instantphoto.eu Differences between Mamiya Universal and Polaroid 600SE holders
This page is about the compatibility between the Mamiya Universal and the Polaroid 600SE backs.
At first sight the Mamiya
Universal and the Polaroid 600SE backs resemble each other a lot. So
you could ask yourself whether it wouldn't be possible to just change
the "claws". The answer is: no, you can't. Just changing them isn't
sufficient, the hights are not the same.
Mamiya Universal
Polaroid 600SE
It
isn't that easy. As you can see on the photos there is a difference in
height of 0.4mm. This is also true for the claws, the basis of the
600SE claws with their slits is 0.4mm higher than the basis of the
Mamiya claws. If the seals of the camera are new, it might be fixed if
you file the claws a little, but it isn't really stable.
I've
done the conversion several times. The easiest way is to change the
claws. They can be easily unscrewed and rescrewed. If you want to
change a 600SE back into a Universal back, unscrew the 600SE claws. You
will have to insert very tiny shims, 0.4mm thick, between the Mamiya
claws and the frame and then fix the screws. This is a bit fiddly. The
back will now attach without any filing.
If you want to attach a
Universal back to a 600SE, unscrew the Universal claws, file the basis
of the 600SE claws down by 0.4mm and fix them with their screws. The
back will easily attach to a 600SE. I had no focus issues because of
the 0.4mm difference in height.
Just one more advice: be
careful, there is a late version of the pack 100 back which is all
plastic. It's base lacks the shiny metal surfaces, it's all black. All
those I have seen were made in the Netherlands. The claws of this back
cannot be unscrewed, they are riveted. So no changing of the claws
without big trouble.
Polaroid 600SE