In my Bag - Bronica ETSRi and 'Focal' 35mm colour film

It seems like ages since I last posted!  It has been a very busy Christmas and New Year and my  photography has had to take a break!  I hope you all had a Safe & Happy Christmas and New Year!

I have only put one film through my Bronica ETRSi.  That was a 120mm Fomopan (see results here)

When I purchased the Bronica, it came with a 120mm film back and also a 35mm film back (the normal not the wide angle 35mm back).  The 35mm back didn't appear to work as, when connected to the camera, the winder did not work.  I thought that perhaps it needed a film in it to work correctly.  Well, I was wrong!  Even putting the film into it it didn't want to wind on.

I had chosen to load the back with a Focal branded 35mm film.  This is an expired, discontinued K-Mart brand and had been frozen for some years.  It was gifted to me a couple of months ago and, I figured that this would be a good film to use rather than one of my more expensive Ektar rolls.  I am shooting it at box speed (ISO 100) because this is more of an experimental project at this time to see how the Bronica and the 35mm film back work together.

I wasn't concerned about totally over exposing the start of this roll whilst loading the film and during any trouble shooting as to why the camera wouldn't wind on.

I tested the film back before mounting it on the camera.  All of the gears on the film back were turning correctly, before and after loading, using the wind knob on the side of the back and, I had loaded the film correctly.  After mounting the film back onto the camera to find out it was not still winding on, I decided to compare the 35mm film back to the 120mm film back.   I removed the film back from the camera and immediately I noticed 2 anomalies. (see next photo).

The 120mm film back and the 35mm film back have these 2 pins.  The 1 on the lower right hand side is designed to lock in the dark slide when the back is taken off the camera.  However, on this film back it does not do that; I can still remove the dark slide when the back is off the camera.  The pin on the left near the wind on transport cog is activated by the camera during exposure to allow the film to wind on ready for the next exposure.  On the 120mm film back, both these pins were pushed in, on the 35mm film back they were not.

Photo of the 120mm Film Back showing the pins.  The pin on the left determines the winding on of film for the
next exposure

So, using a thin implement, I gently pushed both pins in on the 35mm back.  I re-connected the back to the camera and - Voila! the film was winding on!   I inserted the dark slide and then removed it; the film was NOT winding on.  Ok, so, I surmised that the problem had the be that the pin nearest the wind on transport cog that allowed the film to wind on for next exposure, was not resetting itself after removal of the dark slide.

I removed the film back and then removed the dark slide (exposing more of the film but figured it was worth it to troubleshoot the problem).  I gently pushed in the pin that engages the winding on of the film and then re-mounted the back onto the camera.

Bingo!  It worked!  The film was winding on and I was able to take photos normally.

I decided to leave the dark slide out; I wouldn't be swapping film backs back and forth so it would not be needed whilst the film back is attached to the camera.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep taking photos and winding on from now on.  I will update the blog with the outcome.

I still reckon, after totally over exposing bits and pieces of this film, that I may have about, maybe, 20 exposures left?  I'll still put it in to the lab for development just to see what is on there.

The jury is still out for me as to whether I will be a regular user of a 35mm film back on a Medium Format camera.  I guess it depends on how the shots turn out.  I have many other 35mm cameras!  But, if I have the equipment, I like to think that I can still use it if I want to.

Harking back to my last 'In my Bag' - I still have that Fomapan in the Yashica EE!  Only about 3-4 exposures to go though and I'll get it into the lab this week.  I have also a Fuji Velvia 100 to post to Sydney (the only way I can get slide film developed) so in a couple of weeks you will be bombarded with my film adventures; Stay Tuned!!