I suck. Nikkormat FTN Film was never exposed to light.

Okay...so, I was in the dark room at school, developing my film...

 

Pulled it out...

 

And...

 

The film looks like it was never exposed to light.

 

I'm guessing that I simply did not load the film correctly. Which frustrates and pains me. I am wondering

if there is a fundamental loading difference between old film cameras and new ones. After reading the

FTN manual I downloaded from a seller on ebay, it says I should have loaded the film so that the tail goes

through the slot of the spool on the right side. Before, I had always simply curved the tail over the spool

(without sticking the film through that slot...in fact I don't think my newer pentax even had one.)

 

Am I going crazy? Do other cameras load fine without going through that slot?

 

Disappointed with my ineptness,

 

Bobby

Welcome to the club. Few will readily admit it, but most have done the exact same thing at one point in time. Usually, you only do it once. After that, if it happens you kind of deserve it.

 

You have to make sure that the take up reel is pulling the film through the camera. In this case, the slot would do that.

 

So, once the film is loaded, turn the rewind knob back *gently* until you feel some resistence. Then advance the film. That rewind knob should turn as the film is pulling out of the cassette.

 

Go shoot another roll and chalk it up to experience.

been there, done that. That's why on imprtant once in a lifetime trips, a always carry a digital backup or primary.

Always wind the first one or two frames with the back open, better to lose one or two frames than all of them.

Try losding a Nikon-F or a Leica thread mount camera! don't! ;>)

 

Since the 1990's most auto-everything-system cameras only required that you place the film over the take-up spool and the camera would "grab" the film when the shutter was pressed and advance it to the proper frame.

 

Anything earlier needs that you carefully load the film tightly in the film slot and to verify loading by observing the take-up knob as described above. Also, wind a bit before closing the back and check for proper tension.

 

You might just want to waste a roll of film and practice the method. You can practice many times if you don't wind the film back into the film casette...feel for a tug when rewinding and then stop.

 

If you practice you'll get the idea and then do it for real the next time and complete your assignment.

The sprocket wheel pulls the film through, not the take up. Slip the leader through the

slot and make sure the top and bottom sprocket holes are engaged. Rewind the film to

take up slack. Now advance the film1/2 frame making sure the flim is transporting and

the rewind is paying off.

 

NOW you can close the back and wind off 3 blanks making sure the rewind is still paying

off film.

 

You will make more mistakes so forge ahead.

The one confusing thing is this: In the manual it has the film going through the slot, and then

going UNDER the take up spool, so that the emulsion side is faced UP when it comes back

around. This seems really weird to me. In effect, the film is advancing against it's natural

curve after it goes through the spool?

 

I wish I could grab a scan of this, but I'm not near my scanner.

Just put the film leader into the slot of the take up spool. Wind it and see whether it will goes or not.

If it does go as you wind it, then it means your camera is having problem with it's shutter. YOu might have set a wrong shutter speed or the shutter don't work

As Jeff says, "welcome to the club".... I learned a long time ago to watch the rewind knob on the F3 which has the same tendency as the FTN. Almost anyone who used these cameras on the job has had the embarrassing experience of finally rewinding the film thinking that there were some great shots only to find that after a couple turns of the rewind knob the film was in the can and a sinking feeling sets in.

 

...and the film does in fact wind on to the spool backwards on the F's. This I always assumed helped keep the film up against the sprockets and I never thought it was strange, I suppose.

 

David

This is one of the reasons I like my Minolta equipment - they all (but one) have an indicator showing that the film has been loaded correctly and is winding. Watching the rewind spool is the next best thing to do. I've had this embarrassment happen to me a couple of times with other systems - nothing you can do about it, just learn from it.

In the future, make sure things are correctly engaged when loading. And then while shooting, watch the rewind knob. It rotates if film is being fed correctly.

After spending money to have film processed with nothing on it... I always watch the rewind knob now. If by frame #4, the rewind knob doesnt move, I check to be sure there's tension. Its embarrassing and it happens, but it only happens less because you learn to become aware of it. It doesnt matter what kind of photography god you are, everybody accidentally loads film incorrectly. The only thing that separates you from someone who has been doing it for years and years is that they have learned what things to look for to not embarrass themselves. ;)

OK.. here I go letting you know we all step in it.... I certainly did...

 

One time I was comissioned to do a painting of a horse. This horse was a Regional Hunter Grand Champion. To get the markings (dappled grey) right I had to take photos of the horse as I felt the ones provided were inadequate.

 

So, we groom up the horse and take him outside for photos.. he is clipped and it was about 6 degrees above zero out with a wind to suffocate the air right out of your lungs when you faced it. Oh just LOVELY.

 

I took 36 images. Yes. I was diligent.

 

We all went back in and blanketed Mr. Champion and went home to hot cocoa......

 

And in my house I opened the camera. I had not watched the rewind knob and the film was right there... unspooled....

 

Knowing full well if I revealed this to the client I would be up for public hanging after what we had just gone through.. I made the not so hot photos work out for me.... and the painting came out fine.

 

This WAS many years ago (in the 80's) but it surely taught me the first and most basic lesson... Check your film advance and check your settings!

 

You have a fine camera there. You are really lucky.. this happened now and not when someone was handing you money! I expect you will be a fine photographer one day.. just go forward and keep on smiling. In 20 years you will remember this but it likely won't affect you other than to make you better!

Yeah, it's been a long time since I had a Nikkormat FTN, but I recall that it did roll the film emulsion side out on the take up spool.

 

Rob

Yep, I've done it too. There's no better teacher than experience.

Everyone goes through this at one time. My solution since I have a number of cameras is to expose one shot and advance the film with the camera back open and watch & confirm that the film spool is taking up the film. By visually watching a take up I have caught myself improperly loading film several times. To answer your question: No all film cameras can be improperly loaded.

Although it is a 99.99% possibility that the film was not loaded correctly on the take-up reel, and there have been many excellent suggestions on how to properly load and check that the film is loaded properly, suggest you do check the shutter prior to loading and shooting another roll.

 

Easiest way to do this is to remove the lens, open the back of the camera and look through the shutter while tripping it at several different speeds. Point it at a bright light or well lit wall for best veiwing. At any speed below 1/125th of a second and below you should see a moment where the shutter is fully open, at speeds above 1/125th of a second you should see a flash of light as the blades of the shutter form a slit to expose.

 

Might be a good idea to mount a lens and look thru the lens while tripping the shutter at a slower speed with no film and the back open to assure the lens is stopping down properly during exposures.

 

This won't tell you how accurate the speeds are, but will let you know that the shutter is working and you are allowing light to enter the camera.

The very first camera I ever bought was a Retinette 1A. I had the guy in ther store that sold it to me load a film for me (big mistake!). After taking 36 unrepeatable shots, the film came out completely blank. It never moved in the camera! Now I am extremely careful, but it has happened to me a couple more times over the years.

I just had the same thing happen to me. I didn't load my FT3 right and when I was unloading my film it didn't feel right. Like said above, I'm used to the Minolta system where you can put the leader through the take up reel. On the FT3, you stick the leader between the metal center and the black plastic lining of the take up spool. Now I know this. argh.

I haven't used an SLR for years but my son is taking photography in high school so I helped him load film into a Nikkormat FT3. Forget it!!! We spent time taking pix for his class and then realized (after an entire roll that can't be replaced) that the film never advanced in the camera. When loading, I put the film in the little hole and lined up the sprockets. I should have kept the back of the camera open and checked if the film was advancing. There was tension on the rewind button but unfortunately when we went to rewind the film, it rewound in two seconds. It probably never advanced more than two frames!!!

I did the opposite with my first roll of film in my Nikormat back in the 60's. I loaded it fine

but when I went to rewind the film I forgot to push the bottom on the bottom of the

camera. Being a strong young man of 16 I was able to turn the rewind crank and break

the film. All of a sudden I had no resistence and I must have sat there for a half and hour

rewinding, waiting for the release that never came. I finally realized what must have

happened, open the camera and sure enough I was right. I think of it now as my first and

cheapest lesson. Of course then I was crushed.