Only 10 Frames?

[ChristopherCoy]

As you may, or may not know, today I got my Mamiya C33 TLR in. I also got my order of film from Freestyle, which contained a Holga (I figured 'why not, it'll be fun!).

Well I shot a roll of Holga B&W in the Holga, and I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 400 in the Mamiya, then developed them both.

I did the Holga first, and was surprised to only find 10 frames on what should have been a 12 frame roll. So I chalked it up to "dammit, I left that crappy lens cap on and wasted the two last frames."

Then I developed the roll from the Mamiya - and only had 10 frames on what should have been a 12 frame roll. So now I'm thinking that I just dont know how to load the film properly.

I put the film in the Mamiya, put the little tab in the take up reel, and wound it at least one full revolution so that the paper wouldn't come out. But I had a hard time judging when the film was actually in front of the shutter. That little window on the back of the C33 is hard to see the numbers through when you slide it down. Same for the Holga, my last two frames didn't come out.

On both rolls I have about a half of frame of blank header space, and about two to two and a half frames of blank tail space, with 10 frames in between on each.

Can anyone advise what I'm doing wrong, and what the proper way to load 120 film is?

 

[Mackinaw]

I have a C220, not the C33, so what follows may not apply. On the C220, there is an index mark on the "film rails" that you wind the film "arrows" to. By arrows, I mean the arrow you see on the 120 film leader about three or four film cranks in. Once the arrow and index mark match up, i close the back and just wind. The C220 will automatically stop at the first frame. I get 12 exposures/roll consistently too.

Hope this makes sense. This is something that is easier to figure out by doing than trying to articulate through words.

Jim B.

 

[MattKing]

Here is the manual for the C33 - I'd recommend that you send the requested donation to Mike Butkus: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/mamiya/mamiya_c33/mamiya_c33.htm

You don't use the window to keep track of the exposures.

Have fun!

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Here is the manual for the C33 - I'd recommend that you send the requested donation to Mike Butkus: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/mamiya/mamiya_c33/mamiya_c33.htm

You don't use the window to keep track of the exposures.

Have fun!

I know, there is the little counter thing on the side near the crank.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

...there is an index mark on the "film rails" that you wind the film "arrows" to. .

Oh yeaaahhhh.... I remember doing that now.

 

[MattKing]

I know, there is the little counter thing on the side near the crank.

Nope - that is not what I meant (although I understand how you might have read it that way).

On many older cameras you do use a red window at the back to keep track of the exposures. On the C33, it is only there to help you determine when there is film inside the camera.

The manual tells you how to position the film before you close the back. That will help you get 12 exposures on the roll, instead of 10.

Your problem with the first roll was that you weren't advancing your film far enough before closing the back - your fist two exposures were on the leader, not the film, and your last exposure was only 10/12ths of the way through the film part of the roll.