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Marie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2004 - 05:11 pm: | 
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Help! I have a beautiful Nikon EM that has been in the family for years and takes awesome pictures. It has a beautiful top-of-the-line Tokina lens. However, lately when I take a picture, the film is not advancing properly & I get 1/2 of one frame and 1/2 of the next in my photograph. I noticed that there is a tiny screw on the underside of the camera right under where the film advances. Is there some kind of adjustment that can be made?
I took it to my local camera store and was told that it would cost at least a $150 to repair and that it's not worth it - I should just buy a used camera body from them. I think they are just trying to sell me a camera.
Anyone have a similar problem and can give me an inexpensive fix? |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 02:06 pm: |
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Hi, Marie. I believe your tractor wheel assembly has become loose or possibly broken. If you open the film door, you will see two wheels with little spikes sticking out of them...these pull the film through as the camera is cocked. As you wind the camera (with the film door open), please try to see if the tractor wheels move throughout the range of the cocking lever's movement. You also might try placing a finger on one to provide some resistance. Let's start there and see what we see.
Jon |
Dan Mitchell
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 02:13 pm: |
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Without opening up the camera and looking, it would be difficult to say for certain. It sounds like you may have a winding mechanism gear with one or more broken cogs. That could require a lot of labor to replace, so the camera store is telling you the truth about the potential repair costs. |
Marie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 08:23 pm: |
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Jon and Dan,
Thanks for your input. My husband tried winding the camera (w/the film door open) and there is one wheel w/two sets of spikes that when he applies pressure and cocks the camera it still wants to spin. However, there is a roll w/slits in it (the piece that you feed the beginning of the roll film into when first loading) that is spinning freely. I wonder if that might be where the problem lies. There is also a piece with kind of square spikes in it that catch into the holes of the film (but that seems to be moving fine) What are your thoughts? |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - 08:18 am: |
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Thanks. Another question: Is the little button on the bottom (the one you push in when you rewind film) all the way out? When you push in this button, you free the tractor assembly (the piece with the two spiked wheels) to allow it to "free wheel"...in essence, you allow the film to travel the opposite direction. If this release button gets stuck in the "pushed in" position, it can play havoc with the advance mechanism of some cameras.
Jon |
Marie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - 04:39 pm: |
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Jon,
Fortunately, (and I guess unfortunately too because it would've fixed the problem) the little rewind button on the bottom isn't stuck in. We tried adjusting the little screw that is actually right underneath the mechanism on the right underside of the body of the camera but that didn't help either. I'm going try putting another roll of film in it and, with the back open, advance through the film and see what happens. |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - 09:19 pm: |
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Well, I'm sorry about that. I was harboring the hope it would be a simple thing for you. And actually, it might...but it might not. It is hard to say from this distance. Let's see what happens with the other roll of film.
Jon |
