Rollei 35 SE ripping film, or is it me?

kraker · May 3, 2007

The happy news: I received yet one more camera today, a lovely Singapore-made Rollei 35 SE.

The bad news: The first test film kept going on and on forever, and rewinding it was only a matter of "a few frames". On closer examination, the perforation of the film seems to be torn. Offering up this film and trying a bit more: sometimes it advances without a problem, sometimes the sprockets in the camera just rip a few sprocket holes in the film to create one big sprocket hole .

Tried to search APUG and the rest of the internet, but couldn't find much about it.

So, maybe it's just me. I'm using 10 year old FP4+. No problem with fogging or whatever so far. But maybe *this* is a problem of somewhat older emulsion: more prone to breaking? Could that be? Or am I just doing something wrong? Or could there be some problem with the Rollei?

It's a lovely camera, but with this problem, it's not going to be used... And that's what I bought it for: to use it!

Any ideas, anyone?

limsoonchung · May 3, 2007

during rewind or during advance?
I had the same problem this past winter with my 35S during rewind when I forgot to move the rewind lever up. that's the lever next to the tip of the film advance lever. moving it to 'R' position allows the film advance gear to spin backwards when rewinding.
in very cold weather the film leader also tends to break due to the design of the spool.

kraker · May 3, 2007

limsoonchung said:
during rewind or during advance?

Unfortunately during advance already

in very cold weather the film leader also tends to break due to the design of the spool.

That shouldn't be the problem now ...but still, good to be aware of. Thanks!

kraker · May 3, 2007

kraker said:
The happy news: I received yet one more camera today, a lovely Singapore-made Rollei 35 SE.

The bad news: (...) sometimes the sprockets in the camera just rip a few sprocket holes in the film to create one big sprocket hole .

So, maybe it's just me. I'm using 10 year old FP4+. No problem with fogging or whatever so far. But maybe *this* is a problem of somewhat older emulsion: more prone to breaking? Could that be?

Talking to myself. You know what? The mechanics of the camera *look* OK (to my untrained eye), and I hope I can blame it on the aged film or on some "operator error" (that would be me). I'm just going to try another (fresh!) film.

As a side note: WHAT a lovely camera... Smaller even than my dust-gathering d*g*tal gizmo.

tim elder · May 3, 2007

I had a problem with ripping perfs a couple of times on my Rollei 35 when I first got it and hadn't gotten the hang of it yet, but haven't had any in a while. Are you experienced with these cameras?

-Tim

eddym · May 3, 2007

This is a common problem with the Rollei 35. The film advance roller is very small in diameter, and as a result, exerts a lot of torque on the film. The tearing usually happens at the end of a roll, when you try to advance the film and cannot; just a little too much force on the advance lever will tear the sprocket holes. It's happened to me several times. Then when you try to rewind the film, the torn edges can catch inside the camera and tear even more.
And if you are processing your own film on reels, torn film edges will not wind onto SS film reels...!
Also, if there is any restriction on the film when you try to advance it, you can tear the holes. You have to learn to use the film advance lever gently!

kraker · May 4, 2007

tim elder said:
I had a problem with ripping perfs a couple of times on my Rollei 35 when I first got it and hadn't gotten the hang of it yet, but haven't had any in a while. Are you experienced with these cameras?

-Tim

No, I'm not experienced with the various Rollei 35 models yet, and I admit that film transport is different in them than anything I've seen. So, maybe I just need more practice. Thanks!

kraker · May 4, 2007

eddym said:
This is a common problem with the Rollei 35. The film advance roller is very small in diameter, and as a result, exerts a lot of torque on the film. The tearing usually happens at the end of a roll, when you try to advance the film and cannot; just a little too much force on the advance lever will tear the sprocket holes. It's happened to me several times. Then when you try to rewind the film, the torn edges can catch inside the camera and tear even more.
And if you are processing your own film on reels, torn film edges will not wind onto SS film reels...!
Also, if there is any restriction on the film when you try to advance it, you can tear the holes. You have to learn to use the film advance lever gently!

Thanks for your reply. At least from these replies, it is clear to me that it is not neccessarily a problem with *my* Rollei. More a "general problem" with these Rolleis, I guess it just takes some getting-used-to. And indeed, I have to learn to use the film advance lever gently.

I'll see if the current roll of film will work better...

Also, the seller has already offered to have a look at it and see if anything needs to be repaired. Good to know, but for the moment, I'm still putting the blame on myself and lack of experience with this particular camera.

Roger Hicks · May 4, 2007

This is interesting. I didn't know it was a common problem, but it's the main reason I got rid of my Rollei 35, some years ago.

My equivalent camera today is an Olympus Pen W half-frame with the amazingly sharp 25/2.8 lens -- but it is only a half-frame...

Cheers,

R.

ijsbeer · May 4, 2007

Hi Kraker,
I've got a 35B with the same problem. but when I press the back of the camera while advancing the film the problem is not there anymore. I this it's a problem with the backplate that pushes the film against the advance wheels. I've modified the steel spring device of the backplate a bit to get more tension on the film. maybe this helps.

Cheers,

ijsbeer
ps could have typed in Dutch but this is the non-dutch part of Apug.

kraker · May 4, 2007

ijsbeer said:
Hi Kraker,
I've got a 35B with the same problem. but when I press the back of the camera while advancing the film the problem is not there anymore. I this it's a problem with the backplate that pushes the film against the advance wheels. I've modified the steel spring device of the backplate a bit to get more tension on the film. maybe this helps.

I was already thinking of this, indeed. Trying with a wasted film without the back attached and with some more pressure on the back plate seemed to work better... Thanks, IJsbeer, I might give this a try.

Greg Winterflood · May 4, 2007

I've got two Rollei 35 LEDs. One does this and the other doesn't.

kraker · May 6, 2007

update

Well, second roll worked fine when it comes to film transport. The difference? First roll was spooled from bulk by myself and was 36 frames, this roll was 24 exp. and factory-spooled. Maybe that's a difference... Transport is quite heavy on self-spooled rolls sometimes. I guess I'd better not use those in the Rollei.

Too bad there's a new problem now... only 1 of the 24 frames has correct focus. I'm suspecting that the distance scale on the camera is not correctly aligned with the distance of the lens. Still, not to worry, the seller will fix it.

Thanks all for your answers and ideas!

kraker · May 17, 2007

Update

My Rollei has been serviced; the film transport was indeed "not good"; now it feels much, much better, and I believe it is working fine now (I will know for sure when I finish the first roll of film).
Also the focus problem has been solved. So, now I can start enjoying my Rollei 35 SE.

P.S.: If you're living in Europe and ever need servicing of a Rollei or other mechanical camera, my problems were solved quickly and professionally by DeKamera. (No, I'm not getting any money for this, I just believe it's worth mentioning a good service centre when you encounter one.)

Mike Kovacs · May 18, 2007

Great to hear your Rollei 35 is working as it should. That repair shop sounds like it must have been very close to Aachen, which I was just visiting earlier in the month.

I think that any of the Rollei 35 series are great travel cameras. Where I run into issues is when I have to shoot indoors where the focus accuracy really matters at low light levels. Outdoors where there is plenty of light to stop down, or near infinity on the distance scale, its a piece of cake to use scale focus.

TomWB · May 25, 2007

kraker said:
Well, second roll worked fine when it comes to film transport. The difference? First roll was spooled from bulk by myself and was 36 frames, this roll was 24 exp. and factory-spooled. Maybe that's a difference... Transport is quite heavy on self-spooled rolls sometimes. I guess I'd better not use those in the Rollei.

Too bad there's a new problem now... only 1 of the 24 frames has correct focus. I'm suspecting that the distance scale on the camera is not correctly aligned with the distance of the lens. Still, not to worry, the seller will fix it.

Thanks all for your answers and ideas!

I'm glad you got your camera working. My 35 SE that I bought new in 1981 had some problems with tearing bulk rolls also, as did my Canon T90, and several EOS bodies. So now I save the bulk rolls for the older FD bodies. Good luck, it's a fun camera, people say "James Bond" when they see it come out

IloveTLRs · May 28, 2007

Funny, my friend had two Rollei 35s, one was an SE I believe. He had two films rip in his and so he ended up selling them both.

I have the original 35 but don't use it. The two screws on either side of the top plate are missing, I think the lens might be screwey and the advance takes 1 & 1/4 goes to cock the shutter. I'm looking for a cheap repair place in Japan to fix it, or it goes into the closet ...

Rollei 35 SE ripping film, or is it me?

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