The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

RZ67 Pro IID eating batteries

S

Shelby Lewis

Guest
Does anyone else find that their RZ IID eats the camera body battery if it's left in the body between shoots... regardless of the position of the power switch?

Is there something I'm missing or do I just have to yank the camera battery between shoots?

Cheers!
Shelby
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Shelby,

I have not used the camera but I think this is a known issue and your best bet may be to pull the battery when not in use.

Added new firmware to my Leica S2-P and found a dead battery today on the camera which was turned off...hope they have not tweaked this to sell more batteries.

Bob
 

Qamaro

Member
Shelby,

This is correct, I was warned about this when I bought my RZ67 IID. Any batteries left in the until will die out regardless of being turned off. To make things easier in particular when using the winder I use a "Cold Case" (see link for example). Makes it easier to release the battery and put it away in my bag versus opening / closing the compartment door (when winder is not on) and in particular if I put the RZ away with the winder on.

Mamiya External Battery Case (Cold Weather) For 645 Pro, Pro TL, Super And RZ67 - Reviews & Prices @ Yahoo! Shopping

-Marq
 

SergeiR

New member
Mine used to do it for a while.. and then - it was poof.. gone. I think i went through 2 batteries in first 2 months i had body. Now i am on same battery for about 8 months.. No idea what stopped it. May be way how i modified adapter plate at last.. ;)
 

PeterA

Well-known member
I had / have the same problem Shelby. I even had the camera checked by a technician who said that there was no problem. Another source indicated that if you leave your digital back on the camera it makes the camera body battery run dry ..

I would like to learn of a solution if anyone is aware of a fix
 
S

Shelby Lewis

Guest
Peter... I bet that is what it is. I do, indeed, leave the back on my camera. It only takes a day or so for the batteries to be gone.
 
Interestingly enough, theres a nearly identical thread on LL: Mamiya RZ67 Pro and battery life

This should be the important bit:

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.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Another place I read that by putting the switch on the "orange dot", which is supposedly the shutter position in which the camera operates the in full "mechanical" mode (1/400 sec) and according to that advice, there will be no drain on the battery when the switch is in this position. I haven't used my RZ67 Pro II for awhile.....so chances are the battery is dead now. I think I'll give this a try and I would be interested to know if it works as advertised for anyone here.

Gary
 

PeterA

Well-known member
I found that putting the camera in orange mode and having a a back attached made no difference to battery drainage - ie - it still ran flat in less than 2 days.:cry:

This is either a serious design flaw OR a part of the cameras 'character' - choose according to your personal preference!:ROTFL:

I haven't used the camera in over two years because I got tired of all the mucking around - a whole system rendered useless to me because of what is probably a 5 cent part in the electrical system ( these batteries aren't easy to source down here and are very expensive!!) ...which is a shame as I have a very complete set of lenses with it as well as a bunch of stuff that hangs off it.

have a look at the silly tiny little switch on the camera body regulating the modes it works in - a total under engineered joke IMHO - an issue no other camera I have ever owned has had - really weird and frustrating.:loco:

Pete
 

homeiss

New member
I haven't used the camera in over two years because I got tired of all the mucking around - a whole system rendered useless to me because of what is probably a 5 cent part in the electrical system ( these batteries aren't easy to source down here and are very expensive!!) ...which is a shame as I have a very complete set of lenses with it as well as a bunch of stuff that hangs off it.
I get my 6v batteries from ebay. You can get them in packs of 5 for $2.70 and that's shipped... They are from China of course so it takes a couple of weeks to get to North America, but the price can't be beat.

Kind of a ridiculous issue to have on a couple thousand dollar camera.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Just checked my RZ67 Pro II this evening.....battery is still good, which really surprised me since I haven't used the camera since September. Shutter release was in the "white dot" position.....not even locked. Film back on, dark slide in place.
 

sirimiri

Member
I've been "rocking" (to use the parlance of our times) the same battery in my RZIID since February of last year, and it has been ensconced in its chamber without fault and with no apparent deleterious effect on said battery ;)

I only shoot film with it, for what it's worth.
 

SergeiR

New member
Just checked my RZ67 Pro II this evening.....battery is still good, which really surprised me since I haven't used the camera since September. Shutter release was in the "white dot" position.....not even locked. Film back on, dark slide in place.
I shoot both digital and film, and normally its Aptus54s that sits attached to RZ via mamiya adapter plate.. And i do believe last time i changed batteries was in May 2011.. ;) But i do keep spares just in case at all times. Oh and i constantly forgetting to switch that silly thing into "red dot"..

That said - i am very very slow shooter ;)
 

tnabbott

Member
Mine has been okay with batteries. It's been on the shelf for the last 2-3 months. I picked it up this weekend and it was fine...
 
S

song2

Guest
Hello, I used a Phase One Back on a RZ67 pro (not pro II or IID) and had the same problem- battery was empty after some days. Now I'm using a Leaf Aptus II7 and the problems gone :).

It seams to be a Phase one problem.
 

APS

New member
I know this is an old thread but to update a few things.

I have the RZ67 Pro II D with the Aptus 22 and my system eats batteries too.

You have to:
1. Remove the back from camera after use or
2. Remove the battery
 
Top