martin_wouterlood1

<p>I just received a Mamiya RZ67 and have spent awhile reading the manual to learn the basics of the camera. While reading about the revolving back I noticed that the manual points out that if you have the back set to shoot vertically, the viewfinder will change to reflect that, and furthermore, a rectangle indicating the orientation will be displayed on top. I noticed that when my back is set to shoot vertically (so, the vertical rectangle aligned with the orange line), the framing appears horizontally, and when the back is set to shoot horizontally, the framing is cropped to appear vertical. After rereading the guide/looking at the photos I noticed the indicator rectangles on the back have no text in them in the manual while on my back the vertical rectangle has a "V" and the horizontal one an "H" which made me realize my RZ67 has an RZ67 II back attached to it. I've read that this combination still works but I haven't been able to find anyone who is experiencing a similar problem. I've tried adjusting the ring inside of the camera but no matter what I do, the orientation is always incorrect. If the back is set to vertical but the viewfinder displays the picture in a horizontal format does that mean, regardless of what the back is telling me, when I take a photo it will still come out horizontally? Sorry if the answer to this is really obvious, I just wouldn't want to start shooting and have the pictures come out cropped incorrectly or maybe not at all.<br>

Thanks in advance.</p>

Just wondering in light of info I received if the back you tried is a 6x7 back? That would be helpful to know on this thread as it would indicate a malfunction if on a 67 back.

Good news for me and the issue as it applies to me...I posed the question on the getdpi medium format forum and received the reply that for the 645 back and digital back adaptors it is supposed to act in this manner. I don't know how it applies to those above with issues but here is the link to the thread:

Mamiya RZ pro IID framing masks in wrong orientation

Cheers,

Martin

This is an update today 3 Nov 2017 of what I have left to sell, the remainder having been sold. Price have been reduced as stated. Some of these items have also been put on to ebay:

Contax 645 Zeiss 35mm 3.5 Distagon lens, shade, caps, pouch mint-. $850

Contax 645 Zeiss 55mm 3.5 Distagon lens, caps, pouch mint-. $850

Contax 645 rear & top covers. $30

Contax TLA 360 and TLA 30 TTL flashes, off camera cords, S connector excellent+. $150

Contax electronic cable release RTS, Aria etc. excellent+. $30

Contax LA50 remote release for Contax 645 & N. $20 each (I have 3)

Contax lens pouch mcl1 excellent+. $30

Contax lens pouch mcl2 excellent+. $30

Fotodiox Pro Hasselblad C lens to Contax 645 camera adaptor mint-. $50

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 60mm 3.5 Distagon lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1000

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 100mm 3.5 Planar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1300

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 120mm 4.0 Makro Planar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $800

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 180mm 4.0 Sonnar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1100

Hasselblad 16E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $80

Hasselblad 32E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $80

Hasselblad 56E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $80

Hasselblad B60 to 72mm filter ring mint-. $20

Hasselblad Heliopan B60 polarising filter mint-. $50

Hasselblad Proshade kit boxed mint. $200

Hasselblad B60 Zeiss Softar II mint-. $50

Hasselblad V to Pentacon 6 lens adaptor mint-. $20

Manfrotto 400 geared tripod head with Sx2, M & L adaptors excellent+. $300

Mamiya RZ black and blue camera strap excellent+. $20

Sigma Cum Laude Nikon lens exchange mount for Sigma Foveon SD1slr camera, new. $40

Assorted lengths 72mm & 95mm metal lens shades mint. $20

Shoot A-S dovetail footplate Mamiya, Contax 645 mint. $25

Kirk plate small screw kit new $2.

Thank you

Martin

Hi Martin,

 

Just wondering whether

the Contax 645 camera body, Zeiss 80mm f2.0 Planar lens, prism finder is still available?

 

I'm really interested in purchasing it. Thank you

Yes it's sold Daniel, thank you.

A bundle of high end medium format gear to sell which I gradually accumulated over the last few years but am now keeping just a small kit (yes, still medium format).

Everything has been carefully looked after, is working perfectly and in mint minus (minus a few very slight marks here and there) to excellent plus condition unless noted otherwise.

Prices are in USD but I will accept equivalent in GBP, Euro or AUD. Paypal is fine and a discount will be given for direct bank deposits (approx equivalent to their 2.9% fee).

I will also auction these on ebay but at slightly increased prices to cover their fees. My feedback there is 100% positive over 15 years.

Shipping is worldwide. No sales tax within the EU as I am currently in Greece. I usually overestimate the shipping costs to cover surprises and refund the difference to the buyer if shipping is less. It always works just fine and everybody is happy.

Money refunded, except shipping costs, if not satisfied with condition and function of items as described.

Please PM me for details, questions or photos of specific items which I will post on demand as there are many!

Reasonable offers accepted.

Thanks for your interest.

Martin

Phase One P25+ digital back for Hasselblad V with the famed 9 micron 22 megapixel 37mm x 49mm sensor, shot count only 4373, in original P1 hard case with full extras, totally unmarked mint condition. $2800

Phase One P20+ digital back for Hasselblad V with the famed 9 micron 16 megapixel 37mm x 37mm sensor, charger, battery, flash sync and firewire cables, shot count 316578 (no indication of wear since there are no moving parts), IR filter over sensor unmarked, only one ding on body edge, otherwise excellent condition. $1750

Contax 645 camera body, Zeiss 80mm f2.0 Planar lens, prism finder, 120/220 film back & insert, strap, TLA 360 TTL flash, 300cm extension cord, S connector, instructions, boxed, very little use only, mint- condition, plus also 4 rechargeable batteries/charger, TLA 20 TTL flash, off camera cords, excellent +. $3100

Contax 645 Zeiss 35mm 3.5 Distagon lens, shade, caps, pouch mint-. $1200

Contax 645 Zeiss 55mm 3.5 Distagon lens, caps, pouch mint-. $1200

Contax 645 Zeiss 140m 2.8 Sonnar lens with caps, pouch and box mint-. $600

Contax 645 Zeiss Mutar 1.4 extender, caps and protective pouch mint. $400

Contax 645 waist level finder with -1.5 & -2 diopter magnifiers mint-. $250

Contax 645 Bill Maxwell enhanced focusing screen mint-. $250

Contax 645 bellows hood boxed mint-. $200

Contax 645 flash bracket excellent +. $100

Contax 645 rear & top covers. $30

Contax TLA 360 and TLA 30 TTL flashes, off camera cords, S connector excellent+. $150

Contax electronic cable release RTS, Aria etc. excellent+. $30

Contax LA50 remote release for Contax 645 & N. $20 each (I have 3)

Contax lens pouch mcl1 excellent+. $30

Contax lens pouch mcl2 excellent+. $30

Fotodiox Pro Hasselblad C lens to Contax 645 camera adaptor mint-. $50

Hasselblad 503CW late model camera body, acute matte d screen, wlf, boxed excellent+ with latest A12 back, boxed mint-, wide strap. $1700

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 60mm 3.5 Distagon lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1200

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 100mm 3.5 Planar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1500

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 120mm 4.0 Makro Planar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $900

Hasselblad Zeiss CFi 180mm 4.0 Sonnar lens with caps and B60 uv filter mint-. $1400

Hasselblad 16E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $90

Hasselblad 32E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $90

Hasselblad 56E extension tube with rear cap mint-. $90

Hasselblad -2 diopter wlf magnifier mint-. $30

Hasselblad angle cable release mint-. $20

Hasselblad B60 to 72mm filter ring mint-. $30

Hasselblad caps and rear covers excellent+. $20

Hasselblad flash foot mint-. $20

Hasselblad Hartblei 50x50mm 4x viewfinder with adjustable diopter mint-. $150

Hasselblad Heliopan B60 polarising filter mint-. $50

Hasselblad Proshade kit boxed mint. $200

Hasselblad B60 Zeiss Softar II mint-. $50

Hasselblad V to Pentacon 6 lens adaptor mint-. $30

Manfrotto 400 geared tripod head with Sx2, M & L adaptors excellent+. $350

Mamiya RZ black and blue camera strap excellent+. $20

Sigma Cum Laude Nikon lens exchange mount for Sigma Foveon SD1slr camera, new. $50

Assorted lengths 72mm & 95mm metal lens shades mint. $20

Shoot A-S dovetail footplate Mamiya, Contax 645 mint. $25

Kirk plate small screw kit new $2.

<p>Seems to me that according to the numerous discussions abounding on the net, my recently-acquired Pentax 67ii may be under-gunned wrt the tripod mount setup. Is the 1/4" standard size thread adequate to hold the camera still (and I mean STILL) when mirror and shutter go "thwacklannnng" (luv the ring of that spring sound!). The Mammies and the Blads both have a 3/8" solution which I have always taken advantage of.<br>

Does anybody know if there is a 3/8" fix? Can I get further by unscrewing the little screwed in panel surrounding the socket? Given its reputation and the fact that it already had several predecessors I figure it would have been easy to build the usual 3/8" for overkillers like me, and insert the 1/4" option for universality.<br>

The reason I ask is that I have an old great 3 way foba head just itching to hold down a P67 and AFAIC tell it comes with a non removable 3/8" thread only, and I don't really want to add any extra interfaces (but I guess I may have to if neither end has a fix).<br>

On the subject of heads, do you P67 users have any consensus on which others are adequately big and solid and up for solidifying the 67? <br>

Many thanks for any helpful info.<br>

Martin</p>

<p>Oh, here I go again...seems like I've nothing better to do than to keep this thread from going down...</p>

<p>@ Rob F:<br>

"Just as a point of interest, IMAX uses Hasselblad Zeiss lenses on the IMAX cameras. The glass is re-mounted in barrels designed for the IMAX camera; the optical formula is unchanged."</p>

<p>...and those same optical formulae appear again, in the Zeiss ZH 40, 120 and 180mm lenses for Sinar M (excepting a brand new 80mm/2.8), complete with auto focus and electronic aperture selected on the body and using the M shutter for speeds. Costing an arm and a leg at the time, improvements, no doubt trickled down from their true megadolla cinema lens technology, were made to the housings to further increase contrast by controlling internal reflections.<br>

(this information directly from Zeiss)<br>

Martin</p>

<p>Oh, here I go again...seems like I've nothing better to do than to keep this thread from going down...</p>

<p>@ Rob F:<br>

"Just as a point of interest, IMAX uses Hasselblad Zeiss lenses on the IMAX cameras. The glass is re-mounted in barrels designed for the IMAX camera; the optical formula is unchanged."</p>

<p>...and those same optical formulae appear again, in the Zeiss ZH 40, 120 and 180mm lenses for Sinar M (excepting a brand new 80mm/2.8), complete with auto focus and electronic aperture selected on the body and using the M shutter for speeds. Costing an arm and a leg at the time, improvements, no doubt trickled down from their true megadolla cinema lens technology, were made to the housings to further increase contrast by controlling internal reflections.<br>

(this information directly from Zeiss)<br>

Martin</p>

I’m on a little mission…specifically, I’m trying to garner interest from Contax 645 users on a few medium format forum sites who like/prefer the waist level viewing experience.

Before letting go of the Hasselblad 503 not so long ago in favour of the Contax (for about the 3rd time over the years) I had been using it with the Hartblei adjustable 52x52mm 4x waist level finder. It has such a nice way of drawing me into the image that once I mounted it, it stayed.

Back to the Contax 645. I was fiddling with the Hartblei wlf on it recently and...what a difference! The extra magnification and resulting clarity compared to the native prism and waist finders is just immense. C645 users know that its viewfinder brightness and magnification are not it’s strongest suit, but this was like looking through the ‘Blad again.

The Hartblei finder will need some reworking though, to get the distance from the focusing screen right as well as the step up shape to fit over the front display readout.

Here’s where Hartblei may come to the party...I contacted them and received a couple of replies from their guy Vitaliy, stating that there is a realistic possibility that they may produce the viewfinder to fit the Contax 645. He is happy for me to open forum discussion and provided a link to post for anyone wishing to contact him about this idea.

<a href="http://www.hartbleilens.com/shop_content.php?coID=7">http://www.hartbleilens.com/shop_content.php?coID=7</a>

I would think that the Contax version would probably cost a little more than the $150-odd I paid for the ‘blad version, but heck, in the past the Contax wlf has sold for up to 4 times that. Nevertheless, I will be counting myself in on one of these.

I have just one more thing to say…

Go Contax, go!! There’s another breath of life in you yet…

Cheers, Martin

<p>Oh, never mind...I returned the lens to the seller, no qns asked...didn't seem to be worth the trouble so I may get another one sometime...<br>

Thanks for your interest, JDM<br>

Martin</p>

<p>Thanks JDM<br>

Looking a bit closer there are a few inside marks from less than careful tool handling...the whole front element set seems to move in and out about 5mm if I tip the lens back and forwards...the hood screw thread must be dirty as it is very hard to twist off, but at the right angle of force it threads off effortlessly...I wonder if this stickiness has been the contributor to increasing the free play because it seems when it's tight, the next ring in from the hood sometimes seems to turn a little...I do think the lens may be worth keeping because it looks otherwise in very good shape...the auto aperture mechanism is a little hesitant (slow) which may have been a reason to open the lens initially, but as I'll be using it mostly wide or near wide open with manual stop down metering that won't matter too much...the lens/group shift...hmmm, not so sure...have been offered a refund from the seller who says he sells a few of these every month always in good working nick...<br>

Any ideas? I am wondering to find a repairer somewhere who can set it up right...from the inet posts it doesn't seem too hard, but still a bit out of my league.</p>

<p>Does anybody know where to have this lens serviced/repaired, best in Australia, but otherwise anywhere else? I just bought an otherwise great condition copy for a good price but it has some movement in the front end...a slight bit of play in the focus ring makes me think it's the focus mechanism.<br>

Many thanks for any help<br>

Martin</p>

<p>"making a mountain out of a molehill..."<br>

<br /> Ah, good...I was wondering how this might affect my macro.. ;>)<br>

<br /> Seriously, I for one have found much of this thread useful for my understanding, albeit somewhat morphed from shutters into supports.<br>

Nice 'mountains and molehills', btw David, though I like your falls and pool image most.</p>

<p>Thank you all for an enlightening string of comments, which has given rise to some further thoughts of my own.<br>

To my thinking, increasing the mass of a thing and subjecting it to a given force, ie leaf shutter opening/closing = x whatevers, focal plane = say, 3x whatevers, the energy instilled is constant for each, and since it cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form (Newton?), the frequency of the vibration is increased with a corresponding lowering amplitude of vibration, which is what we all want, right?...same thing with hi fi turntables...hence the mass dampening thing. The other influencing factor that comes to mind is rigidity...there's no good in welding a 10 kg steel reo rod to your rig if it is 5m long, is there?...hence the influence of carbon fibre - currently the stiffest thing for the weight one is willing to schlep around.<br>

My Gitzo 5 series cf I mentioned has been about the stiffest 3kg set of legs I have tried, but I may have an interest in the new RRS series 4, as one of their marketeering guys told me it quells vibes 3 times faster than the competition (probably the cheapo copies).<br>

I have used favourably a fluid head as Q.G. suggested and may look into this again. I also had with it the video double tube legs. These are rated for much higher payloads than the Gitzo style and in carbon, appear to be stiffer in design, but with some practicality lost, namely proximity to the ground and ease of handling.</p>

<p>A number of years ago now, Kornelius Fleischer/Mueller from Zeiss posted an article (here, or it may also have been in a Zeiss news periodical) of a guide to sharper photos which he no doubt used to get his great lpm results for the (now named V) lenses he was promoting, and there was probably 5-6 grand's worth of support under his camera.<br>

A little off my op in places but still relevant in many instances, here's what I retained of it:<br>

USING CAREFUL AND DELIBERATE TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER QUALITY PICTURES<br>

High performance optic<br>

Strong camera, all metal housing, large sturdy bottom plate, tripod thread under centre of gravity, remove removable winder for better rigidity<br>

Double check for correct back focal flange distance, and for SLR, perfect alignment of mirror and focusing screen to film plane<br>

Rigid attachment to very stiff tripod and head<br>

High performance films such as Fujichrome Velvia (50)transparency, Kodak Technical Pan (25) or TMax (100) black and white with resolutions > 150 lppm adequately processed<br>

Acute Matte D split field indicator to focus lenses up to f/5.6 is best tool used and recommended by Zeiss, standard screen not best choice for resolution >100 lppm<br>

Focus with aperture wide open, use X 5 magnification<br>

Use f/5.6 (diffraction limit = 280 lppm) to f/8 (200) stop down further (f/11=140) and diffraction will drop resolution, open up and effects from thermal expansion, film curvature from moisture and temperature, mechanical tolerances from wear, rough handling and residual warpage of the focusing screen may limit resolution<br>

Pre release / lock up mirror<br>

Central shutters have inherent lower vibration levels<br>

Wrap hands around body of focal plane cameras, perhaps omitting cable release<br>

Write notes of all lens and camera parameters and settings, focusing details, etc<br>

Use a lab that is very quality conscious and uses high performance optics in printers and enlargers, nothing less than Rodenstock Apo Rodagon N lenses<br>

Use of a properly adjusted compendium shade will reduce flare and stray light in contre jour, sidelight reaching the lens and overcast sky and improve contrast<br>

(From Kornelius Fleischer, Zeiss lens applications manager, who prefers Sachtler ‘HD – ENG’ CF legs with ‘Video 18+’ head as even more stable support than wooden legs)<br>

</p>