Bessa R3A strange film loading problem...

[photobizzz]

Ok this one is wierd and only happens when I am changing a roll of film.

1st I put the film in and stretch it across the teeth and into the slot. Normal.

This is the wierd part, when I go to wind the lever with the back open to make sure the film leader dosent pop out of the slot and that the sprockes and holes are aligned the camera dosent want to wind.

The shutter is not already cocked, the lock is not on, but after fussing with it for a sec and jiggling the advance it will work. Not a huge deal but the camera is brand new, I have put 3 rolls through it.

Is this a commom problem for other R3A users out there?

I dont really want to send my camera back but if it continues I guess I will.

 

[mfogiel]

I don't remember this happen to me, anyway, when you load a new film, do it as follows:
remove the lens cap
switch on the camera
make sure the camera is ready to shoot

when you insert the leader, shoot one frame and wind on

This works every time for me.

 

[minoltist7]

The shutter is not already cocked, the lock is not on, but after fussing with it for a sec and jiggling the advance it will work. Not a huge deal but the camera is brand new, I have put 3 rolls through it.

Is this a commom problem for other R3A users out there?

I thinks we need a sticky thread with sort of "Bessa newbie FAQ"

this is a common problem until you know how auto metering works on RxA

solution
1) load film with lens cap removed
2) load film with highest iso setting (3200) and largest aperture selected

 

[photobizzz]

This has nothing to do with auto metering, I always set the camera to 1/2000 when I go to load the film. This is a problem with something mechanical in the camera. Why would you need to change the ISO, when the camera is set to 1/2000 it is fully manual and has nothing to do with the ISO setting. Talk about newb.

 

[nikola]

This is something that we don't like to talk about.... Bessa is no Leica! 😀

hehe, but now serious, they do know to be erratic sometimes, especially new... mine had a occasional problem with plain wind in the middle of roll (this happened maybe 6-10 times since I have her)... but for some time it works flawlessly... I suppose that this has to do with working her up to the some point.

 

[kully]

This looks like something you should send back for a replacement - wait any period of time and it will be a repair job (and from the UK it is (/ was last year) a couple of months wait).

Although I do remember I had _some_ winding / rewinding problems that required a little jigging on the first ~10 rolls in my R2a, it was problem-free after that - perhaps just needs a little wearing in?

 

[wyk_penguin]

Classical problem related to your habits.

I have found that if you like to "hang the camera on your thumb", i.e. apply pressure on the wind lever, even when it is cocked and cannot move (which is what I liked doing), then you risk jamming the wind lever locking mechanism. Don't worry, release that pressure on the lever and you will hear a slight click then you can wind.

Although I haven't got to the root of the problem, I suspect that the pressure pplied on the lever causes excessive friction and hence prevents some kind of locking pin from retracting after the shutter fires.