Mamiya RZ67 Pro and battery life

[John Cothron]

I'm having a great time shooting film again, especially with the medium format.  Is it normal for this camera to use batteries very quickly?  I recall someone telling me to remove the battery when the camera is in use, but wow..   Is this normal?  If so, what is draining power so quickly? 

Thanks,

[Justin Berman]

I don't know if the Pro is the same as the ProII, but mine lasted me 1000 frames easily, the ProII does have a switch you can set to avoid wasting battery life when not shooting, not sure if the Pro has the same or not.

[HarperPhotos]

Hi John,

I’ve had the Mamiya Pro and now use a Mamiya ProII body and when I was using film both cameras batteries would last at least 6 months if not 9. I was using from memory about 200 rolls a month in the old days of film.

Cheers

Simon

[Stefan.Steib]

John

As Simon said the RZ does not gobble Batteries normally. But - it is important to use quality batteries, the cheap ones sometimes die fast. So use a good brand.
 
Regards
Stefan

[John Cothron]

Thanks everyone.  I mistyped the original line, it is the Pro II that I'm using.  I have a feeling that I'm not locking the shutter from time to time, and perhaps that is the issue although I'm not sure what function it would be running even if I did.

It could also be the brand, I'm buying from Radio Shack at the moment just because it was convenient at the time.  I think they're called "enercell" or something like that.  I have four more so I'll burn through these and try something else assuming the button thing isn't causing it.

Thanks for your replies.

[bpepz]

I've been using my rz67 pro ii with a digital back and ive shot probably 8 thousand frames and have not had to replace a battery

[Mr. Rib]

Hi,

Some Mamiya RZ Pro II / Pro IID bodies have issues with batteries. In fact, Mamiya allows a small drainage of battery when the camera is off (and it's ok with their specification.. it doesn't make your camera eligible for warrnty repair). I was shocked by how fast the battery is depleted in my RZ Pro IID and I serviced my body. Then I was told that my Mamiya body drains battery even when it is in 'off' mode. It would eat up a high quality battery in a week or even few days. It is a design glitch by Mamiya, because they don't consider it a flaw. The solution to this problem is to keep your camera in 'mechanical mode'. The switch in Mamiya allows 3 positions: On, Off and full-mechanical operation. In this third mode the battery is cut off- as you probably know, this mode is for the situation in which you want to shoot a photo but the battery is depleted (you can't change the shutter speed, it's fixed at 1/1400 but you can take a photo in emergency situation).
Since the day I started storing my camera in 'mechanical mode', I can run a single battery for a looong time.

[John Cothron]

Hi,

Some Mamiya RZ Pro II / Pro IID bodies have issues with batteries. In fact, Mamiya allows a small drainage of battery when the camera is off (and it's ok with their specification.. it doesn't make your camera eligible for warrnty repair). I was shocked by how fast the battery is depleted in my RZ Pro IID and I serviced my body. Then I was told that my Mamiya body drains battery even when it is in 'off' mode. It would eat up a high quality battery in a week or even few days. It is a design glitch by Mamiya, because they don't consider it a flaw. The solution to this problem is to keep your camera in 'mechanical mode'. The switch in Mamiya allows 3 positions: On, Off and full-mechanical operation. In this third mode the battery is cut off- as you probably know, this mode is for the situation in which you want to shoot a photo but the battery is depleted (you can't change the shutter speed, it's fixed at 1/1400 but you can take a photo in emergency situation).
Since the day I started storing my camera in 'mechanical mode', I can run a single battery for a looong time.

Thank you, it is a little comforting to know that I'm not completely crazy   I'm still not sure I haven't left it in the "on" mode too long by mistake, so I'm going to double-check using the current battery to see if I notice a difference in the life of it.  If that fails, then I will certainly follow the method you are using.  Appreciate the reply.

[Mr. Rib]

I'm not sure if I was clear enough- the problem with my RZ body was that the drainage was excessive not only in on mode but also in 'off' mode (excessive in my and any other normal user opinion). Mamiya allows battery usage of a certain degree in 'off' mode, it's ok with their specs. I don't know why would they design it in such a silly way, but the only true way to cut off the battery completely is to switch the camera to 'mechanic' mode.
Hope this helps.

[HarperPhotos]

Hello Mr Rib.

The battery in my Mamiya ProII which I now use with a Leaf Aptus 75 will last me well over a year without having to be replaced. I have never turned the camera off ever since buying it when the Mamiya ProII model was introduced.

Regards

Simon

[John Cothron]

I'm not sure if I was clear enough- the problem with my RZ body was that the drainage was excessive not only in on mode but also in 'off' mode (excessive in my and any other normal user opinion). Mamiya allows battery usage of a certain degree in 'off' mode, it's ok with their specs. I don't know why would they design it in such a silly way, but the only true way to cut off the battery completely is to switch the camera to 'mechanic' mode.
Hope this helps.

Thanks again.  I did understand your first explanation.  I'm just not 100% sure that is what I have going on although I admit it sounds exactly right. It probably makes no difference but I do know that I left mine in the "on" condition for an extended period.  I just want to be sure THAT isn't my problem and it is really the design flaw you mention before I start using the mechanical off as my default.  I'm willing to lose another $5 to find out

I appreciate your help.

[Matters of survival]

Thanks again.  I did understand your first explanation.  I'm just not 100% sure that is what I have going on although I admit it sounds exactly right. It probably makes no difference but I do know that I left mine in the "on" condition for an extended period.  I just want to be sure THAT isn't my problem and it is really the design flaw you mention before I start using the mechanical off as my default.  I'm willing to lose another $5 to find out

I appreciate your help.

Hi,

I'm owner of a faulty model of Mamiya RZ67 (a bad second hand buy, unfortunately). My body pretty much works only in full mechanical mode as the average battery duration on it is of about... 1 shot... Asking to the man who used to fix those cameras in my town (now Mamiya's assistance network's organization goes under a completely new system, and this since Leaf took over the company) he told me that the electronics board in the camera is the weak point of the camera itself and that it can simply stop working needing replacing, which is what is going on on my camera unfortunately. I found this out by trying several new batteries in the span of few minutes, shooting one frame and then having to replace them in order to get a new shot at a set time, so I just have to use it in full mech mode now. Your body might be in the process of going right where mine is, so looking if you can find a spare body or the part might be a good idea.

Sorry to tell you that, as much as I'm sorry that I can't use my camera as I'd like. This is the bottom line of the battery drainage allowance that Mamiya accepts.

[jerome_m]

Reading that, I feel I have made the right choice with the RB67. No battery problem, ever. 

[Matters of survival]

Honestly, I had the RB before the RZ and if sharp lenses are something to you I would still go for the RZ... Just need to know what to check when you buy it.