andyfalsetta

If you still can not remove the rings with the suggestions Orsetto provided, you might try to set up something like a strap wrench before giving up. The idea is that the loop wraps completely around the ring and applies nearly equal force completely around. I'm not suggesting you go out and find a strap wrench for the job, rather I am suggesting you use the principal of a strap wrench. The problem with thin rings such as filters and trim pieces or filter securing rings like on the Hasselblad C Series 50mm and 60mm lenses, is that as you grasp it and apply force to unscrew it, you are actually deforming it to a degree, causing it to bind and not move. Have you ever had a filter seem to be immovable only to find that with another try but with much less pressure it comes loose? Same principal at work. I have had success simulating a strap wrench by looping a camera strap around the ring and pinching the strap ends tightly at the point where the arcs of the loop meet. Then as you pinch them tightly, try to unscrew the ring. Good luck.

Thanks Orsetto for the link and the advice. As you suggested, the elements came apart and I could clean them individually. Fungus being what it is, I couldn't really improve on the condition very much. Luckily the affected lens is the viewing lens. C'est la vie.

Orsetto, thanks for the deep knowledge you share and your valued opinion on the various iterations. One day I will probably find the C3 to be too heavy as many others have. Then I'll be searching for something like what you have. In the interim, it looks like the fungus is on the rear element/assembly on the rear of the viewing lens. I almost feel the fungus is within two cememted elements but I am not sure yet. Do you know if this is a compound element?

Just last week the wife and I were in Tampa visiting her sister and brother and I made the "mistake" of checking Craigslist. As a buddy always cautions me, "look and you will find". Find I did; and brought home a C3 with 65, 135 and 180. No paralax correction, manual shutter cocking and missing a few other features the later cameras have. I can live with the manual shutter but expect to be bitten by the paralax error at some point. Can't believe how incredibly well built these cameras are. Each of the blinds for the WLF are held in place by screws - imagine that? By comparison a WLF from "H" has pressed in pins that require you to load up the springs as you install the pins. Its like working on a mousetrap while its set. The shutters are all working great and the only lens issue is a bit of fungus in the viewing lens on the 65. Otherwise the glass is clear and scratch free. Looking forward to the first roll as soon as the rain stops...

Glad you were able to solve the problem without having to hand it over to a repair person! Good job!

C220 - C220F... how much difference could the letter "F" make? Seriously, good to know; there is a lot to learn with the Mamiya TLRs. I guess the biggest take away from the C220f manual is the clue that the focus rack slippage was "engineered in" at the time of manufacture and that the fix was to add a controlled bind to the mechanism. If one didn't know better it would appear they were fixing the symptom, not the cause. But Demming would never have let that happen... :) Maybe they accomplished the bind with a simple spring washer that some bonehead tech left on his bench at one time. You'll figure it out. As an aside, I have taken to using automotive leather cleaner and conditioner on my bellows-equipped cameras. The two Lexol products are applied with a Q-tip and it seems to help restore resiliency to the leather.

I just noticed something interesting on page 15 of this manual on Butkus's site. https://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_c220_pro_repair.pdf It talks about a set of screws enabling focus knob torque/friction adjustment that seem to be involved with the lens plate moving on its own. Have you seen this?

Hearing that you extended the bellows for a period of time only to see no improvement DOES point toward something else as the cause. I agree you got a great deal on it and a good DIY repair is the best way to go. If I come across anything that can help I will pass it along.

Just thinking out loud, could a tight bellows cause this? What does it do with no lens on it?

Its not 6x9 but my 532/16 Super Ikonta is 6x6. There is something sweet about a medium format machine that fits in a jacket pocket. (and is built to last too).

Post photos of your film back showing the side that mates with the camera body. This is the serial numbered side of the back. Take the photo without the dark slide inserted.

Just to close the loop on what I said I would do, Orsetto is correct, the bay 50 mount is completely different on an 80mm (removeable) from a 250mm or 150mm (integrated into the portion of the body carrying the serial number of the lens).

Ben Couple of things. Give me a day or two to do some trial fitting and answer your question on the filter ring exchange. My gut tells me it will work but I don't want to give you bad info. With regard to buying an orphan 250mm (or any lens for that matter), just be aware that the early lenses did not have DOF preview. I was looking at a "cheap" 250mm on ebay not for me - just to see if it would work for you. It has "shutter issues" as described by the seller. I have a message into him asking for more detail on what the issues are. I noticed that the lens is an early one - without DOF preview so I wouldn't recommend using that shutter as a swap for one with a DOF preview. It might work but I haven't tried it and there might be clearance issues with the DOF mechanism and the shutter body. As for the MG, what a mess. I sympathize. As you implied, the good news is you will be getting a totally new radiator and how cool is that (literally and figuratively :) . As for flushing out the very bottom of the block, I am not familiar with how the MG block drains. Is there a petcock or plug you remove to let the block drain? You might consider rigging up a connection with your garden hose and back wash the block through the petcock/drain plug? . Since it probably has a fair amount of gack in there, you might consider removing the heater lines and just let the water flow out the top of the head so you aren't driving stuff into the heater core. I'll get back on the 250mm to 80mm front ring interchange. Andy

Ugh. Failed water pump Ben? I totally agree about finding a 250mm or 150mm on the cheap, Everything is relative so I don't know what you consider cheap but I picked up an ugly 150mm on ebay for $36 and another for $80. The beauty here is that the shutters should be interchangeable with your 80mm. So you can pick up a cheap let's say 250mm and learn on it. Then when its time to dig into the 80mm, just swap in the shutter you already serviced and the 80mm is up and running more quickly if you like.

Orsetto, I easily agree with you based on your description of the inherent poor balance within the 40mm. I've never had one and you are always on the mark so I push all my chips in on your assessment. And with the shutter, yes all the fun starts only after the front ring and lens element are removed. As the various videos on shutter service illustrate, its not an impossible task. Servicing of certain devices (Hasselblads, Contax, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, etc) have been such well guarded secrets for so many years the absence of information yields reluctance or "oh I could never do that". The video is an hour long and covers a lot of what the other video covers. The difference is that it plods along practically in real-time. I know we aren't supposed to judge others but my feeling is that if a person doesn't have the patience to sit through a one hour video on how to work on a piece as well done and expensive as a Zeiss lens, they probably shouldn't be tackling the task in the first place. Having said that, yes Ben, I think that with your experience working on pocket watches (dexterity) and patience (you maintain your own British sportscar ) :) you are up to the task. As for the oil I use, its nothing special, just synthetic watch oil (wristwatch). You will find once you open up the lens and peer into the shutter, that you are looking at a mechanism that wasn't designed for much lubrication to begin with. Having said that, I put a liberal drop of oil on every coil spring or hairpin spring I come across inside a Hassy or a Zeiss lens. This was not required by the manufacturer thereforee their lubrication charts don't include this step. But then again, spare springs were almost as available then as USB cables are today. When one of those springs rusts a bit and breaks, good luck trying to find one, hence, this is why I let them coat themselves after putting a drop of oil at the mid point of the spring during reassembly. Let me know if you have any questions or run into a snag. We can trade sportscar stories if nothing else :) Andy

As a sidebar to the main discussion, the stiffness experienced in the C lenses is real and pervasive. Having said that, and FWIW, I have woken up many Chrome C lenses with a "down and dirty" clean and relube (vs a full disassembly). To do this first bring the focus ring to the Infinity position. This will expose the largest number of threads for you to work on once the black lens mount plate has been removed. The plate is held on by 8 flat head screws; go ahead and remove them all. Make note of the location for the one with the green head. (I have no idea what the significance of the green screw is but I always put it back in the same spot it was in. Depending on who had the lens opened last, these screws might be stiff so use a well fitting screwdriver as you apply torque. With all the screws out, just lift the plate off the lens. Don't work the focus ring with the plate off. This will create problems you don't need to have. Once off you will see the rear portion of the helical threads. While a full disassembly is best, this down and dirty approach will rescue most lenses and save you a few hundred bucks or the hair you will pull out trying to sort through a full tear down. Once you are looking at the threads, scrupulously clean the threads. Ronsonol on q-tips is a good way to start but do this with magnification so you can be sure you don't leave any cotton threads in the helical threads. They are precision Zeiss threads and any foreign matter was not anticipated when they decided what the interference of the threads would be. Use fine tweezers to remove any of these threads. Once you think you have it clean, you still are not done. Use something like a sewing needle to lightly scrape out the grease the Ronsonol process left behind. I have a pinvise set up with a needle in it for just this purpose. In fact I have ground the tip of the needle down so it isn't quite so sharp any more. After you are satisfied that no more dirty lube is coming out off the threads wash the threads again with a Q-tip soaked in Ronsonol and once again, make sure to remove any cotton threads you may have left behind. Then apply a very thin lubricant. I use this from MicroTools. It has worked well for me on many different Zeiss lenses from Super Ikonta to Contarex to Chrome Hasselblad mounted lenses. Grease, Helical #10 (Light) 8ml I have used Henry Scherer's special, black, industrial-diamond-infused, lube but it has been too viscous IMO for the threads used in a Chrome C lens and especially too thick for the lenses in the Super Ikonta RFs. Using a clean artists brush ( one from Michael's or other craft stores will do fine), lightly paint the thin lube into all the threads you have cleaned. Don't use so much that you have excessive lube all over the mechanism; just make sure you thoroughly work the lube into the threads. As I said, a full tear down is the best way to free up a lens but this process will produce a smile and help you forget all the leverage you had to use in the past trying to rotate the focus ring. BUT DON'T ROTATE IT YET. Before you reinstall the black lens mount plate, put a very small drop of oil on the rivet holding the shutter cocking detent on the inside of the black lens mount plate. When these freeze up the shutter just plain won't cock so now that you are in there, avoid a future problem. The most finicky part of this job is lining up the shaft that runs from the black lens mount plate to the actual shutter mechanism. As you reinstall the plate be careful to let the sliders fall into the grooves in the helical mechanism. (These grooves will be out of position and the focus will be off if you were to move the focus ring with the lens mount plate off.) Once the plate is on, install the 8 screws, remembering where the green one was originally installed. Now you can rotate the focus ring and work that lube into the threads. The feel should improve with every full rotation of the focus ring. Hopefully you won't need the "fast focus lever" you may have mounted on the lens solely to give you the leverage needed to power through the old grease.

^ I have had similar experiences. KEH although as Orsetto said, drives you crazy with the minimal information they provide about the actual item you are considering purchasing. If you call them, they rarely will find the item and give you more detail. But again, their return policy is great. I bought a Bronica SQA body that was described as "parts" for $25. I'm still looking for what was wrong with it. I had two transactions with National Camera Exchange. Both were Contarexes and they had many more problems than were disclosed. Unlike KEH, I was able to save both sales by haggling with them for a partial refund. Happy ending, I got the cameras and they didn't get them back. Adorama has been great. I have purchased a few Hasselblad lenses from them and they were all under described (better condition upon arrival than I expected). For Father's Day I let it be known that I would appreciate Adorama gift cards rather than Harbor Freight, Lowes, or Macy's.

Bingo! Gotta love an easy fix.

If you are locked into the ETR, then the one to have is the latest version, ETRSi. One reason why is the ETRSi has mirror lock up while the earlier ones do not. Personally, I could never own a medium format SLR without mirror lock up. Additionally the ETRSi had the PE lenses which are more desirable than the earlier ones.

John, Check this out! maybe what you need....? Contax II/III Lens Mount and Focusing Helicoids | eBay

Ben, Something to think about. I have zero experience with an EL/M but have observed a condition on the 500c that can cause what you had with the A24 back. If the shutter drive on the 500c body was not perfectly timed when it was assembled during a major service, the small interlock at the lower right of the body (when viewed from the back with the auxiliary shutter/barn doors facing you), will protrude after cranking the film advance knob following a shot. The interlock sticking out just a small amount can bend the interlock on a back if you install one in this condition. If a back is installed before cranking the film advance under this condition, there is no harm/no foul and you would never know it. You might just check the 500c for this and maybe the EL/M as well if it uses the same type of interlock (which I suspect it does).

Robert, once you have figured out how to load a photo I would be interested in seeing the piston. I envision that it works like the damper on a Compound shutter. To get you started posting photos, look for the "upload a file" button. Once you click on it, you will see a "choose a file" button. This lets you navigate your own library of files to select the one you want. One bit of advice, you should re-size the photo to around 1000 pixels on its longest edge. If its a square image -1000 x 1000 would be a good starting point. Once you have a photo uploaded, you need to select a button that says something like "full image" or "full size" Once you have done this, the photo should show up in a preview of how it will look in the finished post. Good luck.; I am looking forward to a shot of the piston when you get around to it.

A Z4 next to an MGB would be a laugh. The BMW looks more like a well remembered nightmare than a sports car. I have a friend with a Z3. The intake manifold had to be removed, along with a lot of other items, just to remove the starter. Really? Comparatively, I think you can remove the starter on an MGB while sitting in a beach chair. Trying to get this back on topic, when I think of something having "soul" it is usually due to controls or characteristics that stimulate me or produce pleasurable results. Having to add oil to an SU carb and getting smooth acceleration in return is an example. The way a 500C sets the shutter, returns the mirror, and advances the film, all in one smooth effortless motion is another.

Supposedly the Ross HK7 was the camera that was initiated from someone else's idea (the German aerial camera you mentioned), so definitely, Hasselblad was building what people today would call a "tribute" camera in their earliest days. What followed were focal plane shutter, interchangeable backs, a more sophisticated film advance, and yes even more "tributes" like the WLF, double exposure protection, interchangeable lenses, etc. I guess the saying "there is nothing new under the sun" is true to a degree.

I haven't tried a GS-1 either but have an SQ-Ai and its been a wonderful camera. And good analogy with Miata vs Lotus and MG Ben. I can relate to that too. To some a car is an appliance. To me, a car has to have soul (something the Brits built into almost everything they produced ). The MGB is an iconic example of this IMO and probably yours as well.