atwood1202 Posted September 4, 2007 Share #1 Posted September 4, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) i am new to the leica world and am on vacation in d.c. and new york.. i was at the library of congress and i snapped my last shot so i could try and get a few of the reading room secretly.. when i loaded the film (correctly) i tried to advance it and the lever got stuck. i took out the film and tried yet it still would not budge. any ideas on why this is happening thanks, mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 4, 2007 Posted September 4, 2007 Hi atwood1202, Take a look here advancing film in m7. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
andybarton Posted September 4, 2007 Share #2 Posted September 4, 2007 So the wind on lever was stuck trying to go through and beyond the last shot on the roll? And, when you rewound the film into the cannister and removed it, the lever was still stuck? I would have thought that by releasing the rewind lever, you would free the wind-on lever mechanism, so you may have physically damaged the mechanism in trying to go beyond the last shot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted September 4, 2007 Share #3 Posted September 4, 2007 Sorry for mentioning the obvious but, I have blundered in the past..... Is the camera switched on? Are the batteries OK? I don't think that winding past 'the last shot' would damage the transport mechanism. The film perforation has a lot more give than the brass/steel gears of the camera....... Best, Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frc Posted September 4, 2007 Share #4 Posted September 4, 2007 Perhaps it's as simple as pushing the release button. If you have tried to wind the film when it is at it's end the shutter may well be almost cocked. Resulting in a near fixed transport lever. Hope this helps Frc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philippe D. Posted September 4, 2007 Share #5 Posted September 4, 2007 Hi Mark, i tried to advance it and the lever got stuck. i took out the film and tried yet it still would not budge. Try with shutter speed on 1/60s, just in case... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlockwood Posted September 6, 2007 Share #6 Posted September 6, 2007 i am new to the leica world and am on vacation in d.c. and new york.. i was at the library of congress and i snapped my last shot so i could try and get a few of the reading room secretly.. when i loaded the film (correctly) i tried to advance it and the lever got stuck. i took out the film and tried yet it still would not budge. any ideas on why this is happening thanks, mark Some here seem to be interpreting this problem as related to the end of the roll. My take is that you are having a problem with a freshly loaded roll. If I'm wrong, skip the rest of this post. As a very new M7 user myself, I had exactly the same problem; it is due to incorrectly loading the film. Not that the manual is of much help. The instructions in the manual were written by someone with limited English skills. When I load a fresh roll, I now make certain the top edge of the leader clears the top track before putting the bottom plate in place. If I fail to do this, the film will not be postioned correctly, and advancing the film with the bottom plate in place will yield a stuck lever. Happened every time, but no longer. If this is the problem, I recommend practicing with a sacrificial roll of film (as I did) until you get it right. Of course, I have had no such problem with my Hexar RF because it has a hinged back, a feature that Leica evidently regards as too avante-garde. Harry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjr Posted September 8, 2007 Share #7 Posted September 8, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) The loading of the film in these cameras,MPand M7,is critical but easy. Buy the book 'M7 Handbook' by Jonathan Eastland. However for now do not force anything.If after various attempts to load the film this keeps happening return it and they will sort it out in a week or two.It happened to me [and others] and they know exactly what's wrong with it...and it's not serious! But buy that book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlockwood Posted September 8, 2007 Share #8 Posted September 8, 2007 The loading of the film in these cameras,MPand M7,is critical but easy. Buy the book 'M7 Handbook' by Jonathan Eastland. However for now do not force anything.If after various attempts to load the film this keeps happening return it and they will sort it out in a week or two.It happened to me [and others] and they know exactly what's wrong with it...and it's not serious! But buy that book. O.K., on your advice I've ordered the book (damn, this M7 is getting expensive.) But, since the book will not arrive for up to 2 weeks, it would be very helpful if you would elaborate on the "critical but easy" loading techique. I thought I solved the problem, but maybe not. Harry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 8, 2007 Share #9 Posted September 8, 2007 My advice would be to make sure that the holes in the film have engaged the sprockets on the film advance roller before closing the bottom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted September 8, 2007 Share #10 Posted September 8, 2007 MP must be a lot easier to load. I never let the back flip open, never look in the back door, and the bottom plate sets edge of film accurately across the rails. All I have to do is make sure the film is drawn adequately across the wind on spool slots and everything is famous. Its quicker to load than an R9 especially if film is cranky. Bottom loading is a winner once you work it out. On topic though it I have had the rewind release not returned and so first wind on was notchy, and had shutter cocked when I loaded the film so I had to release before winding on. So I have had a temporary jam once but pressed the rewind across and jiggled the completion of the wind on and released and it never happened again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjr Posted September 8, 2007 Share #11 Posted September 8, 2007 See Stunsworth response and make sure the cassete is pushed right down.The film leader should pass through the slit but stopped against the wall of the spocket.Do not over-feed. As for the book it takes Jonathan 3 pages AND pictures to put this across ! Once you master this you can actually do it with one hand !!! The book makes excellent reading by the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlockwood Posted September 9, 2007 Share #12 Posted September 9, 2007 See Stunsworth response and make sure the cassete is pushed right down.The film leader should pass through the slit but stopped against the wall of the spocket.Do not over-feed.As for the book it takes Jonathan 3 pages AND pictures to put this across ! Once you master this you can actually do it with one hand !!! The book makes excellent reading by the way. I believe you are absolutely correct. [i ordered the book (does it come with a T-shirt?)] Being new to Leica I tried to follow the instructions. To wit: "Important! Correct film transportation should not be checked with the camera open, as the base plate is designed in such a way that replacing it on the camera guides the film into the correct position." p. 73. Huh? When I followed these directions the film jammed almost every time, with the result cited by the original poster. Any slight curl in the leader will catch on the upper rail if the film is not pushed in far enough to clear the upper rail. So it would seem that one should avoid following these instructions. Maybe they make sense auf Deutch. Harry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted September 9, 2007 Share #13 Posted September 9, 2007 How is loading a film so complicated? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlockwood Posted September 9, 2007 Share #14 Posted September 9, 2007 How is loading a film so complicated? James, Indeed, why should it be so? But Leica has 2 full pages and 3 photographs devoted to the "process." And Stunsworth evidently has 3 full pages with pictures to explain the process. Is your implied criticism directed to the Leica M or to those here beating a not-quite-dead horse? (If the latter, no offense taken.) Harry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 9, 2007 Share #15 Posted September 9, 2007 And Stunsworth evidently has 3 full pages with pictures to explain the process. Not me ref <grin> Putting the base on will generally cause the film to be engaged correctly provided that it's been placed in the three pronged 'tulip' correctly and the base has the small plastic 'basket' attached. The reason I check that the sprockets are engaged properly is that I want to be certain that the film will take up ok, and I use a Rapidwinder that doesn't come with the 'basket' I mentioned above. Personally I've never known a misload to cause jamming - I have an M6. I have occasionally had the film not advance properly, but that's always been down to user error. My M6 didn't come with a manual, so I never realised there was an issue <grin> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted September 9, 2007 Share #16 Posted September 9, 2007 I think part of the issue may be the sharp edge of the upper rail. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it used to have a little radius and all you had to do was make sure the cassette was in all the way and the leader was in the take-up spool on the other side. Then with either the M6 or M6TTL the radius disappeared and there is now a 90º edge which makes it harder for the film to smoothly run over it when it is being inserted. Maybe it was a cost cutting measure. I mostly use bulk loaded B&W film and the leaders are perfectly straight and drop right into the camera with no problems - I never have to open the back door to check that the upper notch is engaged. But I always check if I'm using color film and invariably I have to fiddle with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlockwood Posted September 9, 2007 Share #17 Posted September 9, 2007 i am new to the leica world and am on vacation in d.c. and new york.. i was at the library of congress and i snapped my last shot so i could try and get a few of the reading room secretly.. when i loaded the film (correctly) i tried to advance it and the lever got stuck. i took out the film and tried yet it still would not budge. any ideas on why this is happening thanks, mark Mark, (original poster) With all of the posts on this subject has your problem been properly diagnosed and solved? Harry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kivis Posted September 11, 2009 Share #18 Posted September 11, 2009 When I first got my M7 i would shot the whole roll only to realize i had not loaded it correctly. The key for me is to fold about a half inch of the film leader then it gets "stuck" in the spool and engages quite nicely. no problems now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhulbert Posted September 16, 2009 Share #19 Posted September 16, 2009 I have a M7 but have never had any problems loading it at all and I am not that smart about these things. Just make sure the sprockets are engaged and you have a centimeter or so shoved through those slat things in the take up reel. Then close up, wind once, slowish. Then shoot, tighten up with the other reel a bit and wind again, making sure the other reel is moving with the advance. One more wind and you are ready. Make sure the shutter is NOT in auto when you do this or you will have to wait 32 seconds for the shutter to fire if you have the cap on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.