G2: a film rewind experience

[luibargi]

I am posting a recent experience I had on rewinding a film with a G2.
Last week my G2 rewound the film as usual after the last (37th) shot. However, opening the back I noticed too much film left outside.
I closed immediately the back and operated the manual rewind (small R button).
After the short buzz I opened again the back but the same length was there; it was about 40 cm of film left outside the cartridge.
The '00' blinked in both cases.
The battery was new, I moved the film manually in and out the cartridge but I did not notice any particular resistance.

That roll was previousle used in a Canon AE1P, with which I took 10 shots before deciding to move the roll to the G2.
Once loaded in the G2, I took 11 shots at 1/4000th - f:22 and the cap on the lens; then I finished the roll.
The film length left outside the cartridge was approx = to the 11 shots, let's say 'blinded'.

So I used two old rolls to make a test:
- the first roll was fully exposed four times with the G2 and rewound normally, with both options of leaving the film tail out or not: no problem was found,
- the second roll was first used with the Canon AE1P for 10 shots, then loaded in the G2, intending to repeat what i did when the problem happened... Well, the problem happened again and about 30 cm of film wasn’t rewound in the cartridge.

I am quite sure that the camera is not defective and the curl in the film tail made by the Canon (or any manual loading cameras) has in some way influenced the way the G2 understands the film end, or somehow disturbs the rewind process. In the meantime I shot another two rolls without problems.
I have made a point for the future of not loading part-exposed films in the G2 anymore.
Has anybody a different opinion?

 

[sevo]

Damaged perforation or dirt on the sensor?

 

[luibargi]

Perforation was ok.
I did not know there's a sensor, where is it?

 

[sevo]

Perforation was ok.
I did not know there's a sensor, where is it?

It is a tiny (barely perforation hole sized) window, just about where the upper sprocket on a camera with mechanical counter/transport would be, to the right of the upper film guide rail.

 

[furcafe]

I have experienced occasional rewind & loading problems similar to yours w/both the G2 & the Hexar RF, which share many internal mechanical systems. Sometimes, like you, I had rolls that never completely rewound; on other occasions, I had rolls that would only partially load. From what I can tell, most of these problems came w/films that had pronounced bends in the starting leaders (e.g., from being stored frozen for extended periods) &/or were sticky from humidity, etc. (from being loaded too soon after being taken from refrigeration/air conditioning). Also, I've experienced these problems more often w/films from smaller manufacturers like Efke & Foma than Kodak or Fuji. Not certain whether my difficulties were due to the sensor mentioned by sevo, by the motor not being able to "power through" glitches in the roll, or some combination of the 2.

 

[luibargi]

Found it, thanks sevo. It's really tiny but I can clearly see it through a magnifier.
It appears clean but I'm thinking of passing a soft brush on it, do you thing I'll make some damage?

Thanks to you too furcafe. In fact, when pulling the film out of the receiving sprocket I found some resistance so the motor not being able to pull can be a likely hypothesis. Film was Kodax ProFoto XL100, bought in Africa, not expired but not sure about how it was stocked.

 

[sevo]

Found it, thanks sevo. It's really tiny but I can clearly see it through a magnifier.
It appears clean but I'm thinking of passing a soft brush on it, do you thing I'll make some damage?

No risk of that, as far as I can make out. I routinely clean mine, without damage so far.

 

[furcafe]

You're welcome. These kinds of problems can seem mysterious & frustrating.

The 3 things I've found that seems to have prevented most of my problems have been to: (1) let frozen/refrigerated film thaw out before loading; (2) with any roll that's been sitting around/I know will be sitting around for an extended time, I pull the leader out a few extra inches/cm's to reduce any bends/kinks at the start of the roll; & (3) before loading, I loosen up the film by quickly pulling out & then pushing back the first few inches/cm's of the leader.

Thanks to you too furcafe. In fact, when pulling the film out of the receiving sprocket I found some resistance so the motor not being able to pull can be a likely hypothesis. Film was Kodax ProFoto XL100, bought in Africa, not expired but not sure about how it was stocked.

 

[luibargi]

Yes furcafe, especially frustrating for such a wonderful camera.
Your 3 suggestions absolutely make sense.
Thanks again.