Anyone ever "misloaded" an A-24 back?

[dzeanah]

I purchased a used A-24 the other day, and ran some expired Velvia

through it as a test. The film was 3-4 years out of date. It was

something like 30-35^ F outside when I loaded the film.

 

When I delevloped the film I found that the first frames showing up

on the roll were overlapping hugely, then frames were spaced better,

then frames were maybe 1mm apart. The final 1/2 of the roll was

unexposed.

 

I notified the seller that the back seemed to need some work, then I

ran a new roll of Plus-X through it, taking it off of the camera and

marking lines at the top and bottom of the frame on frames

1,2,3,4,5,10,15,20,24....

 

The framelines were spaced perfectly (and I notified the seller that

my last e-mail to him was probably in error). This leads me to

believe that I probably loaded the back improperly. I'm used to the

old "manual" 12 backs, but I've loaded A-12 and A-24 backs without

difficulty before.

 

Does this sound like my error, or was it something to do with old

film? If my error -- any idea what I may have done incorrectly?

Could it be something wrong with the back (doubtful)?

 

Thanks. Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I'd like to keep this from

happening again.

[dave_wilson1]

If you wound to the arrows with the leader properly seated, this doesn't seem likely, I'll vote for the "little spacer gear thingy" needs replacement or adjustment. How long do you have to try the back? If not long I would run some more film and address the problem. Good Luck!

[joseph_gatewood]

try e-mailing your question to Brad Sherman bladfixer@aol.com, he is very helpful.

[joe_barbieri]

I had the same spacing problem on an E220 back. I had it replaced.

 

Buy Bronica. At least you know up front the backs will stink.