"I toted that big old heavy case around with pride and relished any opportunity to take it out and extend the long bellows, which would facilitate macro-focusing with any regular lens."
"I know that I had often wanted lens interchangeability without giving up big negatives."
Mamiya's first really succesful TLR design came in 1948. This was a big achievement as the entire Mamiya production facility had been destroyed by American bombs during the war. What made the Mamiya TLR design so unique was again their wise use of bellows AND the ability to change lenses. This was not the first attempt at TLR lens interchangeablity, but it had long since been given up as impractical.
Mamiya had one really good TLR they designed prior to that, a conventional TLR design called the Mamiyaflex Precision Professional, as I recal. I have one, which I show somewhere. It was very well made, but just more of the same TLR's on the market then. But the one with the bellows is the one whose updated designs, I discoverd for myself in 1969.
"You need some kind of side mount handle to use these cameras off the tripod. But I can assuere you that these cameras can, have, did, and do get toted around as any mini-35 or digital camera does today."
I was working for a home town photographer as a flunky--later darkroom tech and only sometimes full-fledged photographer (I was never good enough for Bill. I emulated his style well at the time, but I was just a kid.) Still, I loved the place. It was Grand Central Station. Bill had close ties with the Local Newspaper located right across the street from his upstairs studio. I knew all the people at the newspaper. I did all their stringer-type freelance photography at the time. I shared rides and events with the reporters. I went to school with the owners family. Small-town America at its most quait Norman Rockwell.
Luck Gave Me First-Hand Experience with the Rolliecord TLR
And since we were located next door to the local happening AM radio station (those were the good stations back then.), I knew those guys well--DJ's, Manager, News Announcer, secretary/receptionist, salesman, and the owner was my agend Latin teacher, who, for whatever reason, counted me as a student pet. What a wonderful Lady elderly Mrs. Clayton was. She was a widow. Her husband had been a hobby photographer. Mrs. Clayton loaned me for months after the demise of my first good camera, a nice Rooliecord that had belonged to her husband. Maybe she thought I would buy it. I didn't. But I used it like it was my own, and loved it. I really think she was just being nice to a highstrung somewhat precocuios kid whose potential she, among a few, was banking on cultivating. It sure helped.
"The C-330 is made of very strong polymers and alloys. it is lighter and stronger than earlier models."
I've tried, with only moderate success, to recreate the atmosphere of friendly hometown excitement and security of being on the inside, as existed at Bill's studio. I was in retrospcet, only a mascot, but it was enough. The place was abuzz with friendly movers and shakers of the community who knew and respected Bill. The prettiest young adult girls worked there. It was my home away from home. I spent late night hours in the creaky old building keeping up with Bill's darkroom work and then my own news pictures, for delivery under the Newpapers door prior to deadline.
How I Became Proficient in Darkroom Techniques
It became my experimental laboratory. I became a good darkroom tech. I would attach the old speakers that were mounted in the darkroom up to my newly aquired cassette tape play--state-of-the-art at the time--and crank up Abbey Road, the last cut before the Beatles broke up. I knew every nuance and phrase and note.
One Sunday, while I was stuggling to get caught up in the darkroom, Ben, a full-time musician in The Stoned Four, and part time DJ, cmae over and insisted thatI come listen to a new promo song he'd recieved. That's the way artists got heard back then. You can't just drop everything with times and buzzers and this and that when working in a darkroom. Everyting is time-critial. But I got free as quickly as I could. Ben was moody and I didn't want to make bad with him He was cool. He once broke his base over an obnoxious drunks head who wanted to fight at a club he was playing. Ben simply was NOT going to play Eyes of Texas for the guy.
Ben knew his music, too. He played for me, for the first time ever I heard, Art Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Water--atypical of music of the era.
"That'll blow the charts!" Ben predicted. It wasn't hard to agree. The piece was nice.
John Reno had been an announcer at the station. He certainly had the voice. John was also a fine marketing guru and photographer and a gazzilion other things--allo cool. He was Bill's age and they were friend. I guess they were in their early thirties. John would come by the studio and shoot the breeze or talk shop with Bill--and sometime me.
Chance Brought My First Mamiya C-220
"The second weakness with these cameras is in the film transport."
One time John had a Mamiya C220 Twin Lens Reflex camera, in a nice black leather upright soft case, and three (maybe four) lenses to fit it. He was upgrading to a new camera, which turned out to be the then brand new Rollie 66. He was leaving the kit for Bill to decide whether he wanted to buy it, or at least for Bill to show it around for him. Every would-be photographer in the town and beyond came by the studio at one time or another. Actually, as I recall, John may have bought the Mamiya from Bill in the first place.
"I have used a fleet of these cameras [Mamiya C-330] and other than the problem of parrallex changing with different lenses, which has even been highly perfected by these models--There are no real drawbacks."
They must have had me targeted. I was a sucker for medium format cameras. I had seen these advertised but for some reason been put-off by them. I don't recall why; the new cameras were probalby out of my league price-wise. I know that I had often wanted lens interchangeability without giving up big negatives. Hassleblad was out of the question. I had thought about the Bronica Z, and the Mamiya Press 23--but they too were too pricey.
The Kowa Six had special appeal to me, mostly because I fell in love with a stupid little Kamoflex-S, which was broken, that Bill had temporarily for some reason. He had let me take the little 4x4 SLR camera home to mess wiht. He said it was either broken, or we didn't know how to work it. He let me take it home one weekend to mess with. Bill was always good that way. If the Kamoflex-S was not broken when I got it, it surely was when I got finished with it. We had no manual, and there was no quick way to snag a download off the Internet back then.
Sometimes C series lenses get sticky shutters from setting unused for a while. The corect way to fix these lenses is to use a lens barrel spanner wrench to take a lens off and access the shutter blades. An eye dropper is used to place one drop of solvent (we used to use ether which is now illegal to buy. Make sure the solvent you use will not disolve plastics. Carbon Tet will;acetone won't and might work just fine for this. It is easily availabe. But try it on an old lens or glass first as I have never used it for this application. I use it routinely for guns).
Most solvents dry very quickly, so you'll need to work the shutter blades before it evaporates. It usually cleas right up. Don't over do it as it will also disolve the lubricants. You may also want to properly lubricate this with special shutter blade lubricant. You'll need to re-secure the lens with the proper agent. Do a search if necessary for these supplies. Also, look for a camera repair post on the blog for more repair sources.
"It takes about three seconds to implement this field fix. Simply place a rubber band of the right size and tension over the shutter cocker and then pull it to the most apparent secure place above the cocker..."
The old-timers field method of dealing with this stuck-shutter problem is just as effective, but it looks a little hoaky. It takes about three seconds to implement this field fix. Simply place a rubber band of the right size and tension over the shutter cocker and then pull it to the most apparent secure place above the cocker (I forgot what this is, it may be the synch plug attachment) and slip it over this point in such a way as to help the shutter spring back into place. It works!
Of course the Internet didn't even exist then. As it runs out, the Kamoflex had a notorious design flaw. They were easily broken by not following a peculiar sequence in advancing and cocking the shutter when nno film was loaded. In fact, every Komaflex I have ever seen or even noted on Ebay, was broken--except the little jewels that I now own. I still like the stupid little thing.
I don't know how it transpired exactly, but I think I paid John half his price and took delivery and then paid him the rest later. It wasn't the last camera I ever bought from John. I will refer to John again when we get to the oddball little Rollie 26--one of a kind SLR ill-formatted for the Kodak 126 Instamatic cassete. Who would know that the widely used 126 Instamatic cartridges would ever be discontinued? Not Rollie.
Read this Post to Learn About the Rollie 26 SLR
This is how I acquired my first Mamiya TLR with bellows. It was not my last by far. I toted that big old heavy case around with pride and relished any opportunity to take it out and extend the long bellows, which would facilitate macro-focusing with any regular lens. The thing was cool-looking among its peer cameras if also a little intimidating. It weighed a ton--especially when equipped with a side-mount Honeywell Stobe. These were, I believe, the first automatic-exposure flash units ever to gain popularity.
Vintage News Strobes--The Early Electronic Flash Units
They were large, by todays standards, but made a wonderful handle paired with any camera--especially the Mamiya C series TLR's. You need some kind of side mount handle to use these cameras off the tripod. But I can assuere you that these cameras can, have, did, and do get toted around as any mini-35 or digital camera does today. And enjoyed. As I have said before, size and weight of a camera, is merely an expectation and a mind-set. I prefer them and feel they are easier to handle and hold free-hand without blurring than a lighter camera. To read how I do it, read this post: http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d8341c30bb53ef00d83455641e69e2/post/compose
The second weakness with these cameras is in the film transport. The C-2, C-22, and C-220 were the less-expensive offerings. It has been a while since I have used any of these, but my recollect tells me that one of the cost saving measure was to have a less sophisticated transport system. Instead of a rapid-wind crank, these models used first, a transport knob, and then a flimsy crank. I have seen several of these transport systems mal-function and go completly bad, with no easy fix, except a camera repairman.
"I've said it many time: The Mamiya C-330 is the best value in cameras. It gives the maximum bang for the buck. It will take anything from portraits to candids, to macro still-life's, to scenics to restoration copies. It focuses close, changes lenses, and doesn't blank out during exposure. There is no mirror movement, and it is substantial enough to stay still on a tripod. The optics are superb. All things considered it is absolutely the most versatile camera system on the market to this day."
The C-3, C33, and C-330 models use both a crank and a beafier underlying transport system. I haven ever seen one of these go bad. The C-330 is made of very strong poloymers and alloys. it is lighter and stronger than earlier models. It is also black instead of gray. I have used a fleet of these cameras and other than the problem of parrallex changing with different lenses, which has even been highly perfected by these models--There are no real drawbacks.
By the time the C-330 came out, all the bugs were worked out.
(Read this Post to learn more about TLR Parrallex) http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d8341c30bb53ef00d83455641e69e2/post/6a00d8341c30bb53ef0105362edb43970b/edit
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