trial run--unexposed film!

[kim a]

Hello Everyone-

Well, here I am again, asking for help. I ran my first roll of film through
my Canonet QL17, after working hard on the light seals. The photo place
called me at home to tell me not to bother coming to pick up the shots--
it was completely unexposed. Ugh. Please advise. I had put the film in
and the red indicator came on that it was loaded properly. It was advancing
through the whole roll. When I tested the shutter it seemed to work fine
for the different speeds. What happened? Yes, I did have the lens cap off!
This is so discouraging. I was so proud that I did the light seals myself,
and also glad to save the money. I was hoping not to have to have a
repair shop get involved. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Kim

 

[BrianShaw]

Open up the camera's back and cock/release the shutter at different speed/aperture settings. You will easily see if it is working correctly or not. Do this both in "A" and manual settings.

 

[BrianShaw]

If it looks like the shutter was releasing, it moght be that the QL failed you an ddidn't load the film... but then at least one frame should have shown something -- like massively overexposed to the point of no visible image, but a rectangular black area on the neg. You should pick up the film and see for yourself what "nothing on it" looked like.

 

[kim a]

Thanx Brian-

I did release the shutter, both on auto and manual, and it seems to be
opening fine. The person from the photo place said that the film looked
completely unused. Absolutely nothing on it. You know, as I was loading
the film, the red and white striped indicator did not really flicker as I read
it in the manual, yet the red indicator light came on that it had loaded
properly, so I thought I was set. What does one do at that point?
I am wondering if I should spend the time and money on another
trial roll, or take it in to a repair shop. What would you suggest?

Thanx
Kim

 

[servojohn]

As you were advancing the film, did you notice at all if the rewind knob on the left side turned in response to the film being advanced? If not, then it did not load properly.

Best regards,

John

 

[kim a]

Hi John-

No, I did not think to look there. Very clever. As I was shooting, I thought
all was a go, so did not do any troubleshooting at the time. That is good
advice. I need to know all the little things like this as I am so new to this all.
I have some film that expired last year that I have not thrown away, perhaps
I will use it for practice--it cannot hurt the camera, right? Then if it does not
load properly, I will need to take it for repair, yes? Or is it a self fixable thing?

Thanx for your help

Kim

 

[howpow]

Hi Kim. if you are referring to the small red indicator alongside the red & white striped indicator, this shows whether the shutter is cocked on not, it has nothing to do with film loading. when you load the film you should use the rewind lever to gently take up the slack and then as you advance the film the red & white stripes should jiggle and the rewind knob should turn. Hang in there!
Howard

 

[kim a]

Hi Howard-

Wow--help all the way from Australia--very cool. Thanx for the advice,
and your support. I thought I had read in the manual that the red light
would come on if the film were properly loaded, then turn white when the
shutter is released. That is where I got that from. Good to know to take
up the slack with the rewind knob. Hopefully the third attempt here
will be successful. Then the first shots will be all the sweeter, right?

Thanx again

Kim

 

[airds]

Winding

Winding

A query - how did you know when you reached the end of the film? Just from the frame counter? Or feeling a resistance on winding after the last exposure? If it was just the counter, certainly seems as if the film wasn't being wound on.

Also what about RE-winding into the can - approx how many turns? There is a slight difference in tension you can feel when the film comes off the winding spool, shortly before the leader disappears into the canister.

Think maybe a practise film would be an idea 🙂 - see if you can find an out of date film for pennies in a bargain bin somewhere.

 

[wtl]

if after you open the back and saw the lens blades open and close fine, insert another roll and, while you advance the film, look at the film rewind to see if it turns. it should if the film catches on correctly.

don't be discouraged. failure is part of photography.

 

[willie_901]

Hi,

While the QuickLoad mechanism works well, I had the same thing happen to me with one roll of film. It was purely operator error. I have no idea what went wrong.

Hang in there and keep on shooting!.

willie

 

[ampguy]

was rewind knob moving ccw?

was rewind knob moving ccw?

Hi Kim,

While you were shooting, was the rewind knob moving ccw every time you advanced the film (this might not happen the first few shots, unless you tension up the fillm my moving the rewind knob cw to take up the slack) ?

Also, when you rewound the film, was there quite a bit of tension during rewind, and then when the film was all back in the can, did it spin freely?

Thanx Brian-

I did release the shutter, both on auto and manual, and it seems to be
opening fine. The person from the photo place said that the film looked
completely unused. Absolutely nothing on it. You know, as I was loading
the film, the red and white striped indicator did not really flicker as I read
it in the manual, yet the red indicator light came on that it had loaded
properly, so I thought I was set. What does one do at that point?
I am wondering if I should spend the time and money on another
trial roll, or take it in to a repair shop. What would you suggest?

Thanx
Kim

 

[kim a]

Thanx to everyone--

You guys are great. So comforting to know you are out there to help through the rough stuff. And to know that you, willie, had the same thing happen. Made me
feel much better about things photog. To answer your questions, Airds: I knew it was the end of the film by the frame counter, and also I thought it was there because the advance seemed to go further back on the last shot. When I rewound, there was not much resistance at all, and certainly no tug when the lead came off the sprockets before going in the can. Ampguy: I was not paying attention to the rewind knob, because I thought all systems were go, and did not think I had cause to troubleshoot. But now I know to look for the rewind knob to rotate if all is well. I have some outdated film at home that I will try tomorrow.
And, keeping the faith, I also bought a new roll tonight.

Thanx again to all of you: howard, servojohn, brian, airds,wtl, willie, and ampguy.
This is such a great RF community. I love that I get help, fast, from all over the world.

kim