Rolleiflex SL66SE half of first frame is gone

[Garb]

I'm having some issues with my SL66SE 120 film back, wanted to see if anyone else has seen anything similar.

1. The last three rolls I have shot (1x Fujicolor Pro 400H and 2x Pro 400N), some part of the first frame is fully exposed (like the leader portion of 35mm film). I believe I'm loading it correctly. I cocked the shutter before removing the magazine. I advanced the gear until the arrow on the back lines up with the arrow on the spool holder. Closed the back, rolled up the winder on the back until it stopped, pushed it in. And then shot the first frame without winding the camera itself because it was already cocked. One of the films, I even loaded in a very dark room. The rolls I have shot in this same camera before this did not exhibit this issue.
2. When using a Fujicolor roll on a Kodak spool (circa 2010), the frame spacing is large and I only get 11 exposures. If I use only Fujicolor one after another, no issues. If I use only Kodak one after another, no issues. Actually, I've seen something similar on a GA645Wi. I think the Kodak spools are just a hair too tight for Fuji backing paper, so on the GA645Wi, I got a fat roll when shooting Fuji after Kodak. I guess the GA645Wi measures film travel, so you get a fat roll but consistent spacing, but the SL66SE measures spool rotation, not film travel, resulting in large spacing when the film isn't being wrapped on the take-up spool tight. But I can't be the only person to have ever experienced this...

A bit less of an issue, just an annoyance, I find that the film counter indicator stops in between numbers. But I don't know if that's normal as this is the only SL66SE back that I have. Is it supposed to stop with the number centered exactly in the window? Or just give a general idea of where you are on the roll, with the numbers not lining up exactly in the window?

Thanks.

 

[cramej]

Did you process the rolls or did a lab? If a lab, they're likely using a leader type machine and leaving too much of the film out of the processing cassette.

 

[Garb]

Good point, I dropped it off at a lab. However, I haven't seen this on any roll from that same lab before, so it didn't even occur to me. Maybe a new operator, or maybe SL66SE just starts exposures closer to the start of the film.

I dropped off some films shot in an Autocord yesterday at the same lab, so I'll be able to compare once I get them back.

 

[jtk]

Have you asked the lab? If they're any kind of "pro" lab they don't use a cassette processor (find one that uses dip&dunk)/

 

[Garb]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'll ask them on Thursday.

The area where they do development is quite small, you can see their machines (I assume development and scanning and printing) from the counter where you drop off the film and they do C41 only. And they mentioned something about how they can't develop certain film in-house (like C41 converted Kodak motion pictures films Cinestell and SFL) because the base is too thin, which I assume would not be an issue for dip and dunk.

 

[Garb]

Turns out they use a non-dip-and-dunk for C41 although they use a dip and dunk for monochrome. The Autocord photos had no development issues, so not enough information to determine with certainty whether the issue was film loading in the camera or film loading at development. I will take the SL66SE out again this weekend so I guess I'll know soon enough.

 

[Garb]

Just to close the loop on this, I have generally not seen the first frame issue anymore. I believe it was just an inexperienced technician in the lab leaving too much film leader out as earlier suggested as a possible cause.