Spectra problems ...

[Godfrey]

I have four Polaroid Spectras with the same problem:

Leave a camera sit for three-four weeks without use, and the next pack of film you put in won't transport properly. It takes a concerted effort with an empty pack, then a pack loaded with junk exposures, releasing the shutter and exercising the transport a few dozen times, before the camera will reliably transport film and make good exposures again.

The transport rollers and gears are all clean and the mechanism works smoothly when I roll it with my fingers.

Has anyone else seen this problem and come up with a solution for it, without (of course) shooting a roll of film at least once or twice a week? I just don't have time to do that much shooting with all four cameras, and a pack of film is $20-25 apiece...

thx,
G

 

[Mackinaw]

I have just one Spectra and the only problem I've ever had that was like you describe was with a pack of old B&W film (more than two years old) that I stuck in the camera a few months back. The film came out of the camera very slowly. Even labored. I chalked it the slow transport to old batteries. I'm currently shooting some of the new 2.0 color stuff (fresh batteries) and the transport works fine.

Jim B.