Hi there,

the poblems with the Kodak carts are not overcomed up to now. In the beginning of this year, we had several carts which blocked totally, due to a tiny washer disc, located between the case and the full film roll. A burr at this washer caused the film to block totally. This problem seems to be fixed now.

I and many others made the expierience, that Kodak carts with K40, negative filme and Ektachrome don?t block anymore, but show a very unsteady, vertical trembling picture.

According to Kodak France, where the film is packed into carts for world-wide supply, there is sometimes a rest of a burr at this washer disc, disturbing the movement of the full film reel.

The effect I observed is the following:
The claw is positioning a frame correctly into the gate. Then the claw returnes back, outside the sprocket, to get another frame. In this moment, the exposure is made and the film stays inside the gate without anything that really fixes it?s position.
With bad carts, the film roll is partly inhibited and acts as a clock spring, pushing the film a little bit back, thus causing the bad stability of the result.

The only perfect solution would be to use cameras with a second claw, the stop claw. This claw holds the film while the main claw is going back to get the next frame.
As far as I know, the only cameras which has a stop claw, are the Nikon R8 and R10. Or are there any else?

Maybe, that some cameras shows that effect more than others. It would be interesting to see what cameras you use and what results you get. Remember, it?s only FRESH film that is affected. So we could figure out, with what kind of camera the steadiest results can be achieved.

To minimize trembling pics, its very important the the side pressure in the camera gate is high enough. This springs, together with the cardrige?s pressure plate, hold the film in position during exposure. When too week, the film can easyly be pushed back. When too strong, the film gets bented and the pan sharpness get?s bad. So a critical adjustment is neccessary.
I only hope, that Kodak will resolve this problem and perform a better quality supervision. If not, it could be the beginning of the end...

Pedro


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