Help with Mamiya C330

I recently sold a Mamiya C330 and received the following email. I'd like
to help her figure out what's going on, so I hope someone in this
newsgroup can shed a little light on this. Thanks for any help you can
give.

I received the camera today. Cosmetically it is in nice shape, and an
initial run through the functions found no problems. So I loaded some
film to try it out. I used one of these cameras a few years back, but
followed the steps in the manual to make certain I wasn't forgetting
anything. I set it to "single," verified the "120" setting, and that
"lens lock" was set. Then I loaded the film, following the steps in the
manual and verifying that the back door was properly latched.

The film wound correctly to frame 1 and the crank automatically stopped
as it should, and I took the picture without problem. It functioned
correctly to frame 7,at which time, after pressing the shutter release,
the winding lever remained locked (it would not advance to the next
picture), as though the shutter had not been released. I had to use the
procedure desribed in the manual to release it (used when you want to
remove a roll of film early.) This allowed the crank to turn, but there
wasn't the usual resistance, and the frame number did not advance. I had
to do this three times (and in turn clicked the shutter three times)
before the frame advanced. From that point forward it was hit and miss.
Some frames worked properly and some did not.

I tried two more rolls of film in the camera to verify that it wasn't a
fluke or a sticky machanism somewhere. The second roll went to frame 8
before the problem occurred, but from that point it took several cranks
to get the film to the end. The third roll malfuctioned on frame 4. That
roll is still in the camera, currently sitting on frame 5, which required
five or six cranks to reach.

Do you have any suggestions? I like the camera. But this is a
significant problem.

Thanks,
Rich

When was the last time you put a roll through this body?

Use a sacrificial roll, over and over... Run it up until the problem
occurs... Then the first thing to look at is to switch the single/multi
window to multiple exposure, cock and fire, then switch back to single,
etc., to see if the single/multi control is sticking or jiggling out of
position... Also, try racking the lens all the way back and unlock and lock
the lens release a few times watching that the striker is moving in and
out... The third thing to look at is to be sure that the door is not
creeping back off the reset pin that controls the frame counter... The
fourth thing is to be sure that the pressure plate is on 120, etc... If all
those are working properly and the body continues to get strange it will
need a cla...
denny

"Zosolias" I recently sold a Mamiya C330 and received the following email.
I'd like
to help her figure out what's going on, so I hope someone in this
newsgroup can shed a little light on this.

On Tuesday 24 February 2004 03:05 am, Zosolias wrote:

I recently sold a Mamiya C330 and received the following email. I'd
like to help her figure out what's going on, so I hope someone in this
newsgroup can shed a little light on this. Thanks for any help you can
give.

I received the camera today. Cosmetically it is in nice shape, and an
initial run through the functions found no problems. So I loaded some
film to try it out. I used one of these cameras a few years back, but
followed the steps in the manual to make certain I wasn't forgetting
anything. I set it to "single," verified the "120" setting, and that
"lens lock" was set. Then I loaded the film, following the steps in
the manual and verifying that the back door was properly latched.

The film wound correctly to frame 1 and the crank automatically
stopped as it should, and I took the picture without problem. It
functioned correctly to frame 7,at which time, after pressing the
shutter release, the winding lever remained locked (it would not
advance to the next
picture), as though the shutter had not been released. I had to use
the procedure desribed in the manual to release it (used when you want
to remove a roll of film early.) This allowed the crank to turn, but
there wasn't the usual resistance, and the frame number did not
advance. I had to do this three times (and in turn clicked the shutter
three times)
before the frame advanced. From that point forward it was hit and
miss. Some frames worked properly and some did not.

I tried two more rolls of film in the camera to verify that it wasn't
a
fluke or a sticky machanism somewhere. The second roll went to frame
8 before the problem occurred, but from that point it took several
cranks
to get the film to the end. The third roll malfuctioned on frame 4.
That roll is still in the camera, currently sitting on frame 5, which
required five or six cranks to reach.

Do you have any suggestions? I like the camera. But this is a
significant problem.

Based on what you describe, the camera's broken and needs servicing.
You have two basic choices: Have the purchaser return the camera and
refund their money, including all shipping charges, both directions --
You sold them a defective item after all! -- or pay to have the camera
repaired.


--
Stefan Patric

Be sure that the two locking clips are not bent and the back is fully closing!

Opening back resets counter so if this mechanism is not fully locked might give
you this type of problem.

Bill