Halina 35X scratching film?

Agulliver · May 21, 2016

I hope this is in the correct part of the forum.

I've been occasionally using a Halina 35X which I inherited from my great aunt about 12 years ago. Not the best camera in the world but a step up from toy cameras and quite fun to use in it's way. It gave her 30 years of good service and until recently worked for me too.

The last two rolls of film I put through it had severe scratching horizontally across the negatives...varying but present to some degree across both rolls. They were different films from different batches so I think I can rule out a film problem. Although the film chamber and "gate" area of the camera has some wear, I cannot feel anything sharp.

I've attached pics of the camera, the back and some low res scans of pictures with the scratches. Any ideas?

Peltigera · May 21, 2016

They are scratches. You do not need a feelable nib to cause scratches. If this has only just started happening, you could clean the inside around the film gate with a damp microfibre cloth. It Halinas are not worth a lot of bother.

The other possibility isdirt in the cassette felt .- only really happens if you roll your own frombulk rolls of film.

elcabezagrande · May 21, 2016

42 years out of a Halina 35? That is about 41 years longer than I would expect from one. Nothing lasts forever, and not everything is worth fixing, but if you really want to try, it should be easy to find a less well used broken one (and they are plentiful) and swap out the pressure plate from it, and see if that helps.

If not, the one redeeming thing about the Halina 35 is that it is bright and shiny, and looks good on the shelf.

shutterfinger · May 21, 2016

Are the scratches on the emulsion side of the film or the backing side?
Emulsion side- the area adjacent to the cassette chamber next to the film plane is rough or holding dirt or the take up side of the film gate is rough or holding dirt.
Backing side-the pressure plate is rough.
Take a nylon stocking or similar and drag it across the film path with the weight of the material only on the film path. Any place it snags is the scratch cause.

albada · May 22, 2016

Your fourth picture is the film-gate, and I see a slightly raised lip on along the left side that is rough. I suggest that you carefully bend that lip downward by tapping on it with a hammer and block. Or you could file it down.
Good luck,
Mark Overton

Agulliver · May 23, 2016

albada said:
Your fourth picture is the film-gate, and I see a slightly raised lip on along the left side that is rough. I suggest that you carefully bend that lip downward by tapping on it with a hammer and block. Or you could file it down.
Good luck,
Mark Overton

Thank you. I will do as you suggest, as it's the only thing I can see which might cause an issue. I actually have another 35X for which the two slowest shutter speeds do not work and could also swap the back - thus eliminating the pressure plate

The only odd thing is that those little dings in the left side of the gate have been there as long as I've had the camera, and they didn't cause problems before. The last two rolls I put through the camera both had the same scratching. One was Paterson Acupan 800 and the other Acupan 200...both from proper metal cassettes and not hand loaded cassettes. So I think issues with a reused cassette can be ruled out.

Looking at the negs it is actually quite difficult to be sure but I think they are on the emulsion side.

I'm aware it's far from the best camera out there but I enjoy using it...within it's limitations it can actually produce nice photos, it is fully manual (which I like) and it fits in my pocket. It's not my main weapon of choice for sure.

Agulliver · Nov 18, 2016

Well....I banged the dents out of it....and that bright, shiny little camera which looks good on the shelf is also going out and about. It is back to it's best. Nope...it's not the best camera ever by far, in fact I am sure my Ilford Sportsman is better, but it fits in my pocket and has enough manual controls to make it usable.

Took it to a gig on Wednesday evening....

onre · Nov 18, 2016

Very nice pictures! Shooting gigs isn't easy. What film did you use and how did you process it?

elcabezagrande · Nov 18, 2016

Agulliver said:
Well....I banged the dents out of it....and that bright, shiny little camera which looks good on the shelf is also going out and about. It is back to it's best. Nope...it's not the best camera ever by far, in fact I am sure my Ilford Sportsman is better, but it fits in my pocket and has enough manual controls to make it usable.

Took it to a gig on Wednesday evening....

View attachment 167531 View attachment 167532 View attachment 167533 View attachment 167534

Well, color me wrong. Nice job keeping this sentimentally-valued camera alive.

Agulliver · Nov 18, 2016

It's Ilford HP5+ at f3.5 or f4, 1/25 second and pushed two stops in ID-11 stock.

It did help that I was in the front row, indeed a couple of the shots I've posted were taken right up at the stage.

I shot a roll of Delta 3200 too which is drying as I type.

railwayman3 · Nov 18, 2016

Some of these cheapy cameras from 40-50 years ago were surprisingly good....an older cousin of mine had a Kodak Colorsnap 35 which she used for many years to produce some excellent holiday Kodachromes. No meter (and no specialist photo-knowledge), but she just kept within the limitations of the camera and film settings.

Agulliver · Nov 18, 2016

Here's the best from the Delta 3200 film. I do think that if you're aware of the limitations of a lo-fi camera then you can still get some good shots. In this case I'd been warned by the venue that photography was forbidden (untrue, lots of people were taking pictures) so I went with what I could get in my pocket. My original plan had been a Praktica BX20S with Sigma 28-200 lens.

Support act was Doris Brendel - and the main reason I went to be honest. Main act was Wishbone Ash.

Halina 35X scratching film?

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