Old Mamiya RB67 back finally bit the dust on a job

I was shooting a wedding at a park in Austin last Saturday and the dark slide on my RB67 Pro-SD just wouldn't go back in all the way. Light leak got into three whole rolls of Portra 400 before I noticed. Had to tear down the film back right there on a picnic table and found a little bent rail inside that was jamming the slide. A tiny flathead screwdriver and some careful bending got me through the rest of the day, but now I need to find a replacement back. Anyone know a good source for these old Mamiya parts that wont cost an arm and a leg?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanward1mo ago

Man you ever notice how something barely broken is somehow way more annoying than something completely trashed? Like last month my snowblower got a tiny rock chip in the impeller blade. Just one little nick. But that one nick made it vibrate like crazy every time I used it. I spent three days trying to balance it with washers and shims before I just said screw it and ordered a whole new wheel assembly. Its always that one dumb little detail that turns a simple fix into a whole afternoon project. I bet you couldve used that back for years if that rail didnt get bent.

skyler_kim1mo ago

That bent rail thing happened to me once with an old tool I owned, and it made me realize how almost everything we use has one weak spot that can ruin your whole day. For real, it's like cars with a timing belt that snaps or a house with a leaky pipe behind the wall. You don't think about it until that one little part fails and everything stops working. I've noticed this pattern with a lot of old machines and tools, where one small piece getting bent or worn out causes a chain reaction. It just shows how important the simple parts are, even if we never notice them until they break.