FM2N Rewind lever got too much tension

<p>Very frustrating</p>

<p>It seems that when I reach the end of the roll, when I can't push the film advance further, it creates too much tension between the roll and the spool, so that when I rewind, the other end of the film in the roll will fall out of the canister...<br>

I had no choice but to open the gate, and of course all the film got a good ole "double" exposure...<br>

Did I do something wrong?! does it happend to anyone, and how can I avoid it?!<br>

I wasted two rolls of film with good photos because of this.</p>

<p>Should I just stop at 36 or 24, even if there is still film left ?</p>

<p>For what is worth, at lease I got my film stock cheap. </p>

<p>I've heard of others having this issue, mostly with older cameras and off-branded films. Although I've never encountered it, I routinely make a practice of stopping when I've hit the indicated number of exposures. I also suspect that some people who have encountered it have used a longer than normal leader causing the film to crowd the take-up spool. Thee tension should be a tactile sign that you shouldn't try to wind any more. However, all is not lost if you encounter the tightness. Instead of trying to rewind the film, use a changing bag or very dark room or closet at night, open the camera back and gently remove the film from the take-up spool and either put it into your development tank or gently reinsert it into the cartridge.</p>

<p>thanks stephen.... another down side of mechanical cameras.... lots of moving parts, broke one... good luck.</p>

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<p><em>.... another down side of mechanical cameras.... </em></p>

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<p><em><br /></em>its not intended to use brute force</p>

<p>the thing is that I wasn't even being "brute"... </p>

<p>Heidi, I apologise in advance for suggesting this, but ..</p>

<p>Are you sure you are fully depressing the rewind button in the base of the camera?</p>

<p>I don't remember to be honest, but it may be very well that I forgot... will that cause this issue then?</p>

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<p>it may be very well that I forgot... will that cause this issue then?</p>

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<p>Indeed. If you don't engage the rewind function you're trying to go in reverse while the transmission is still in drive.<br>

Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>Heidi, just in case, but Nikon still has the <a href="http://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/archive/FM2.pdf">manual of the FM2 available as a PDF here</a>. It describes steps as these step by step - it's a quick and simple read but it might just help getting better familiar with the camera.</p>

<p>Yeah, another source for the manual is from http://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon/nikon_fm2/nikon_fm2.htm .<br /> If you download that, and read it carefully, you will be able to figure out a lot of the answers.</p>

<p>I repeat, a lot of your problems seem to be from a lack of understanding of how film cameras work and how to use them. I again strongly recommend that you go on-line or to your local library and check out basic film camera books and on-line tutorials.</p>

<p>Most of us are more than willing to help out, but your questions will be more fruitful if you have control of the basics. :)</p>

<p>With my F3T, when I start feeling more resistance and know I'm at the end of a roll, and the film won't go any further, I immediately stop pushing and hit the "release" button on the bottom of the camera. I then just rewind the film. A couple of times I did pull a roll out of the canister. I simply took the camera home, went into a bathroom with no windows (and waited until after dark) and carefully put the film back into the canister.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>I have a FM2n and when I reach the end of the roll I can feel the tightness of the film in the advance lever. I do not try to squeeze out one more shot but instead immediately stop and rewind. I have never pulled the film out of the cassette but I think about it as I bulk load and it's up to me to attach the film to the spool well enough. </p>

<p>Just like with all precision equipment, if it is binding <em>DON'T FORCE IT</em>. Likely bad things will happen.</p>

<p>There are lots of little gears and cams in their and if you force things you can bend the cams and/or strip the gears. Even on the older Nikons, a few gears were made of plastic and not metal. Nikon actually made one of the gears in their MD-2 out of plastic and it would mate with a brass one. Guess which one lost over time. There were so many failures that eventually if you sent your MD-2 into Nikon for repairs that plastic gear was replaced with a brass one, which is what it should have been all along.</p>