Another Zorki 1 winding problem...

[tojeem]

Sorry about this.

My first two rolls on the Zorki 1 didn't wind on properly (I got them developed but there were no photos on them). Strangely they seemed to rewind fine, and the film was fully inside the canister after rewinding. I'm sure I'm cutting and loading them correctly.

The third roll worked fine in terms of winding. Photos were there, and well exposed. I don't remember doing anything differently...

The fourth roll had the same problem as the first two.

The fifth seemed to wind on fine. Half-way through the roll, I took the film out in a light bag (to check it was wound on) and everything seemed to be in its place (i.e. plenty of film wound around the spool). However when I finished the roll, I tried rewinding and the rewind knob got stuck half-way through. In a light bag I opened the bottom and tried taking the film out, and I found it appeared to be jammed. After a bit of jiggery-pokery, I got both the canister and the spool out, only to find that the film had been severed in half, somewhere inbetween the canister and the spool (possibly a result of the jiggery-pokery). Fortunately I only lost a few exposures; the rest of the film was inside the canister. I have yet to get it developed but I assume it will be exposed with photos.

Has anyone else had this problem? Could it be the spool? It seems to be something to do with the rewind, which was stiff for some rolls (stopping the film from winding through), and jamming for others. I don't think the rewind knob turns while winding on film.

Can I fix this? Should I send it off to Oleg for repair? Or perhaps I should just lick my wounds and buy a Kiev...

Thanks.

 

[Frontman]

You have to make sure the holes in the film are engaging the winding sprocket, otherwise you may think you are winding properly and taking pictures, but the film isn't even coming out of the canister. Newcomers to FSU and bottom-loading Leicas all make this mistake at one time or another.

You can see the pins on the sprocket from the bottom when the cover is off, and you can see if they are engaging the film. You can also watch the rewind knob as you winding the camera and taking pictures, it should turn.

Good luck,

 

[wolves3012]

Good advice from Frontman. Just to emphasise, if the rewind knob isn't turning when you cock the shutter, you can be sure the film is not being wound through.

Once you've loaded the film, try turning the rewind knob in the direction of the arrow. You should be able to take up the slack but after that it should be fairly solid (don't use force, of course).

If you're unsure of your loading/unloading technique, practice on a scrap roll of film. Get used to the feel of the film tension when you wind and rewind and watch the rewind after loading, see that it turns.

 

[tojeem]

Thanks for the responses.

Each time I put film in, I did check that the sprocket pins were matching up with the perforations... but I think there must have been slack on the film, causing it to come *off* the pins when I wound on.

I took your suggestion, wolves, and turned the rewind knob before shooting with some dummy film. It didn't seem to make a difference winding in the direction of the arrow, but I tried the opposite direction and the slack disappeared.

I shot the dummy film, and with each wind-on the rewind knob turned. Looks like everything works now... I just have to turn the rewind knob before shooting. Hooray!

Thanks again for the help. I'm a real rookie when it comes to bottom-loading cameras.

Stephen