover? If i can see even a small part of the helicoid i think i can oil it or add a little grease. Anyone tried this or can advise? I don't think i have the skills to take the entire lens apart. Thanks,

My exprience of vintage 'Press' lenses is similar to that of D_S. I also recently bought and Mamiya Press lens from Japan - a gorgeous 100mm f/ 2.8 c/w Universal 6x9 camera body. From the start, focusing was rather rough and unplesant to use and then the lens almost seized completely. I encouaged/forced it back to infinity - and then left it like that to contemplate the situation, and check the web for ideas about sorting it out. In the end I was able to re-grease the, almost completely dried out, helicoid 'in situ' - without totally dismantling the lens. I removed the lens's rear baffle plate, revealing the tail end of the helicoid, and then dabbed tiny amounts of 'thin' helicoid grease into it with a fine brush. I left the lens face down for a period of days and then started to gently exercise it - focusing it a little closer and then back to infinity. Now and then i gave it a bit more grease. Eventually, over a period of weeks i was able to get the lens to focus smoothly all the way through it's range from infinity to 1m. I also have a 'Press' 50mm f 6.3 with stiff focusing needing attention - but that should be the subject of another post.

..quicky remove staff from dome+warm it up a bit

30mm

another one with 30mm.

taken with XPAN + 135mm Nikkor f/3.5

I believe there were plans for a 135mm XPAN lens, but unfortunately it never materialised. I've used a Nikon lens instead via a dumb adaptor. Doesn't quite cover the full frame. Useful in some situations though.

..i think you need to pick your compositions quite carefully to make the most of the 30mm lens's superwide fov. The centre filter can cause lens flares and also absorbs 1 1/2 stops of light.

"studio flash with lens stopped down" Older studio flashes had a limited range of power outputs. Getting low power output from from otherwise powerful units could be a problem. That's not really an issue with modern types. Just turn the power down.

I know waist level finders have a magnifying loupe to view the image on Mamiya TLRs but I was wondering if anyone knows if the eye level viewer would also magnify the image. Thanks. ... ...the image from the pentaprism is slightly smaller than when using the WLF and flip-up magnifier. The pentaprism is very heavy and impairs the camera's balance. For hand-held work you will appreciate using a side-grip. The porrofinder is much lighter than the prism. The image is smaller and dimmer. The camera's balance is less disturbed than when using a prism, though a side-grip will still be useful.

the focus lock on the most recent C 330 TLR's does have a use - but perhaps not in the way you have imagined. The lens pairs tend not to 'rack out' under the influence of gravity (even with big lenses attached), but they can do just the opposite! They can 'rack-in' from a highly extended bellows. You need to remember that there is in fact an inner bellows with the C TLR, and both 'inner' and 'outer' bellows have a preferred resting dimension. In practice, when you have two bellows very extended - 'they just want to go in a bit'.

...happy ending. The kipon mount has an 'internal', bright-chromed, release tab, not an external one like you might find on an extension tube. It's close to the lens's electrical contacts. The tab needs to depressed towards the front of the lens until a neighbouring chrome pin 'pops' up. Then the mount can be twisted off. Never seen a mechanism like it before.

..I cannot release the adaptor from the lens. The adaptor is fitted correctly to a G-series lens and the aperture control links up correctly with the iris mechanism in the lens. Has anyone tried one of these and can suggest where I'm going wrong? thanks if you can help.

...this very thing happened with one of my C 330 lenses today (65mm). I noticed when the bulb setting allowed the shutter to close prematurely. Testing with the lens off- body, showed a 'delayed action' effect at all speeds with the shutter only firing a few seconds after triggering. I swapped the lens for a functional 80mm to take the photo, then started to contemplate my options with the 'faulty' 65mm. It seemed fine a few months before. Careful inspection revealed that the x/m synchro had indeed slipped off x. Returning it fully to x, and the shutter was working again! Quite a relief. These cameras really do have bits sticking out all over the place. The flash synch must have been disturbed by accident, and the x/m lever is small and almost unnoticeable, tucked away on the side of the lens.

...if these lenses are more prone to fungus than others it may not be solely down to the 'glass'. Could an 'oiled' focusing helix offer a 'protective' effect? Good to read how they may be dismantled.

...with age, film loses speed and contrast. It gains fog. Of course film is 'on' all the time - unlike digital.

likely to be foam seals in the film magazine. (but there are others - and they all deteriorate with age). Have they gone oily and sticky? If you can process your own black and white film investigating light leaks will be much quicker.

...best if you show scans of the film including the rebate (non image area)

..I think problems like haze or fungus are most likely a function of storage conditions rather than degree of use. Dust inside a lens is more of a 'use' indicator - (air being drawn into the camera by the reflex mirror action). 'Silvering' on the breech lock securing ring is also an indicator. I think my preference would be for the 127mm over the 140mm. Lighter , brighter and focuses a bit closer without a tube. The 140mm has a floating element system which complicates dismantling for cleaning. I think, keep saving, maybe up your budget and be patient. Good luck.

...consider also the 127mm f/3.8 lens. Gives you more chance of finding a good sample.

probably insufficient camera-exposure. For relaible diagnosis you should submit 'un-reversed' scans of your negs. Not positives.

...some of the small tool palettes have bcome dragged loose from the main 'tool palette 1' - and i can't seem to join them back on again. Any suggestsions?? thanks!

...I recently got a C 330 S (wanting a simple, reliable, square format camera) - and thinking this was the best of the line. No sooner had I done so I came across reports of plastic in the construction (including the side panels) and I was rather disappointed in this. I examined the camera carefully and it seemed to pretty much like the C 330 i remembered from thirty years before. I began to doubt the plastic side panel description as they seemed cold to the touch and fine scratches in the paint revealed 'brightness'. As you note, the focusing screen is especially clear and easy to use. I use mine with the prism and a left hand grip - and of course it is quite bulky. Cheers!

"Just for reference" (like the pics above), since the C220F and C330S updates rarely come up in forum discussions this seems as good a place as any to note the changes that were made: 4. The 220F does not have a folding crank near the top deck like the older C220: it has a larger, crank-less knob relocated to the center of the camera body. It winds as quick and smooth as a crank, but some people really miss having a crank option. Because the knob was relocated, the entire film advance mechanism was redesigned. Some feel this new design is more fragile, but I've yet to hear of a C220F with advance problems. 5. C220F/C330S both have larger focusing knobs, eliminating the need for the clumsy add-on "big knob" Mamiya offered for years as an accessory. 6. 5. C220F/C330S both switched to the new-style Mamiya RZ67 strap attachment lugs, as opposed to the simple strap slots in the older C220 etc. 7. C220F/C330S both have a new, hidden two-step film door release which is easier on the fingers than the old door-mounted silver dial. Instead, you press down on a tab while pushing in the upper film spool knob to pop open the back (which now also has a film box end flap holder). 8. As I discovered in the course of this discussion, the 220F focusing mechanism differs in some particulars: it has some external adjustment points that don't require as much (or any) disassembly. 9. The C220F was only available in all-black trim, as opposed to the original C220 which was chrome trim only. Many of the 220F external body panels are high-impact plastic vs the steel of the older C220. Despite this, the C220F isn't any lighter weight and seems equally sturdy (drop either onto a sidewalk, and it will dent the sidewalk as well as itself). (Partial quote) ...when Mamiya updated the c220 to the 'F' model they created a camera that shared more parts with the c330 'S' (which you listed). Perhaps most conspicuous was the wind knob - now located in the same position as the wind crank on the c330. Presumably the gearing inside the two cameras is now the same. The side panels on both cameras seems very similar too - but I think they are metal on the c330. Are you sure the c220 F is plastic in this area? If so perhaps it could be referred to as the c 220F dash 166.