Mamiya RZ67 Problem

[Jonathanp]

I am stumped.

I have a Mamiya RZ67 and the shutter speed will not change. Battery works great, lights and everything. Camera is set to the white dot not the orange. Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone?

Thanks,

-Jonathan

[kgphoto]

Have you set the lens to the highest aperture setting? Or the lowest? I haven't used that camera so these are just things I have seen on others. Did you clean the contacts on the lens and body with a pencil erasure? Change the batteries anyway.

Is there an automatic setting?

[Jonathanp]

Thanks for the help,
cleaned all contacts, played with the Aperture, changed the battery...still locked at about 1/400th

[kgphoto]

Weird. I was thinking of a low battery manual default shutter speed, but 1/400 is way to high for that.

Did you changes lenses?

[kgphoto]

Just thought you'd like to know - the lighter orange dot for the ring around the shutter release is for the "manual" shutter speed which doesn't require batteries. If memory serves, it is always 1/400 sec.

who knew?

[kgphoto]

Jeez, I hate being an object lesson in the matter of remembering to Read The F&(*$#**ing Manual, but here I am, I'm stuck and I'm hoping that there's a simple, if not obvious solution to my dilemma. I know I'm not the first person to experience this problem, because the Fine Manual does seem to indicate this problem exists, it just doesn't bother to mention a solution.
My Story: I got a good deal on a "NIB" used RZ67. The thing is flawless. This is my FIRST EVER medium format camera. It arrived today with body, 110 lens and 120 back. No owners manual for the body (will be ordering from Mamiya soonest) but a manual for the lens.
I was excited about opening the package of components and of course I HAD to put it together right away. The back was easy, the lens LOOKED easy... hey just like a 35 mm lens, line up the marks, insert and twist. Oh, no twist, just turn the bayonet ring, OK, still a piece of cake.
Now how about taking it off? Hmm...bayonet ring turns, but won't go back all the way, lens won't budge. Look at the manual for the lens which seems to indicate that I did it right, except there's a few preliminary steps there that I didn't notice. Set the mirror? Cock the shutter? Oh yeah, the lens has a shutter doesn't it?
Then I get to the paragraph that says thus:
"If you try to rotate the bayonet ring counterclockwise without first depressing the Cocking lever of the camera body, the movement of the ring will be interrupted making it impossible to remove the lens."
Uh oh.
What does "impossible" mean in Mamiya speak? Do I need to get out the hacksaw now? Is it this easy to mung things up on the RZ to the point where I need to take it to a shop just to get the lens off? I didn't force anything, but I cannot get the cocking lever to move, I cannot get the lens to pull out of the body, and I cannot get the bayonet ring to turn all the way to index point or all the way away from the index point.
Has anybody else had to deal with this? Does anybody have knowledge, advice or wisdom to share in solving this problem?
Does anybody want to point, snicker, shake their head and pretend like they've never made a dumb mistake in their lives? Go ahead, I'm a good sport, just don't let me catch you flaunting your ignorance in public or I'll point and snicker right back.
Hopefully awaiting some useful advice...


If anyone's interested, the little black tab underneath the shutter release button can be depressed, and the shutter release collar turned all the way to the left (holding the camera in shooting position) to the second and slightly lighter orange dot. I'm guessing that this is the release that allows multiple exposures? Whatever, I'm sure it's in the manual... from this position I suddenly found that I could now push the cocking lever down and the mirror and lens shutter would both now set themselves. And with the lens shutter now cocked, I could turn the bayonet ring all the way and release the lens from the body.

All this from Photo.net

[kgphoto]

Is there a battery in the Battery Chamber? Is the battery still good?
6. Is the "T" lever of the lens on "N"?
7. Is the camera speed dial on RBL and a RZ lens is on camera?
8.Is the camera speed dial on AEF and the AE Finder and a RZ lens
is not attached?
9. Have you used the mirror -up mode and red ring on the collar is

[kgphoto]

The AEF mark which
appears on the Shutter Speed Dial is the
setting for the AE Finder.
When set at this position, the dial locks in
place. To unlock it, rotate the dial while depressing
the Lock Release Button which appears
in the center of the dial. The RBL mark
on the dial is setting for taking photos using
the RB67 lenses. In other positions the shutter
release button will not released