Quick question for Mamiya 645 users

[gad-westy]

Hi all,

Had a play with my Mamiya 645 1000s for the first time the other day. Film loading went ok so I took it out to shoot.

When I take a shot, the counter on the side is still reading 'S'. The winding mechanism feels alright and stops cleanly after one turn.

Does this sound right or have I made an error somewhere?

 

[Chris L]

Hi all,

Had a play with my Mamiya 645 1000s for the first time the other day. Film loading went ok so I took it out to shoot.

When I take a shot, the counter on the side is still reading 'S'. The winding mechanism feels alright and stops cleanly after one turn.

Does this sound right or have I made an error somewhere?

I'm not sure about the 645 but when I load a fresh roll into my RZ67 I have to wind the film on using the film advance arm until the counter shows 1 in the window?

 

[gad-westy]

Thanks Chris. What you said in your post didn't quite tally with what I'd done when loading the film so I had a good search on google and found a 645 manual. Turns out that I had the multi exposure switch selected which was stopping the film from advancing. Won't do that again! Luckily I hadn't taken too many shots and certainly no prize winners.

Thanks again.

 

[Chris L]

Ahhh...that would also do it! I did the same thing with the first roll of film I put through my Rolleicord. I mistakenly thought that I had moved the catch to the single exposure setting but like you found that I'd taken two shots without the counter moving

 

[freecom2]

Without trying to sound condescending, it really does pay to read the manuals beforehand when it comes to film cameras. Each one has their own loading procedure, way of advancing the film and various bizarre unique methods, that can often be rectified with a quick read of the manual.

Most 35mm cameras are reasonably uniform with loading, initial advancing and shooting, but medium format cameras really are whatever the manufacturer felt like at the time - and sometimes it can defy logic slightly! :bonk:

I know this from experience!

 

[gad-westy]

Without trying to sound condescending, it really does pay to read the manuals beforehand when it comes to film cameras. Each one has their own loading procedure, way of advancing the film and various bizarre unique methods, that can often be rectified with a quick read of the manual.

Most 35mm cameras are reasonably uniform with loading, initial advancing and shooting, but medium format cameras really are whatever the manufacturer felt like at the time - and sometimes it can defy logic slightly! :bonk:

I know this from experience!

Cheers. You're right of course. I did actually have a good watch of youtube (in the absence of having a manual) but of course the multi exposure switch is never mentioned as it is presumably just assumed that it is in the single position.

 

[freecom2]

Cheers. You're right of course. I did actually have a good watch of youtube (in the absence of having a manual) but of course the multi exposure switch is never mentioned as it is presumably just assumed that it is in the single position.

I'm sure you probably stumbled upon it, but the "butkus" website is very good for manuals. Mamiya tend to be quite good at supporting their legacy products so you may even find it on their own website as well.