Jump to content

What was wrong with my film loading with M6


Recommended Posts

It was the third times that I found out after I have 'finished' 36-exp film I could not rewind the film and of course the film did not transport at all when I tensioned the shutter in the first place.

 

<p>

 

Any thing wrong with my film loading or my M6 is abnormal?

 

<p>

 

It apperas that my M6 is working now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The official Leica line is to follow the picture printed on the

baseplate, and don't worry. I always make sure the transport gear

teeth are biting the holes in the film as they should be, before I

close the back, and when I load I ALWAYS take up the slack in the

rewind crank after I've wound and fired once, and make sure the crank

moves when I wind the second blank shot before the first picture. If

the crank doesn't move, I open the camera and try to figure out

what's going wrong. Losing a shot at the beginning because you have

to open the camera is a lot better than losing 36 in a row, right?

:-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kenny,

Couple of questions: 1. You said three times... out of how many

rolls? Just asking to see if this was intermitten or three in a row.

If it is in a row, there could have been a failure of something

mechanical. Once in a while could indicate technique error when

loading the film. 2. Does the film stop advancing at the end of the

roll, or do you just stop at 36? If the film will not advance after

36,37 or so... then it was in fact transporting. 3. does the film

rewind lever automatically reset when you advance the film train

after removing an old roll? if not, the camera will act as though

you want to make multiple exposures... In this case 36 shots on frame

one. Check that it is snapping back into its normal position, which

allows all of the gearing to advance the film.

 

<p>

 

Aside from that, I concur with Michael... Check that the sprockets

engage both the top and bottom of the film. Take up all tension in

the rewind crank and ensure it spins while going to frame one. Good

Luck. Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The loading may be the single most frequent gripe against the Leica M

system. I follow the advice given

by Michael and wind once before closing the back, but not actually for

the same reason given by Michael. I found that by following the

baseplate diagram, you are guaranteed to have a

misalignment between the frame counter and the frame numbers exposed

on the film, i.e. the counter is always one ahead. This nitpick

drives me nuts. So by winding once before closing, the counter

remains disengaged for the one frame causing the numbers to be better

aligned. And the way I do it always places the frame numbers nearly

centered beneath the frame (using Kodak film). This is cool because

the number is then properly seen on the easel/baseboard as it

is projected by the V35 enlarger through the small window for that

purpose. If you forget what frame you're printing, you don't have to

take the negative out of the carrier to read the frame number. This

small feature is particularly nice with the 25x37 carrier (for black

line surrounding image) because, depending on how much coffee you've

had, it's tricky to get the negative perfectly centered to make the

thickness of the lines relatively even. And once it's in there, by

God you don't want to have to take it back out!

<p>

I'm not positive about this, but I think I read a comment once on the

LUG that winding the M4 series or M6 without the baseplate attached

can be potentially harmful to the spring in the takeup chamber. I

don't know if this is true. Maybe somebody else can add a better

educated comment on this.

<p>

Even though the M camera has a ratcheted winder, when you wind your

camera, do it "smartly" and "positively" and not with any hesitation

or undue caution. I'm not saying to be harsh, just to be done with it

with one swift action. I think the mechanism actually works better

when done this way, and it's certainly overengineered enough to

withstand it. A while ago when I was being too cautious, my M6 #1

jammed up tight - wouldn't wind, lever was stuck - heart throbbing its

way up into my throat - sudden horror, you know, all that. I was

unmistakably half way through my roll of film so I know it worked

correctly until then. I still don't know what happened. Well, it

happened one day with M6 #2. Same thing. I attributed it either to

the way I loaded my film (weird), or the way I was winding. Ever

since then, I've been winding both cameras "smartly" and it's never

happened again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your advice and tips. I use only about dozen films in

last 8 months for this camera. The problem is intermitten and most

likely the film was not engaged properly to the teeth of the film

transport system. I cannot recall what was happened but I think I

was not able to advance the film completely at 36/37 so I decided to

rewind film but it was stuck also. So I did an ungraceful thing to

apply excessive force to the film rewind crack then I heard the film

was disengaged or broke (one time). The film rewind lever was in up

position before I turn it side way to rewind but did not watch it

after I took out the problem film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another problem you might be having from your description, but might

not have explained well is that if you wind film too far at the end

sometimes the film is pulled loose from the spool in the cassette.

I've never seen this with my eyes, but what it feels like has

happened is that the film has come outside the cassette, but is still

held by the tape. Trying to rewind finally breaks the tape, leaving

the film stuck in the camera. Usually all that happens is that the

sprocket holes strip out, but not everytime. The moment you feel that

little tug at the end of the roll that says you're out of film, STOP,

even if it's in the middle of a wind stroke. Don't try to wind the

shutter the rest of the way--just rewind right then, and finish with

the shutter later. But that doesn't really sound like your problem,

since it sounds like you didn't get any pix at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone else said on photo.net recently, these are the kinds of

problems you should not have in a high end product after 50 years of

development. Ditto the battery drain problem of the TTL and the loose

battery cover problem of all M6s. Or the viewfinder flare problem.

 

<p>

 

Kenny, I agree with the post above that says wind the film to the

first frame smartly, and not cautiously. That seems to solve most of

my jamming problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can understand the Leica loading problem in context--they have had

50 years to develop the camera, but it's only the last ten or so in

which consumers have decided to abdicate ALL responsibility for blame

when something goes wrong. I don't remember loading properly being

all that big of an issue in the past, when people were willing to try

to do their parts to make things work right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing that is ignored when talking about the loading system of

the "M" is that no swing back camera is as structurally sound. The

single piece body is extreamly durable and will take a lot more abuse

before distorting. Any additional seam, hinge or variable mating

surface is a potential for reduced integrity. I'll put up with the

current system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This gripe comes up again and again! Just make sure that the sprocket

teeth are engaged, close the back fit the baseplate and fire three

frames in quick succession. That takes care of it.

 

<p>

 

It's possible that if you've only shot 12 films in 8 months you

haven't yet got the hang of it, rather than that the camera is at

fault.

 

<p>

 

I've always felt the M6/4 etc is the most positive load of any camera

I've used, and I've never ever got it wrong.

 

<p>

 

Rob.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to agree with Rob. It is the best and fastest manual load

system I have ever used. However there is a little trick. Film that

has been stored in its plastic cannister developes a kink in the

leader. When you insert the film, its kinked edge can sometimes

catch on the upper edge of the film gate. When you then attach

the baseplate the film is jamed between the edge of the film gate

and the plastic film locater wheel on the baseplate.

To prevent this just load with the back flopped open and make

sure the edge of the film is past the film gate before attaching the

baseplate. Clear sailling after that. Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto that reply from john collier the kink in the leader accounts

for 99.99% of all the problems, the other .01% is useually prevented

by drawing the leader out a little bit, youoften feel the little bit

resistance. I think it is a throwback to the long leader days of

35mm. film

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...