w00dy4012 Loc: Thalia, East Virginia

I got a call from a recently widowed neighbor who was moving into a retirement home. She said she was cleaning out her house and getting rid of stuff. She came across her late husbands camera and wondered if I'd be interested in it, it was a Mamiya. I figured it was a 35mm SLR. Although I didn't want another SLR, I thought I might be able to use the lens with an adapter on my a7iii.

I walked over to her house and was surprise when she showed me the camera. It was an RB 67 with a 90mm 3.8 lens and 120 film back! I checked it out as best I could knowing nothing about Mamiyas, but couldn't tell if it was in working order. I was thinking I really didn't want to pay anything for a pig-in-a-poke, when she said, "If you want it, it's yours". I figured I might as well take it, and if it didn't work, I could always use it for a boat anchor as it weighs a good 8 or10 lbs or close to it.

When I got home I was able to download an owner's manual. I originally thought the cocking lever was jammed, but I found out that one must remove the dark slide in order to use it. Everything seemed to work except for mirror lockup knob on the lens, which I can't turn.

I've order a roll of 120 Portages from Amazon, and will see how it take picture and if there are any light leaks (The bellows looks good). If it does, Ill have to send my neighbor a check.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

My favorite camera of all time.
I’ve had two of them!
Have fun playing with it.
The 10 (120) to 20 (220) exposures per roll made you think when you shot with it.
No ready, fire, aim with the RB.

I don’t remember how the mirror up sequence went, but I had a double cable release.

Here’s what I found:

”Locate the “M-N” selector on the lens. “N” is normal mode and “M” is mirror up mode.

Attach a cable release to the mirror up socket (in the center of the selector) on the lens.

Optional: attach a cable release to socket in the shutter release on the body.

Trigger the shutter release on the body. This triggers the mirror to be swung out of the way, but doesn’t trigger the shutter

Trigger the cable release connected to the mirror up socket on the lens. This actually triggers the shutter.
Cock the shutter and advance the film to repeat.

As long as you have the selector set to “M”, the lens will be in mirror up mode.”

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Aptly described in your headline !...

I rented one for a wedding - that thing beat me to death ! 8-(
.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Wow, you're lucky!

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

What’s a “120 Portage”? Asking for only the OP to respond.

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

I have a Mamaya 1000s Pro, 645 formatt. It is one of the best cameras I have ever had, bar none! I also have a 50, 75, 105, 135 mm lenses. I have thought about letting it go, but I love it to much. I do at times take it out and use it.
I only wish there was a converter that I could convert my 120 film to digital as I have thousands of negatives to convert.
Rich...

MSW

I still have my RB 67, but my favourite medium format is the Bronica 645.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

The RB67 is a workhorse, but you may need to get the foam light seals on the 120 back replaced - you’ll know after you develop your first roll of film. BTW, it IS heavy, but more like 6Lbs, not any more than a FF Digital with a battery grip and a 70-200 f2.8.

What finder does it have? Remember that the back rotates to change from horizontal to vertical (or vice-versa) and the red lines in the finder which defines the exposure area. If you like to shoot film, there are lenses, finders and backs available at bargain prices these days, and MF negatives are SO much easier to work with (and better IQ) than 35 mm. There are 120, 220 and Polaroid backs available in 6x7 and 6x4.5. Forget the 220 backs - not much if any film available for them. Unless 35mm or large format, probably 50% of portraits, wedding studio shots, yearbook and team photos were taken with this camera.

Rusty Lens

I used the same RB67 for 20 yrs with very little maintenance or repairs being necessary. That old warhorse camera took a lot of punishment but never once failed me. Yes, it could double as a boat anchor but one tough piece of equipment.

User ID

Used them at work. Usually supplied cuz, for a wide
ranging system, they were pretty cheap. They are
not especially reliable. Their huge awkward design
was simply an anti-ergonomic approach to fitting all
its various interchangeable components. A single
body with one lens and one film back is just a quite
ridiculous substitute for a Yashicamat or other more
user friendly, and far more portable, 120 camera.

Enjoy using it, if you can find joy in in it. If you find
no joy in it, don't blame yourself. It's kinda difficult
to cuddle up to an RB :-(

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

It was my idea wedding camera when I moved up from the Rollie twin lens because of the rotating back for vert or horz without having to change my flash unit position. I don't remember it being that heavy but I was 40-45 yrs younger then!

w00dy4012 Loc: Thalia, East Virginia

I believe it. Slow not only because of the weight, but also the setup, one lever for film advance, another for mirror up.

w00dy4012 Loc: Thalia, East Virginia

w00dy4012 Loc: Thalia, East Virginia

w00dy4012 Loc: Thalia, East Virginia

Must have been autocomplete. I'm sure I typed "Porta". Incidentally It just did it again, but I caught it this time.