Restoring a Mamiyaflex C2

Some ten years or more ago, I bought a plastic carrier bag of scruffy bits that included an old twin lens reflex camera and assorted lenses. Though I thought I could get it back into good order one day, the bag of bits has kicked around, from shed to loft and back again, ever since.

However, having had to move it yet again to get at something behind it, I finally decided I would have to do something with it or consign it to history. Having seen so many students struggle with their Lubitel and Lomo cameras, I thought it would be a suitably philantropic gesture if I gave them something a bit more sophisticated to play with. After a bit of web-browsing I found a source of leather for the body and decided to give it a bit of a make-over.

The last bits of old leather had become very brittle and flaky, so careful poking with a pointy kitchen knife and a small palette knife fetched them off quite easily. Some fittings, such as the flash attachment were screwed on over the old covering and had to be removed first. I took the precaution of making drawings so that I understood details of shape and knew where the screw holes would be when covered with new leather.

There's plenty of online tutorial advice on how to make a template for the new cover. The recommended method is the cover the panel with low-tack masking tape, trimming round the edges with a craft knife to get the exact shape. In the photograph above, I have already made a template for the other side of the camera and have stuck it to the piece of leather, ready to be cut out.
In this photo, the camera back has been detached and is at the top of the picture. The leather covering was still intact, though very scuffed and worn, like the leather panel on the viewfinder in the top picture. Several applications of black shoe polish brought it to a more presentable state.

The new leather covering was soft and easy to cut, being quite thin. The intricate shapes and circular holes needed particular care, so I used the discarded polystyrene backing sheet from a supermarket pizza under the leather so that I could push the knife well through when cutting curves.

To avoid mistakes, I kept testing the piece of cut leather against the camera as cutting proceeded. This way, I was able to make any tiny adjustments to ensure it was a good fit. Once it was cut to shape, I was able to peel off the masking tape and the self-adhesive backing sheet and carefully lay the leather in place, smoothing it out as I did so that no air bubbles were trapped underneath. The self-adhesive backing seemed very tenacious and wouldn't be easy to remove once stuck down.

The finished camera. To give the camera a bit of personal style, I cut small circles of red leather for the centres of the various knobs. They're not authentic, but I like the look.
Milly's Cameras were also able to supply a black camera paint pen to retouch the paintwork here and there.

It appears that the Mamiyaflex C2 was in production for a relatively short time, from 1958 to 1962, at a time when Mamiya's camera designs were evolving rapidly. Later designs ranged from more advanced Twin Lens Reflexes such as the C330 to sophisticated  medium-format SLR workhorses such as the RB67.

Operation of the camera is not immediately intuitive. A strict routine must be followed to avoid blank shots or double exposures. After cocking and releasing the shutter, the film winder should be unlocked with a small lever and the film wound to the next frame. Mamiya recommended that this sequence of actions should be followed as a matter of routine. Luckily, pdf manuals for old cameras such as this can be found online, sometimes for a small optional donation.

As I hoped, the revitalised camera has created a fair amount of interest among my students, some of whom are doing project work that requires working with film. It was used the other day by a student who was researching historical photographs of soldiers and recreating them in the form of an hommage.

From a photo contact sheet by Molly H, Lincoln College