Konica Pearl III film advance

[coupdegrace]

I recently bought a Konica Pearl III and shot a test roll of film. This model does not have red window on the back to assist in film advance but instead has a winder that 'auto' measures the distance and stops at the next shot. Unfortunately with my camera, it doesn't advance far enough! All the negative images overlapped by at least a 1/4 inch meaning it really needs to wind another 1/2 inch to provide for the space. So before I begin dismantling the mechanism - has anyone experienced this and if so, is there a repair solution?

 

[jamin-b]

If you need repairs, I would strongly recommend Greg Weber for old Konica cameras. He made a Konica III work like new for me, and in my correspondence he mentioned that he could work on Pearls. He is very friendly and may be able to give you some advice to start for a DIY.

Greg Weber <gweber@webercamera.com>

 

[coupdegrace]

I can answer this question now that Ive loaded the film correctly!!! If I wasn't so hasty and had referred to this site - http://www.120folder.com/pearl_iii.htm - on how to load the film properly I never would have searched high and low on the web about film advance adjustments.... What happened was I didn't wind enough film onto the spool before shooting. Makes sense, not enough girth on the spool to advance the film to the correct length!!
(BTW - I did write the Greg Weber.... no response)

 

[ACullen]

As consequence of GAS I have an excellent condition Konica Pearl IIIXM on the way.

I'm wondering if anyone can shed and light on the automatic film advance and how to prevent overlapping frames. One suggestion from the seller is that the take up spool needs to be thickened with tape. One one hand I can see how this might work by advancing more film per rotation. On the other hand I thought the problem somehow related to modern films/backing being thicker cf vintage stock.

Any thoughts ?

 

[Arbitrarium]

As far as I know, yes, it's because modern film/backing paper is thinner. The easiest solutions I've read about involve sticking a Post-it note to the film leader to thicken that first bit of take-up. Also read that you can use the paper strip that holds the film together as a leader but I imagine that would be fiddly and probably snap when you try to wind it.

 

[ACullen]

As far as I know, yes, it's because modern film/backing paper is thinner. The easiest solutions I've read about involve sticking a Post-it note to the film leader to thicken that first bit of take-up. Also read that you can use the paper strip that holds the film together as a leader but I imagine that would be fiddly and probably snap when you try to wind it.

Thank you , that makes more sense now that I understand that modern films are thinner than vintage (rather than the other way around). It doesn't sound like an insurmountable problem. I fancied having a compact MF shooter with a coupled RF etc

 

[ACullen]

Can anyone familiar with the Pearl III report on whether double-exposure prevention is meant to occur with this model ?

My copy has shutter cocking and film advance which are totally independent of each other. Nothing appears to be missing and mechanically the camera is first rate. There is precious little online about this camera with the site linked above not covering this particular issue.

 

[ACullen]

Further thoughts on the Pearl III.

I've established that wrapping 10cm of Scotch duck tape around the take up spool prevents any overlapping frames. Spacing remains uneven which may in part reflect that the effect extra width will proportionately affect earlier frames more than latter ones.

Standard 120 film reel is 11.75mm , it becomes 12.45mm approx with the duck tape wrapped around it.

Further more 16 frames can be fitted onto the standard 120 film by aligning the backing paper start arrow at 1cm or so after the first roller rather than advancing it to meet the white mark on the camera body. The film advance lever is then cocked with the backing paper start arrow in the position just described. Once the film advance lever is cocked the counter now will start to move on as the film winding nob is advanced.

I've tested this with a blank film. As closing the camera back doesn't interact with the film advance or counter it's possible to view the relative spacings of each frame as it's advanced.

 

[shorelineae]

I developed my first roll with the Konica Pearl III and experienced the above mentioned overlapping frame issue. Can anyone confirm that using a bit of scotch tape to tape the leader to the take-up spool solves this problem?

 

[Dan Daniel]

I developed my first roll with the Konica Pearl III and experienced the above mentioned overlapping frame issue. Can anyone confirm that using a bit of scotch tape to tape the leader to the take-up spool solves this problem?

The poster mentions using DUCT tape, not simply Scotch tape (by which in my English usage I mean the clear or frosted very thin stuff).

I don't know the Konica, but on some Zeiss cameras with this problem, adding thickness at the beginning works well. I've found that a single small Post-It note works for the Zeiss.

If you can sacrifice a roll of film, try different materials and do dry runs to see how it affects the frame spacing.

 

[shorelineae]

The poster mentions using DUCT tape, not simply Scotch tape (by which in my English usage I mean the clear or frosted very thin stuff).

I don't know the Konica, but on some Zeiss cameras with this problem, adding thickness at the beginning works well. I've found that a single small Post-It note works for the Zeiss.

If you can sacrifice a roll of film, try different materials and do dry runs to see how it affects the frame spacing.

Thanks Dan. Somehow I missed this reply. I tried taping the leader to the spool with a small tape but now I understand that what I needed to do was loop Duck tape around the spool before inserting the film. I'll try it today.