First issue with the Bessa III

[pstevenin]

I've loaded it with Tmax 400 , the 120-66 position selected.
I've exposed the regular 12 frames, the Bessa 'forced' me to expose around 20 frames (as if it was loaded with 220 film). When the end of film released from the spool, I just finished to roll it and was ready for an other roll (which went pefectly okay).

I've noticed then the 66/67 selector was between the 2 positions. I've just screwed it back to 66 and everything sounds okay now). After having developped the roll, there is no space at all between frames and some are slightly overlapped.

It sounds that you do have to check the correct position is firmly engaged each time you load a roll.

Please Mr Fuji, is there a way to lock more firmly this selector (with a gentle click)? I'm not a mechanic enginneer, but it does not sounds impossible to me to implement.

 

[Keith]

Interesting that in the two weeks I had Australia's travelling Bessa III the only problem I had was with film transport ... in fact I lost a roll. The camera's advance mechanism wound the film onto the take up spool so loosely that It got ruined by light when I opened the back of the camera to remove it after it was finished!

Other rolls were fine though!

 

[mgd711]

I've now shot well over a 100 roll's in mine and never had an issue.

Frame spacing is sometimes erratic but I put that down to shooting 20 or so roll's in the tropical heat (problem only appears after 10 or so roll's of film).

 

[guyjr]

Keith - same exact thing happened to me once with my B3 - as soon as I popped out a roll it unwound on me... fortunately I was able to salvage it by tightly gripping my hand around it til I could get it in my camera bag and tighten it back up. Some of the pics that emerged were actually stunning - the exact parts of the pics I wanted were the ones that were left behind, with all sorts of cool fogging effects on the borders. 🙂

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Thanks for the heads up on this issue. The "Travelling Bessa" is in the mail - in fact I hope to get it today (Australia Post permitting).

 

[kuzano]

Can't speak to this camera particularly....

Can't speak to this camera particularly....

But, I did learn (and it's mentioned in many MF manuals for 120 loaded across a large-ish film gate), that one needs to keep serious tension on the film across the film gate until the back is closed. Problems that occur frequently on 120 film if the door is closed on loose film are:

Bunching up on the take up spool and jamming midroll.
Poor frame spacing.
Rolls unwinding when coming out of the camera.

I use all three hands on the film to keep it tight when closing the door.

MF that loads on back inserts does not usually exhibit this problem because the roll is tight on the insert when it goes in the camera.

I've seen this issue addressed in MF camera manuals back to (including) the Fuji G690bl... the first big "Texas Leica".

Keep a couple of fingers on the feed roll and a bit of pressure on the wind lever or takeup spool as you close the back.

Also check to see that any springs that ride on the rolls to keep tension are actually hard against the rolls. They are usually a flat spring with a roller on the end, and need to be in constant contact with the roll through the whole roll.

 

[Doug]

Kuzano's suggestion is good to keep in mind. Modern 120/220 cameras (in my experience) do have some drag built into the supply-side spool holder, and that's a good thing. But some extra resistance from a thumb on the film spool while loading makes sure the paper starts tight on the takeup spool.

 

[sevo]

Kuzano's suggestion is good to keep in mind. Modern 120/220 cameras (in my experience) do have some drag built into the supply-side spool holder,

Well, the success is relative - straight reel-to-reel designs don't really lend themselves to drag on the supply spool. So far nobody seems to have come up with a design where the applied drag acts evenly on every film and backing paper combination under every climatic condition - in some case or other all of them will cause the film or paper to buckle. The folded designs on SLR backs are better there, but they suffer from film bending issues which more than make up for that. Best are the long, gently bent film paths as in the Mamiya press magazines or the sinar (and similar spring back slide-in) 120 holders for large format cameras - but these are huge indeed.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Well, the strike by some AP employees seems to have prevented the Bessa reaching me until next week at least. Never mind - yesterday turned rainy in Sydney and I used my 35mm Bessas for the Christmas festivities. (Discovered the R4A has an open flash circuit in the process). I'll send it to Scott after the holiday break. The R3A is fine.
I've had 120 folders before - the older Bessa I 6x9 and the Perkeo II 6x6 (still shouldn't have sold it!) but I'm looking forward to trying the Bessa III and at the same time comparing it to my Rolleiflex. I suspect from what others have written that I'm going to like the Bessa very much. I only have it on loan for two weeks so I'll have to get busy but as there are two weddings in that period it should work out fine.

 

[guyjr]

Well, sadly I have to report that I've run into a critical issue with my B3. The focusing knob no longer moves the split image in the rangefinder window, and as a result, is now impossible to focus. Also, the knob can't be set to infinity anymore - it gets "stuck" at around the 5m mark, which also means that I can no longer fold / lock the camera up. I ran into this problem last night while taking some pictures around town... it just all of a sudden stopped working after I took the 10th shot of a 120 roll. (set to 6x6).

This actually happened to me right after I got the camera, but by fiddling with it I managed to somehow correct it, and did not run into this issue again until yesterday.

Fortunately the camera is well within warranty, so I'll be sending it in to Photo Village to have them take a look, but most likely it's going to be shipped back to Japan for a 6 - 8 week repair turnaround.