Nikon FA film counter will not reset to 0.

[FAfan]

I recently purchased a nearly pristine FA, but did not get to use it until this past week. I noticed that the film counter did not reset to zero when I opened the back. I did put film into it and shot it and it is now in the mail for processing. The film counter did advance, but started at 12 and counted to 36. After rewinding the film and opening the back, the counter did not reset and remained at 36. Any suggestions as to a quick repair, or does it have to go to a repair shop?

 

[john.margetts]

There is usually a small nodger inside the groove that the edges of the back sits in. This resets the counter as it springs out as the back is opened. I suspects that in you case it has become stuck. The usual reason for this is degradation of the light seal foam in that groove. If the light seals have been replaced badly, the new seals might even be placed on top of the nodger.

If the camera was mine, I would attempt to to clean around the the nodger but this could damage good light seals.

Is the FA one of those cameras that automatically rewinds when it thinks the film is finished? If not, ignore the counter and shoot to the end of the roll.

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[john.margetts]

I would ignore the frame counter and just shoot until I reached the the end of the roll. Won't work, of course, if the FA decides when to rewind - one of the reasons why why I was won't use fully automatic cameras.

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[Derrel]

The FA has an old-school, human-operated rewind crank.

 

[john.margetts]

So the frame counter is not actually needed. Best to ignore it and get the full number of frames - I've had 28 frames on a 24 exposure Fomapan before now.

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[FAfan]

Thanks all for your responses. I will try to clean around the aforementioned nodger to see if that solves the issue. Otherwise, as suggested, I might just ignore the counter and just shoot until the end of each roll.
Incidentally, to avoid any confusion, the FA is a manual focus film camera circa 1985 with a manual rewind crank and no automatic rewind. The film counter is an additive mechanical one.

 

[vintagesnaps]

With experience (years!) I seem to know when I'm about at 24... that and feeling the tension getting tighter as film advances and it's getting near the end of the roll. If this roll turns out I agree, you might be able to shoot a roll without needing the counter. I've sometimes squeezed in an extra couple of frames too, but I find it doesn't always work so I don't try it if the last frame or two are important (if I'm out shooting just for fun I'll chance it).