Olympus XA film transport problem?

[filmgoerjuan]

Same problem

Same problem

I know this is an old thread, but as I've had the exact same problem with my XA, I thought I'd add to this rather than start something new.

My first roll through the XA had a whole bunch of overlapping frames and the last frame had about 10+ shots taken on the same piece of film. I investigated the film advance with an exposed roll of film I have for testing and found this:

- the film advance teeth don't appear to move when I turn the film advance wheel (i.e. they're not aiding in moving the film forward); in fact, the sprocket holes often come off of the teeth. The film can be rewound without having to press in the little button on the bottom to release these teeth...they seem to be entirely removed from the system of advancing/rewinding the film (except perhaps to offer some resistance to advancing the film that compounds the problem detailed below)

- there are two elements to the take up reel - a metal spindle that is rotated by turning the film advance wheel and a plastic spindle that surrounds the metal spindle and has the little slots that you put the film leader into. With no resistance, both spindles rotate when you turn the film advance wheel; however, with very little resistance, the central metal spindle turns normally (allowing you to cock the shutter), but the outer plastic spindle turns either not at all or less than the full amount required to advance the film by an entire frame. Consequently, the film is advanced inconsistently, resulting in slightly overlapping frames; in the case of the last frame on a roll, the film cannot advance further, but the advance wheel will keep turning. Hence, the last frame on my roll that had 10+ shots exposed on the film.

So the issue seems to be twofold:

1) assuming they work like just about every other camera I own, the teeth are supposed to engage with the sprockets on the film and turn as the film advance wheel is turned, pulling the film from the cannister -- somehow they've become disengaged from the mechanism

2) the outer plastic spindle is connected to the inner metal spindle by some means (friction?). With little or no resistance, it's capable of advancing the film forward when the film advance wheel is turned; however, without the teeth aiding it, anything more than very gentle resistance results in the film not advancing fully -- from something less than a full frame to not at all!

I'd be curious to hear from someone with a working XA to hear if the teeth are working properly and if the metal/plastic spindle connection seems more solid. I've found that a very tightly wound roll of film with a very loose felt light trap allows me to use the camera without losing frames (or at least *so far*); however, this is obviously a less than ideal solution.

 

[chenick]

I have almost exactly the same problem, I had several overlapping frames in the last 2 or 3 films. However, the sprockets in my XA turn fine with the thumbwheel, with no slippage.
My problem seems to be as in your point 2) the outer spindle is slipping too easily.

I'm thinking perhaps the light seals are a bit too thick (looks like they were replaced with thick neoprene but I presume the main problem is the outer spindle slippage. I hope someone has a fix, I've done lots of searches on this to no avail.

Nick

 

[filmgoerjuan]

I think I've figured out the issue with my XA, or rather, the issue with *me* -- the XA was working properly, I have only myself to blame for the issue. I've shot a couple of rolls since posting about the problem and this time I've been extra careful about loading the film.

Make sure that the sprockets on the film are engaged by the teeth and that the film leader is securely into the slot on the take-up spindle. Most importantly, make sure there is no slack in the film before you close the cover. There's a little window cut out in the pressure plate on the back of the camera, this goes over the teeth and holds the film down enough that the teeth continue to engage the film as it is advanced. If the film isn't aligned properly or there's too much slack, the teeth won't engage the film correctly and this will result in misaligned or overlapping frames.

On the plus side, I got some good feedback on the attached "photo" from one of my failed rolls 🙂

 

[Ballen Photo]

Juan, I suspect you may be right about loading the film improperly causing the problems. I have both an XA, and an XA2 that I bought brand new back in 79. I seem to remember that you have to ensure the film is loaded just right, or else the camera will jam, etc.
BTW, I just bought batteries for them, and think I'll bring them out of retirement. 😀
-Bruce

 

[franx]

Should I buy an XA?

Should I buy an XA?

I shoot mainly street photography and I just got an XA-2. Tomorrow I'll know how well it's working... BUT I'm really interested in an XA since it gives me far more control. Besides some great reviews on the XA page (http://www.diaxa.com/xa/xastart.htm) and other pages, I would appreciate comments regarding this little camera. Thanks a lot in advance.


www.franxvision.blogspot.com

 

[kono287]

I know this is an old thread, but as I've had the exact same problem with my XA, I thought I'd add to this rather than start something new.

My first roll through the XA had a whole bunch of overlapping frames and the last frame had about 10+ shots taken on the same piece of film. I investigated the film advance with an exposed roll of film I have for testing and found this:

- the film advance teeth don't appear to move when I turn the film advance wheel (i.e. they're not aiding in moving the film forward); in fact, the sprocket holes often come off of the teeth. The film can be rewound without having to press in the little button on the bottom to release these teeth...they seem to be entirely removed from the system of advancing/rewinding the film (except perhaps to offer some resistance to advancing the film that compounds the problem detailed below)

- there are two elements to the take up reel - a metal spindle that is rotated by turning the film advance wheel and a plastic spindle that surrounds the metal spindle and has the little slots that you put the film leader into. With no resistance, both spindles rotate when you turn the film advance wheel; however, with very little resistance, the central metal spindle turns normally (allowing you to cock the shutter), but the outer plastic spindle turns either not at all or less than the full amount required to advance the film by an entire frame. Consequently, the film is advanced inconsistently, resulting in slightly overlapping frames; in the case of the last frame on a roll, the film cannot advance further, but the advance wheel will keep turning. Hence, the last frame on my roll that had 10+ shots exposed on the film.

So the issue seems to be twofold:

1) assuming they work like just about every other camera I own, the teeth are supposed to engage with the sprockets on the film and turn as the film advance wheel is turned, pulling the film from the cannister -- somehow they've become disengaged from the mechanism

2) the outer plastic spindle is connected to the inner metal spindle by some means (friction?). With little or no resistance, it's capable of advancing the film forward when the film advance wheel is turned; however, without the teeth aiding it, anything more than very gentle resistance results in the film not advancing fully -- from something less than a full frame to not at all!

I'd be curious to hear from someone with a working XA to hear if the teeth are working properly and if the metal/plastic spindle connection seems more solid. I've found that a very tightly wound roll of film with a very loose felt light trap allows me to use the camera without losing frames (or at least *so far*); however, this is obviously a less than ideal solution.

As regards the issue about the friction between the inner and outer portions of the take up spool, both my XA cameras are the same.

I imagine that the take up spool can not really be "hard" connected to the rest of the film transport system as it would not manage with the variations encountered at the take up spool, so it seems the purpose is to provide a "floating" self compensating mechanism to wind the film, with the "hard" transport tasks being performed by the sprockets.

I as searching the forum because one of my XA cameras has a issue whereby you need jiggle the film advance wheel ever so slightly after each exposure to get the wheel to rotate again and advance the film.I got brave, and took off the bottom and can see a small pawl, it seems as if it should be returning to a certain psition, but it seems to hang just a bit shy, until the jiggle sets it free. Cant figure what it does or what it is connected to. Comments from anyone familiar with the inside of a XA would be welcome

 

[Harlee]

I've been shooting XAs since the early 80's and still do. I've never had a winding problem with the XA, XA2 or XA3, but I have with the XA1. That's due to the fact that the XA1 utilizes a plastic film advance gear and when there's not enough light, a red flad comes up in the viewfinder which locks up the shutter button and the film advance. Unfortunately, users sometimes try to force the film advance thereby stripping some teeth off the plastic film advance gear. Have you removed the bottom plate and tried to advance the film to see if anything needs tightening up? Some of the gears are held down by a phillips head screw.