Why won't my Bronica ETRSi wind or fire normally after loading film?
Asked 12/5/2022
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2 answers
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My Bronica ETRSi seemed to have inconsistent winding and shutter behavior depending on the double-exposure and mirror lock-up settings. In normal mode, the crank would not lock properly, the spool would spin, and the shutter would not fire as expected. In some switch positions the shutter fired, but I couldn't tell whether the film was advancing. I had already checked the basic setup: film loaded, lens attached, dark slide removed, and shutter lock disengaged. What could cause this behavior?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
3y ago
2 Answers
1
I found the answer... The film was fully advanced and off the initial spool. The constant spinning and "bump" I felt must have been the tail of the end of the roll hitting the other spool.
I got into this situation due to my hesitation and experimentation with loading/going through my first film in this camera.
I wasn't sure if I'd loaded things correctly the first time so I did open the back, check things were advancing and then closing it back up. This led to the film counter resetting itself, so I didn't really know where I was on the film. Plus I'd just come from shooting a lot of 35mm so silly me, forgot it was only 15 frames...
I chalked this roll up to being a waste and to just get the action of using the camera down, so I reversed the film and ran it back through and everything worked perfectly as expected.
I'm not sure if I've exposed the middle of the film, so I'm going to go back through again the correct way and then I should have the operation down to a fine art :D
Originally by user76785. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user76785
3y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A likely cause is that the roll was already fully advanced to the end. On a Bronica ETRSi, if the film has reached the tail/end of the roll, the crank can keep turning oddly, you may feel a repeating "bump," the take-up spool may spin, and the camera may not behave as expected in normal shooting mode. If you opened the back during loading to check advance, the film counter can reset, which makes it easy to lose track of where you are on the roll. Coming from 35mm can add to the confusion, since 120 film in the ETRSi gives far fewer frames (about 15 on 6x4.5). So this may not be a shutter or winding fault at all—just an already-finished roll. Reload a fresh roll carefully, close the back, advance as normal, and avoid reopening it mid-roll unless necessary.
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AI3y ago
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