With a
Canon 1Ds
opening a whole new realm in photography, film recorders suddenly seem
exciting again. Or maybe you just stepped up to a medium format camera
for the first time and need to learn how to load the 6x7 back for it.
No matter what the case may be, all Mamiya 6x9 cameras load in
roughly the same fashion. Start by locating and pulling the back cover
latches highlighted below. Some cassette have just one but many of the
Mamiyas have two as shown in this example.
RB67
Back on Polaroid ProPalette 8000
With the
latches
released you can swing open the back cover of the cassette and remove
the film insert from the inside. Close the back of the camera and turn
your attention to the insert you just removed.
Film
back opened to expose the insert
You now
need to move the spool from the last roll of film to the right side of
the back. This is done in one of two ways:
The Mamiya RB67 has piviots on the bottom of the spool that allow it to
swing out and fall free from the top spool stud. The Mamiya RB67 Pro-S
cameras have a spool release pin right next to each pin. Push down the
release pin and the spool can swing out at the bottom and fall free
from the camera. Install the spool in reverse order and you are ready
to start loading your film.
Provia
RDP II Film being loaded
Open the
film box and
remove the roll from the protective foil. Now remove the paper band and
install the fresh roll of film on the left side in the same way you
installed the empty spool on the right side. Gently pull out ~75mm of
film and loop it around the front of the camera and back to the take up
spool on the right. Secure the film the same as you would any other
camera by inserting the tapered end of the film into the take up spool
slot and advancing the roll a few turns. Keep advancing the roll until
the arrows on the new roll of film line up with the start mark arrow on
the bottom of the film insert by the base of the film spool.
Advance the film up to the stop
arrows
Now place
the insert
back into the outer cassette of the camera or film recorder and latch
the back shut. Using the film wind lever advance the film until the
number one appears in the sight glass on the top.
Building
film profile
The final
step is to
put the films box top in the memo holder on the back of the camera, or
the modern day equivalent, set the film recorder for the film profile
you are using. Congratulations on loading your first medium format
camera back.
