...HELP ! Hexar rewinds on its own ...

[TMLee]

Happened few times but intermittently.

Loaded 36exp roll. Shot to #11, suddenly the camera behaves as if its reached the end of the roll and starts rewinding.

I quickly turned off the camera. The film counter flashes the number at which it rewound at the time of turning it off. (it showed a flashing #6)

Turned on again and it resumed rewinding till zero.

Whats wrong with the camera? ( Cassette film too tightly wound, motor don't have enuf power to pull the film across? )

Not the first time.

Last time (many years back) sent to Konica repairman but he couldn't detect any fault.

The previous roll I shot (weeks ago only) , same thing happened but near end of roll. It started to rewind at its own when I reached #32. I quickly turned off. Then it stopped rewinding immediately and counter showed #1 but not flashing. I turned on again and could only make 2 shots which was the end of the film.

When film was processed, exposures 33 to 35.5 were blank, ie unexposed. The 2 shots I took appeared at 36 and 'E'.

Whats wrong with the camera?

 

[alan davus]

It happenned only once to my Hexar. The film seemed to be struggling when being advanced frame by frame. Got to frame 6 then rewound itself. It was a roll of Fuji 160C. I just put it down to a faulty roll of film and it's never occurred again. Good luck.

 

[ksah]

bump bump bump

 

[FrankS]

As far as I know, the camera begins to rewind when it senses the end of the roll of film, which would be a resistance. It seems that either the camera is sensing a resistance before the end of the roll, or the sensitivity to resistance is set too low.

 

[awilder]

I agree with Alan and Frank. The camera will automatically rewind if it senses too much resistance, thinking it's at the end of the roll. Try another roll with the lens cap on, the shutter set for 1/4000 and go to the end to see what happens. Open the back before the film leader winds all the way into the canister so you don't waste the roll.

 

[eric]

As far as I know, the camera begins to rewind when it senses the end of the roll of film, which would be a resistance. It seems that either the camera is sensing a resistance before the end of the roll, or the sensitivity to resistance is set too low.

t h

That's what I always thought. It didn't really care about the number on counter but how much resistance the roll was giving.
But I guess I'm just reading off what I read on the innernet years ago. And you know...everything you read on the innernet is true! 🙂

 

[ksah]

Thanks guys. I'll try Awilder's suggestion. I got this camera second hand and I'm worried it may have some issues. :/

 

[ksah]

(...) or the sensitivity to resistance is set too low.

Is there a way for an end user to change this?

SK

 

[TMLee]

As far as I know, the camera begins to rewind when it senses the end of the roll of film, which would be a resistance. It seems that either the camera is sensing a resistance before the end of the roll, or the sensitivity to resistance is set too low.

I was told by an experienced camera repairman that generally such auto rewind motors are programmed to commence their rewinding after a number of pulses, ie, if the film is resisting for say 8 pulses, then the programme tells it to commence rewinding.

 

[TMLee]

I agree with Alan and Frank. The camera will automatically rewind if it senses too much resistance, thinking it's at the end of the roll. Try another roll with the lens cap on, the shutter set for 1/4000 and go to the end to see what happens. Open the back before the film leader winds all the way into the canister so you don't waste the roll.

I have tried with expired film. Sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't. I even tried loading it and laying it aside for a few weeks. Sometimes the problem returns.

 

[ksah]

I have tried with expired film. Sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't. I even tried loading it and laying it aside for a few weeks. Sometimes the problem returns.

Hi TMLee. Does this mean you are having the same problem constantly? Can someone recommend a reliable repair place for the Hexar RF?


Thank you
SK

 

[FrankS]

Can you watch the film advance with the camera back open, to see if something wrong is happening? I have this camera, but have never tried this.

There would be no user-adjustment of the film advance mechanism or film resistance sensing.

 

[TMLee]

Can you watch the film advance with the camera back open, to see if something wrong is happening? I have this camera, but have never tried this.

There would be no user-adjustment of the film advance mechanism or film resistance sensing.

I should think so, It depends on the software telling the hardware what to do.

 

[TMLee]

Hi TMLee. Does this mean you are having the same problem constantly? Can someone recommend a reliable repair place for the Hexar RF?


Thank you
SK

No.
The problem does not happen with every film roll. Its intermittent. sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. I can't figure out whats the cause. Its gotta be something really basic I am doing wrong. I am going to focus my attention on the film cassettes.

OKay .. how abt this, what happens to film when not stored properly ? eg, say on occassions under high heat ? Does film get 'sticky' inside the cassette when subjected to warmth? Or maybe it gets set in its coiled position due to heat ?

I don't have a habit of properly storing film like in a fridge. I feel it don't matter.

 

[ksah]

No.
The problem does not happen with every film roll. Its intermittent. sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. I can't figure out whats the cause. Its gotta be something really basic I am doing wrong. I am going to focus my attention on the film cassettes. OKay .. how abt this, what happens to film when not stored properly ? eg, say on occassions under high heat ? Does film get 'sticky' inside the cassette when subjected to warmth? Or maybe it gets set in its coiled position due to heat ? I don't have a habit of properly storing film like in a fridge. I feel it don't matter.

I freeze my film and let it warm up slowly before using it. I've never had this issue with any other camera and I don't believe it's the film. It must be the low tolerance to film resistance in the Hexar. Does anyone have suggestions about where I can send the camera for a checkup?

I will try the suggestion involving running the film with the back open. This should show if the problem is with the film advance cylinders. I think opening the back will minimize film tension and resistance.

SK

 

[pvdhaar]

I've had problems with my Hexar (AF) rewinding constantly as well. In my case, it was due to a tiny piece of pencil tip that got stuck between the mid roll rewind button and the casing. After removing it, the Hexar behaved normally again.

 

[Paul T.]

AS the above post might suggest, it's worth checking for the most direct cause, namely that the rewind button is partly depressed. Press it a couple of times to make sure it moves freely. I had a similar problem with my Hexar AF.

DO you try putting the film through again when it rewinds? The AF and RF are both terrific in that they leave the film leader out after rewinding if you catch it in time. It's very useful for changing from b/w to colour film mid-roll (or indeed reusing film your camera has taken upon itself to reject).

 

[itf]

No.
Does film get 'sticky' inside the cassette when subjected to warmth?

I don't think it does, but it does get a little sticky with humidity.

 

[awilder]

Debris in the mid-roll rewind button switch as the culprit sounds like an interesting and logical possibility. Try squirting some tuner cleaner solvent (available at Radio Shack) into the switch and work it in by depressing it several times, then see what happens after the excess is wiped away.

 

[ksah]

I tried to play around with the mid roll rewind button to see if there was debris around. It looked clean to me. The camera had film in it when I pushed that rewind button; for some reason, even the rewinding didn't occur the way it should: the film would be rewound but not all the way (no, I'm not talking about the film leader left out). Mid roll rewind would stop after 1 to 2 seconds... 🙁 Looks like I have a dud.