PBase

Yea and BooHoo! I finally received my long awaited and anticipated Mamiya 645 1000s. Camera is mechanically sound, but the light meter appears to broken. Being a newbie to this camera, is all lost? Can I get by temporarily without the lightmeter until I can get a new prism or this one repaired.

Thanks for any and all replies.

Jazzmech

I'd say that a light meter is an important part of a camera...without it you will have to learn to guess the right exposure. It's not that hard to do, but it takes a lot of practice. Photographers in the old days had to do everything manually...even reading the light for the proper exposure. Might want to Google and see what comes out...there must be some websites out there that can teach you how to guess exposure.

Another way is that you can head to your nearest photography shop and pick up a hand meter...quite simple to use, really. Or the cheaper option would be to meter the scene you want photographed with another camera and than input your reading into the Mamiya. Make sure to have the correct ISO settings on both cameras and such for correct exposure.