Pro-S film advance problem

Advancing the film n cocking the shutter are 2 separate operations independant of eachother. You cock the shutter n reset the mirror with th elever on the side of the camera. Advance the film using the lever on the film back.

There are a few built in prevention safety features that won't allow you to take another picture unless you advance the film or remove the darkslide. You do have an option of multi exposure if you move the little lever under the advance lever on the film back.

Your problem may also be due to a few incompatabilities... Is your camera a Pro-S? Are you using a Pro-S film back... has 2 holes one at each side on top edge that mate with the revolving back's 2 silver bullets? Is the revolving back a Pro-S.. has 2 silver bullets at the top, one on each side that mate withthe film back holes?

You can test the back off camera too. Use the paper backing of a used roll of film as your test roll. With the film back loaded, off camera, advance the test roll of film to the first frame. Dark slide out... counter is white, push a tooth pick in the top left hole and the red flag should appear. Advance the film to number 2, red flag is gone n do the same for 10 frames. All went well? Now try this with the little lever in the other position (lever under the film advance).

Sounds like one of the interlocks may not be working correctly but I am not sure exactly.
The little lever you refer to is to allow you to finish a roll mid way through by wasting the remaining frames. In other words if you decide after 5 frames that you don't want to shoot the rest of the roll it allows you to wind on to the end so you can remove the film.

Good luck getting it figured out.

Martin: So by me using it to get past my stuck advance lever, and continue shooting, do you think it should be ok? what i mean is, the photos i took should be ok, right?

Paul: thank you for all of that information!
the little lever i was talking about wasnt the multi-exposure lever. it was the finish roll lever Martin pointed out.
i think you're correct however, it could be an incompatibility, or that it's just buggered. i'm going to find an old camera store to sort it out tomorrow.

thank you for your help!
if anyone else has any ideas, please feel free to reply!

Martin: So by me using it to get past my stuck advance lever, and continue shooting, do you think it should be ok? what i mean is, the photos i took should be ok, right?

I am not sure as I have never tried it.
I am not sure how the spacing would be; I think basically that little lever just disengages the stop on the film advance. So, if one full sweep of the film advance is exactly one frame then it might work.; however, it would just be a work around.
As far as I remember the earlier non Pro S backs should work fine on a Pro S body.

Are you sure you fired the shutter and sure it did actually fire?
If it did not fire and you have a Pro S back then the film advance lever would be stuck and releasing the little lever you mention would allow film advance.

i'm pretty sure it fired, yeah.
i guess we'll see when i get the film back :)

also, what do you make of the little red tag always being visible?
could the back have a substantial problem somewhere inside?

My RB67 has a similar problem, without the red indicator showing. In fact ever since I bought it I've had to cock the shutter lever then push the lever at the top of the back so that I can advance the film. Does not bother me and the films come out fine. The lever is also so you can use the backs on cameras without interlocks such as the Mamiya Press.
On my camera the little pin does shoot out when the shutter is triggered, but for some reason it does not free the back to be wound on, so I have asuumed my back is buggered, always meant to get another, but it just never happened. I'm so used to cameras without interlocks from years of using large format that it does not bother me, all you have to do is pay attention, or you will end up with blank frames or double exposures. Try another back, they're cheap enough these days, one day I will too.

The little lever you are talking about is in the center of the back, that is the fire over ride. If you use this, it will allow you to advance to the next frame. But why???

Yes you can use it but on an RB-Pro-S if you have to use it, either the revolving back is not a Pro-S or the film back is not a Pro-S, or camera is not functioning properly.

Either way, if you follow my direction, we can determine exactly what is wrong. Most problems with the RB is human error.
Did you get the manual for it? Download it here....
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/mamiya/mamiya_rb67_pro-s/mamiya_rb67_pro_s.htm

read it n be sure you are using the camera properly. Examine the camera and do the tests I indicated in my previous post.
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Thanks Mark, for the response. Glad to hear that the film will turn out ok.

Paul: Yes, i've read the manual, and seem to be doing everything properly.
Human error is always a problem when someone first gets hold of a new camera, however this time, i don't think it's my fault.
Why is the red indicator always showing? It doesn't recede back at any time during usage.
Also, the locking of the advance lever is intermittent, it happens randomly. Sometimes, it advances properly, sometimes it gets stuck, and when it does, i use the fire override lever to advance the film.

Well that is a different story. The red flag is always there, intermitant.. all an indication the back needs service or perhaps a replacement is in order. There are several adjustments inside the back which involve the red flag n counter mechanism, all deal with the symptoms you describe. It can range from a minor CLA, n light seals for around $35 to needing parts n running up to $80 or more.

Where are you located?
A BGN rated Pro-S back is around $50 from KEH....
http://www.keh.com/Camera/format-Medium-Format/system-Mamiya-RB/category-Backs-and-Magazines?s=1&bcode=RB&ccode=11&cc=78955&r=WG&f
Weigh your options n decide if a repair is worth the cost after getting an estimate from a local repair shop.
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