I've never had this happen before...

dinodan · Jul 29, 2007

I loaded a roll of 24 exp. C-41 B&W (yeah, I know) into the (1962 vintage) Voigtlander and headed downtown to do some afternoon shooting. At first, everything was fine, and the rewind knob unspooled normally as I advanced the film for each shot. Then, on about the 10th or 12th frame, I started getting an odd feel as I tried to advance the film and the rewind knob stopped moving. I rewound the knob to take up any slack, but that didn't make any difference (there really was no slack). When I got to where the end of the film should have been, it didn't end, and when I rewound it, it only felt like about 10 frames. So, obviously, it had stopped transporting.

It appears that the film leader became detached from the take-up spool. I have had this happen at the very beginning of a roll, but never half way through it. Strange. I have loaded another roll and everything appears normal, at least for now.

I should add that I've had the camera for 30+ years, though I have not used it much recently. I did finish a roll just last week with no problems. This is obviously not something that I wish to have happen again.

I'll find out what the film looks like tomorrow. I've probably got 10 frames with a multi-multi-multi-exposure 11th!

Any thoughts as to why this might have occurred?

Mitica100 · Jul 29, 2007

dd, don't feel bad for using C-41 BW, I also use that for testing older cameras, it's fast and dirty one hour process so I know the results right away. And I wouldn't want to test with good BW film.

The problem with the older generation of film cameras loading system is that you need to make sure the film leader fully engages into the take-up spool. I've ran into this kind of problem a few times as well.

It's easy to mistake a fully loaded leader for a partially loaded one. The film will engage and run about midway and then it snaps out of the take-up spool.