Mamiya m645 frame counter question

I recently purchased a second-hand Mamiya M645,
together with a boatload of equipment.
However, I'm still having trouble getting it going.

When I take out the old film cassette (?) that was in there,
and thread up and put in another one, and close it up,
the frame counter does not go back to zero (well, okay "S").

Much experimentation has shown me that when this is the case
(i.e. that the frame counter is on "15" (for 120 film)),
I can advance the film with the crank without stopping
until it runs off the end of the roll.

However, (a) I can find no "reset" button for the frame counter;
and (b) further experimentation shows that I can rewind the frame counter
by hand from inside where the film goes -- there's a little gear there.
Once I do that, then the film-advance knob (crank) stops every 360 degrees
and waits for me to release the shutter.
However, this surely is not the way it's supposed to be done,
and I'm not altogether sure that it's not bad for the camera.

Anyone know what I'm missing here?

Thanks.

scenic_man wrote:
I recently purchased a second-hand Mamiya M645,
together with a boatload of equipment.
However, I'm still having trouble getting it going.

When I take out the old film cassette (?) that was in there,
and thread up and put in another one, and close it up,
the frame counter does not go back to zero (well, okay "S").

Much experimentation has shown me that when this is the case
(i.e. that the frame counter is on "15" (for 120 film)),
I can advance the film with the crank without stopping
until it runs off the end of the roll.

However, (a) I can find no "reset" button for the frame counter;
and (b) further experimentation shows that I can rewind the frame counter
by hand from inside where the film goes -- there's a little gear there.
Once I do that, then the film-advance knob (crank) stops every 360 degrees
and waits for me to release the shutter.
However, this surely is not the way it's supposed to be done,
and I'm not altogether sure that it's not bad for the camera.

Anyone know what I'm missing here?

Thanks.

Those gears are spring-loaded and should return the counter to 0 when
you remove the film insert. Possible the spring or a driven gear is
broken but more likely (as was the case for mine) time and use have
allowed the mechanism to gather enough "gunge" to prevent proper
operation. This is not a user fix: you'll probably get by with a simple
Clean/Lube/Adjustment.

lj

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:14:59 GMT, scenic_man
had a flock of green cheek conures squawk
out:

I recently purchased a second-hand Mamiya M645,
together with a boatload of equipment.
However, I'm still having trouble getting it going.

When I take out the old film cassette (?) that was in there,
and thread up and put in another one, and close it up,
the frame counter does not go back to zero (well, okay "S").

Much experimentation has shown me that when this is the case
(i.e. that the frame counter is on "15" (for 120 film)),
I can advance the film with the crank without stopping
until it runs off the end of the roll.

However, (a) I can find no "reset" button for the frame counter;
and (b) further experimentation shows that I can rewind the frame counter
by hand from inside where the film goes -- there's a little gear there.
Once I do that, then the film-advance knob (crank) stops every 360 degrees
and waits for me to release the shutter.
However, this surely is not the way it's supposed to be done,
and I'm not altogether sure that it's not bad for the camera.

Anyone know what I'm missing here?

Thanks.

The counter isn't resetting properly. Time for a CLA.

Temporary fix is to rotate the gear inside until the counter returns
to 'S'. The gear is the one that meshes with the one with the rubber
wheel on the insert. My camera has this problem in cold weather.

Stephen
--