Developing 120 Film

I can see this is going to be a fairly long drawn out investigation, I would certainly run a roll of cheap b&w though it making notes of whatever readings the light meter suggests. Also test as many aperture/shutter speed combinations you can just to satisfy yourself that the camera is working, then try and work out what happened to your colour roll later.

If it is the camera get it back to Mr Cad ASAP.
 
Certainly does. But how?

Do you separate the backing from the film, then load it onto the spiral, or like I used to do it, load onto the spiral as you separate from the paper the lastly peel off from the masking tape.
 
OK,

First - thanks all for your help so far. Great group. I think I have satisfied myself that I loaded the film OK. I am fairly certain that I processed the film OK. The film wound on OK, because when it got to 10, I lost the taut feeling with the winder and after a few more winds it was clear that there was nothing winding on. Opeining the back, the film was nicely sitting in the right hand spool ready to be taken out.

This all implies to me that the film wasn't being exposed to light as I was taking shots. Correct so far?

But if the aperture is opening every shot. So light was getting in... so, I am seriously confused!

Do you separate the backing from the film, then load it onto the spiral, or like I used to do it, load onto the spiral as you separate from the paper the lastly peel off from the masking tape.

I did the latter.
 
I can see this is going to be a fairly long drawn out investigation, I would certainly run a roll of cheap b&w though it making notes of whatever readings the light meter suggests. Also test as many aperture/shutter speed combinations you can just to satisfy yourself that the camera is working, then try and work out what happened to your colour roll later.

If it is the camera get it back to Mr Cad ASAP.

I kind of did that with the first roll to see the capability of the camera. Very careful with the light meter and a range of apertures from 2.4 to 16. I will do another roll tomorrow, because I think it is either the camera or user error (very possible). Unfortunately the only 120 I have left are Pan F and Tri X - hardly cheap ;).
 
But if the aperture is opening every shot. So light was getting in... so, I am seriously confused!

Pentax 67 is focal plane shutter though, not leaf shutter. Is focal plane shutter firing to allow light through?
 
does the 67 have a mirror lock up? if so could you of just been releasing the mirror but not the shutter (dont know if its poss with the 67 but it is with other 120 cameras, dont ask how i know:whistle:)
 
Pentax 67 is focal plane shutter though, not leaf shutter. Is focal plane shutter firing to allow light through?

How can I tell that? There is a massive kal-lunking noise when I fire the shutter.
 
does the 67 have a mirror lock up? if so could you of just been releasing the mirror but not the shutter (dont know if its poss with the 67 but it is with other 120 cameras, dont ask how i know:whistle:)

Yes it does and I used it most of he time. Fairly certain it was working as it should. When you move the mirror up, you hear one clunk. When you press the shutter, you hear another clunk. Without it on, you hear kah-lunk! :)
 
Followed the instructions. And, yes, the shutter curtain isn't moving when I fire the shutter. Will review options tomorrow, as have to call it a day.
 
Morning. The plot thickens. Or is it me thats just thick. So I thought I would retry dry firing with the back open. This time on bulb. And it worked fine. Have tried it at faster speeds, and I can see the shutter opening. I could have sworn it wasn't last night. On the face of it I have a perfectly working camera. But now I am totally bewildered about the unexposed film. The battery is new, and the battery check works.

Any further ideas?

My thoughts are to go back to plan A and shoot off another film today.
 
Stet that, tried it again and the curtain isnt closing again. ☹
 
Back to Mr Cad (y)
 
Yes. 3 month guarantee, so i should be OK. Thanking my stars I did not buy on Fleabay this time. Will let you all know how it goes.
(y)
 
Another test you can do is, remove the lens, set shutter speed to 'B' (bulb) and check you have the roll of film the correct way round i.e. emulsion being exposed and not the paper side.
Did you pay by credit/debit card, because your purchase ultimately is with them if Mr Cad doesn't play fair, although obviously give them first chance to rectify the situation.
Matt
 
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Yes. 3 month guarantee, so i should be OK. Thanking my stars I did not buy on Fleabay this time. Will let you all know how it goes.

To be fair, eBay is completely safe, because it's massively biased towards buyers. If anything isn't as described you will get a full refund from eBay, regardless of what the seller put in the description. I.e. if something is listed as 'used' and the seller says, "I haven't tested this, so no returns", it's tough for them if it doesn't work. You can return it for a full refund. eBay will even go to the lengths of making a seller's Paypal account overdrawn and pull the money back from the linked bank account or card to make the refund.
 
To be fair, eBay is completely safe, because it's massively biased towards buyers. If anything isn't as described you will get a full refund from eBay, regardless of what the seller put in the description. I.e. if something is listed as 'used' and the seller says, "I haven't tested this, so no returns", it's tough for them if it doesn't work. You can return it for a full refund. eBay will even go to the lengths of making a seller's Paypal account overdrawn and pull the money back from the linked bank account or card to make the refund.

Isn't there a time limit? not that I have had any problems.
 
Quick interim update.

I went to MrCad, while the camera decided to work! So they couldn't do anything about it, it was possible a battery connection problem (the battery was fully charged) and just said to come back when it failed again. Anyway, checking that the shutter was working, I loaded it up with Portra 400 and went for a stroll with the missus and shot off a roll. Developed it, and the first 5 exposures were perfect. The 2nd five totally failed. Checking the shutter again - yep its not working. So I have concrete proof the camera has some sort of intermittent fault. So, another trip to MrCad beckons.

The other upshot is - WOW - I am totally sold on medium format 6x7 and this camera/lens combination. This one was shot with the 105mm @ f/2.4 (missed focus a bit)

So hope they can fix the camera. Will let you all know.
img983.jpg
 
Quick interim update.

I went to MrCad, while the camera decided to work! So they couldn't do anything about it, it was possible a battery connection problem (the battery was fully charged) and just said to come back when it failed again. Anyway, checking that the shutter was working, I loaded it up with Portra 400 and went for a stroll with the missus and shot off a roll. Developed it, and the first 5 exposures were perfect. The 2nd five totally failed. Checking the shutter again - yep its not working. So I have concrete proof the camera has some sort of intermittent fault. So, another trip to MrCad beckons.

The other upshot is - WOW - I am totally sold on medium format 6x7 and this camera/lens combination. This one was shot with the 105mm @ f/2.4 (missed focus a bit)

So hope they can fix the camera. Will let you all know.
View attachment 111701

Nice pop, MF lenses seems to give more chance of getting this i.e. pop
 
just said to come back when it failed again.

I would have expected better service from a dealer, especially one charging such high prices for their gear. Maybe it's just me, but I would have been really peed off if I'd lost a couple of rolls of shots, traipsed back to the shop with the dud camera and been told that because it's an intermittent fault I had to come back later at a time when I could prove it wasn't working. What are you meant to do if it doesn't fail (or you don't have a chance to use it) for 28 days? I.e. when your statutory right to return it has run out.

Not good service in my opinion.
 
I would have expected better service from a dealer, especially one charging such high prices for their gear. Maybe it's just me, but I would have been really peed off if I'd lost a couple of rolls of shots, traipsed back to the shop with the dud camera and been told that because it's an intermittent fault I had to come back later at a time when I could prove it wasn't working. What are you meant to do if it doesn't fail (or you don't have a chance to use it) for 28 days? I.e. when your statutory right to return it has run out.

Not good service in my opinion.
Yeah, I sort of thought that at the time, but then again, I understand how difficult it is to replicate an intermittent fault. I pass by there on my way to work once every couple of weeks, and have a 3 month guarantee, so not terribly fussed.
 
If they offer to pay for it to be serviced either send it off to Miles Whitehead or there are specialist Pentax service company in Brentford, I’ve taken mine there and they’ve been excellent.
 
Quick update. 2 months later, and I have my camera back, fixed, but haven't shot anything yet. The problem was a defective transport mechanism, which they had to replace. Quite expensive I'm told, but it was all under guarantee. They gave it an overhaul and everything seems to be working fine. Will let you know how the next reel comes out.
 
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