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To test the camera:
<ul type="square">[*]Run the camera without film and with the film compartment door open. Point it at a reasonably bright light source. You should be able to see flickering light come through the gate. If you see nothing then the shutter is not working.[*]Did the film advance until you could see the word "exposed"? If not then does the cartridge drive wheel turn while the camera is running? Can you see the if the claw is operating?[*]Try to determine if the iris is operational. If you have manual control of the aperture then look into the lens and try to see if the iris opens and closes as you adjust exposure (power on of course).[*]If you don't have manual control then try to determine if the light meter samples through the lens. If the meter DOES NOT sample TTL then find its sensor and anternately cover and uncover it with your hand while observing the iris. The iris should react.[*]If you don't have manual control and the meter IS TTL then you have no choice but to try to observe the iris while changing the light going into the lens. Actually all these attempts to check the iris are kind of problematic. The iris may be way down in the innards of the lens barrel and impossible to see. But if you can see it then you may be able to at least confirm that it's reacting to the meter.[*]Try checking the light meter readings against those of a similar camera and see if they match.[/list]
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Actor -- thanks for the advice. I'll check all that tonight. However, now that you've mentioned it, I do recall that the film did NOT say "Exposed" when I had reached well over fifty feet.
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I recently purchased my first Super 8 camera -- a Nikon Super Zoom 8 camera on ebay. I decided to test a roll of K40 and it came back black!
The first 4 or 5 feet had some faint evidence of light, but the rest of it was jet black. I used 2 Wein cell 1.35v batteries for the light meter and went strictly by what it told me. And I shot at various speeds, with and without the built-in filter. I was testing the camera using close-up shots of my cat, using one 250 watt photoflood bulb to light her.
Would any of you more experienced folk know what went wrong? Did I do something? Could it be the camera? Thanks!
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Get a black marker like a sharpie pen. Make an 'X' on the film in a new cartridge. Give it time to dry, about 1 minute. Now put the cartridge in your camera and run off about 1 second of film. If the 'X' has not moved then there is something wrong with the film transport.
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Oh poor you! Like for my first time, i asked for daytime film and got tri-x. End up all white! I should use plus x and got myself to study that time I do not know about hostboard. It is best teacher, like Jim is a good teacher. he is right about exposure and best way to use mark x to have it dry to see if claw do pull or not,... as for 250 watts still not enough best if more than 600 watts. Good thing you got only one roll for me lost 4 rolls of it!!! Ate my money. However, hang in there and do not give up... Try outside for first time and find out and figure later about insider... Good luck! Jerome, deaf filmmaker
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I have had about 6 of these cameras, and now have 5 (nifty little cameras!).
Anyway, I had the exact problem you describe, after I modified my camera to UltraSuper8 (by widening the gate).
The gate was just ever so slightly cocked to the side, and this was enough to keep the film from moving.
I did the "X" thing mentioned above with a magic marker, and sure enough, the film wasn't moving (or at least some of the time).
It's unlikely that it's the gate in your case, unless someone has had it off the camera, but I suspect it may be the transport somehow.
Does the spindle spin? (look into the film compartment with no film while running the camera.
Also, this may be obvious, but it could be that particular roll, but it's highly unlikely that two rolls would have this problem.
P.S. These cameras are notorious for the meter going bad (only one of the six I've owned had a properly functioning meter), but that's probably not your main problem.
Matt Pacini
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Well, today I actually shot a roll, manually opening the aperture all the way. The film appears to definitely be moving, which is good sign #1. Comparing the metering, though, with another camera, it appears that my Nikon's automatic meter settings are off quite a bit. So we'll see what this roll yields... Is it possible that my meter batteries are at fault? I'm using 2 Wein 1.35v batteries.
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This may sound a bit crazy, but is it possible that you had the aperature closed without realizing it (after shooting the first five feet). This happened to me once. I felt like such a maroon.
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Lense Cap?
Sorry! Couldn't resist.
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Lens cap was my first thought! Opened up the camera -- realized there is no lens cap! Whew...
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If the light comes through the film gate when
camera lid is open,it passes the light test.
to make sure the film passes trough the camera,
you should check and see if the sprocket is
moving back and forth, nexted to the gate.
if you are able to control the light coming through the gate by moving the F-stop on the lens,with the lid open.....and,if the motor drive
which pushes the film through the cart.,
is spinning in a small circuler motion,
it is the film,
and if it is, then count yourself lucky.
Repairs would be too much.
camerakid629,
