Rolleicord Vb film advance jams

You may remember I recently bought a "fully working" Rolleicord Vb from an online shop here in the UK, which I had to send back because the shutter was sticky.

Well, the shutter is now fixed but a couple of test rolls seem to indicate a problem with the film advance: around 3 times out of 4 the advance knob jams and I can only unlock it by taking another exposure (or even two).

I am doing anything wrong?

Note that:

- it only happens with film inside (I tried Delta and HP5), not with an empty camera or with just using backing paper from a used roll
- there is a lock to prevent double exposures and it is on the locked position (the red dot is fully covered).
- When the jam happens I can cock the shutter again; releasing it to take another shot un-jams the film advance most of the times (a few times I had to repeat the procedure by taking a photo pointing the lens to my jacket to preserve the original exposure).

Strange that things would work with plain paper but not actual film. This shouldn't make any difference in the wind mechanism. I wonder if you are releasing the shutter slightly differently when testing. When you say you had film in, do you mean fresh film and you were shooting 'actual' shots, or were these test rolls sitting at the desk or such?

Most likely the knob release is out of adjustment... yeah, ok, duh, I know. I wonder if you are pushing the shutter release further when testing compared to when using the camera in the field? The sync between the firing of the shutter and the release of the knob could be out, allowing you to fire the shutter before actually releasing the knob. Maybe you are more tentative in actual use so stop moving the shutter release as soon as it fires, but the lever needs to travel a touch more.

There's a split in the part that actually releases the shutter that allows the part to be moved one way or another. Maybe whatever cludged up the lever the first time also bent this gap a bit to put it right on the edge of working.

Try being certain to press the shutter fully, beyond the shutter release point, and see if this changes it.

Well, it is out of adjustment and needs to be fixed. Send it back... again... sigh.....

Yeah it was fresh film that I have loaded on two brief photo walks. I thought I had screwed something with the first one, like turned the rewind knob in the wrong direction (which I did do the first time the knob got stuck and instinctively thought I was using the wrong way).

I then completed that first roll, and tried dry firing and it worked, so tried with a paper back and that worked too so today out I went and immediately it got stuck, after frame 1.

The shop actually called me in the mean time and offered a full refund, not sure if they'll attempt a fix.

Such a shame, because I liked the camera despite everything but my sample was just not a lucky one.

Well, if you have the time and interest, you might go shoot one more real roll. This time pay attention to following past and through the shutter release point. See if that clears it up.

A junker roll of real film will give you the same thing. But I do think that it might be the psychological effect of taking actual shots leading a more delicate use of the shutter button and coming up a bit short of releasing the wind mechanism.

Or take the refund and look for another one. They aren't super rare.

This kind of failure is somehow familiar to me and one Va I had.
Finally it was about the winding panel, it was bended inwards not allowing the winding mechanism to work correctly.

Is the serrated knob on your 12-exposure counter firmly locked down?
Perhaps if you remove the counter and reinsert it may clear a problem?

I have that same problem on MY Vb 1962 model -- wind jams after first exposure so I keep the double-exposure thing showing RED and just remember to wind it on . Have it occasionally with a serviced Flex as well --

Dan Daniel said:

Well, if you have the time and interest, you might go shoot one more real roll. This time pay attention to following past and through the shutter release point. See if that clears it up.

Click to expand...

I am a bit wary of running yet another roll in this camera. If that makes any difference, I am using the "cable release thread insert" (with my left index) to take the photos, as it feels easier to keep the camera steady that way and it also feels more similar to the way I handle my hasselblad (just reversed). When the advance knob jammed I had tried wobbling the shutter cock lever back and forth a bit but nothing worked other than repeating the whole cock + release sequence to unlock the film advance.

choiliefan said:

Is the serrated knob on your 12-exposure counter firmly locked down?
Perhaps if you remove the counter and reinsert it may clear a problem?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I would not know how to do it, however the camera had just been serviced to fix the shutter so I hope this would have been an obvious problem for them to rectify?

pentaxpete said:

I have that same problem on MY Vb 1962 model -- wind jams after first exposure so I keep the double-exposure thing showing RED and just remember to wind it on . Have it occasionally with a serviced Flex as well --

Click to expand...

Yeah, I am sure there are workarounds (like running double exposures with the cap on or similar, when forced to do so) but it does not fill right whey you have paid that little bit extra for a camera that is supposed to work (at least the shop is willing to take it back).

Have you tried releasing the shutter using the cocking/release lever? I have 2 rolleicords, one a VA2, the model just before the VB, and another an earlier version, both came with the cable release adapter and both had the same problem, sent them both to the camera repair people, and with both it was the cable release adapter that was the problem, not always going in far enough to release the winding but enough to fire the shutter, took them out and no further problems,

+1 for Cholliefan (#6). My late 1960s Vb also had this problem last year.

Carefully remove the film counter, then check and (again carefully) clean the 'innards' with a cotton bud. There may be a bit of grit in the inside cog wheel. I (also very carefully) used a small vaccum cleaner to clean out the dust etc.

Also check the actual film counter. Does it have the tiny spring between the knob and the actual counter? Mine (the spring) had disappeared, and I had the devil's time of it to find a replacement, but I did, and it seems to have made the winding on easier.

Something I must have done did the trick and my Vb went back to spacing the negatives right. Sheer luck or... whatever.

Another tip. The Vb needs very, very careful handling. I personally find the 'cord shutter release level rather annoying to work with, and I now use the camera with a Rolleigrip someone kindly gave me. Much easier to handle even tho' it looks rather odd with that grip thing hanging down from the bottom of the camera, but if it works, why not...

Thank you for your comments.

I did not want to attempt any fix on my side as the camera is still under warranty and I am afraid to void it with some clumsy manouver of mine. I have sent the camera back to the shop, and told them I am still open to discuss if they want to forward the camera to attempt another repair or just reimburse me. It's their call at the end of the day.

As I mentioned, I like the camera and even looking around similar TLRs, say a Yashicamat with a warranty attached, they seem to go for even more money (at least what's available at the moment in UK shops).

I have received my camera back from the shop and they have fixed it. The repair man mentioned a "loose screw".
The good news is that I was able to run a test roll of Fomapan and it worked flawlessly