first attempt gone wrong

delusionalwithlove · Jul 11, 2018

Hi so i found a minolta x-370 at a thrift store that looked in beautiful condition so i decided to give film a try. I had fujifilm ISO 200 already in hand so i loaded it up, set my ISO and with the auto shutter speed feature I gave it a go. After waiting a week for the 24 photos to be developed I recieved 3 photos that looked like this. Im very new to film and I was hoping this is just a simple mistake on my part. Has this happened to anyone before? What did i do wrong? Is the camera broken?

railwayman3 · Jul 11, 2018

It looks as though the film is unexposed, but there could be many reasons for this.

Are all the 24 negatives completely blank (i.e. just clear film), with just the edge numbers and markings on the film showing ? Or were the other negs and prints good ?

If the whole film is blank, that could be a film loading fault or a camera (shutter?) problem. If just three photos are blank, could be missed shots and nothing serious.

I'm not familiar with this camera, so an obvious question...does it take a battery or is the battery flat ?

Helios 1984 · Jul 11, 2018

If your open the back, does the curtain opens when your fire the shutter?

Chan Tran · Jul 11, 2018

Need to see the negatives and see if they are blank. Most likely the camera isn't loaded correctly and the film wasn't advanced. Bad battery the camera won't shoot at least not at the A setting.

pbromaghin · Jul 11, 2018

What about the other 21?

markjwyatt · Jul 11, 2018

Did the rewind knob turn as you advanced rte film? Whenever you check-out a new camera, you need to check this first. The film may never had left the cartridge.

Vilk · Jul 11, 2018

lens cap?

markjwyatt · Jul 11, 2018

Vilk said:
lens cap?

It is an SLR

Vilk · Jul 11, 2018

markjwyatt said:
It is an SLR

ha, i knew it...

markjwyatt · Jul 11, 2018

Vilk said:
ha, i knew it...

Got me on my Kiev 4a (just a shot or two...).

winger · Jul 11, 2018

delusionalwithlove said:
Im very new to film and I was hoping this is just a simple mistake on my part. Has this happened to anyone before? What did i do wrong? Is the camera broken?

I used to have an x-370, so if you can give us some more info, I might be able to help. Did the whole roll look like this or just a few frames out of the roll and some are fine? Do you have the negatives? If so, holding them up to light (even a blank white computer screen) and taking a picture that gets the edges of the film would be a huge help. The first thing you should check though is whether you have fresh batteries in the camera. Mine developed issues with the battery contacts and sometimes it would work and sometimes not.

George Mann · Jul 11, 2018

I you'all had bothered to read what the OP said, you would see that only 3 turned out that way!

markjwyatt · Jul 11, 2018

George Mann said:
I you'all had bothered to read what the OP said, you would see that only 3 turned out that way!

All he got back were 3 and they looked like that (at least that is my interpretation).

AgX · Jul 11, 2018

Welcome to Apug!

It is a pity that your first encounter with film is of that kind.

My first thought was that you made a fault at loading the film. I still think that to be very likely.

-) read the manual. It is online.

-) load the film, transport it via the lever after releasing (with the back open or closed). You will see that the re-wind button turns. That is an important sign with the back closed that the film leader has been inserted correctly at the take-up spool.

-) if it is not transported, because the take-up spool itself does not move even after releasing, there is fault at the camera.

If the film transport is OK check the camera with the back open and without film for its shutter function:

-) direct the camera to a bright wall etc., look from behind at the shutter.
-) it should open and close at the time settings you chose.

-) check the aperture the same way, set the shutter at B and chose various setting for the aperture. You shouils see it close down respectively

-) check the autoexposure by setting the camera at auto mode. Depending of varying object luminosity (pointing the cameras at the dark and at the bright, the shutter should be opened for different times.

This all is very basic, but should exclude basic faults of you or your camera.

delusionalwithlove · Jul 11, 2018

Thanks everyone i got a lot of good information! Like i said this was my first time so I knew something would go wrong. I did only get back 3 out of the 24 shots... I dont know what happened to the rest. The batteries are new and no the lens caps was not on but I will definitely double check that i loaded the film correctly and everything is turning properly and try again

shutterfinger · Jul 11, 2018

With the back open, aperture set to wide open, operate the film advance lever while looking at the image gate, Do you see the shutter move?
Set the speed to B , press and hold the shutter release button, Can you see light through the lens? release the shutter button.
If yes set the speed to 1, advance the wind lever and press the shutter button, the shutter should fully open and stay open for 1 second, continue for the other speeds. Above 1/60 - 1/100 you may only see a brief flash of light at most.
A brightly lit light colored wall is best to point the camera at to tell if the shutter is opening or not.
The camera likely needs a CLA.
Manual: http://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf/minolta_x-370.pdf

CMoore · Jul 12, 2018

delusionalwithlove said:
Thanks everyone i got a lot of good information! Like i said this was my first time so I knew something would go wrong. I did only get back 3 out of the 24 shots... I dont know what happened to the rest.

Got back from Where/Who.?
Did you ask.?
What did they say.?

neilt3 · Jul 12, 2018

delusionalwithlove said:
Thanks everyone i got a lot of good information! Like i said this was my first time so I knew something would go wrong. I did only get back 3 out of the 24 shots... I dont know what happened to the rest. The batteries are new and no the lens caps was not on but I will definitely double check that i loaded the film correctly and everything is turning properly and try again

Looks to me like the film leader that you pull out of the cassette wasn't attached to the take up spool .
This part of the film was exposed to light so when developed they got printed .
The rest of the film didn't leave the cassette , so when developed came out blank .
So they didn't get printed .
I assume you just got scans or prints back and not the negatives ?
Otherwise it would be very clear what happened . the scan you posted is consistant with the dense negative from the film leader .

Unlike an auto focus or auto wind camera where to just place the film tip up to a red matk and close the back , manual focus cameras tend to need you to slot a bit of film in the take up spool , start to eind on a bit to make sure its attached before closing the back and winding on .
Watch the rewind lever as you wind on as it will turn as the film is pulled out . If not , open the back and reattached the tip onto the spool .

pbromaghin · Jul 13, 2018

Finding a new lab would be a good idea. One that returns your negatives. If the film indeed did not go out to the takeup reel, it would be obvious looking at the negatives.

Also, if all one gets back is a lousy low-res scan, there is no point to shooting film at all. The returned negatives are golden. When sending film out for development, I don't even get scan or prints any more. They're just not as good as you can do at home with a reasonably good flatbed scanner.

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2018

Where are you located? If it is near one of us, we could check the camera over for you.

pbromaghin · Jul 15, 2018

Please tell us - does your lab return your negatives? You say you received 3 out of 24 - in what form did you receive them? I asked 3 days ago in post #4, what do the other 21 look like? Without this information, anything we tell you is just guessing.

If you did not get the negatives back and have nothing other than some digital files that look like what you posted, then you just need to start over with a new roll of film and pretend this one never happened. Make sure you insert the end of the film into the little slots and the rewind knob turns when you advance the film. If it doesn't, open the back up and make good and sure that the film is solidly inserted into one of the slots. when you're done, find a new lab that returns your negatives, or develop it yourself. If you can make Mac-n-Cheese from a box, you can process black and white film.

The X-370 may be considered an entry level camera in the MD line, but the MDs are what I shoot for 35mm, I have a half-dozen MD bodies, and the X-370 is one of my favorites. You have a very good camera, and it is not causing your problems.

first attempt gone wrong

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