To wind-on or not to wind-on

OlyMan · Sep 4, 2017

I'm not sure this is particularly divisive lol, but I do know of acquaintances who had strong polarised views about it back in the day when they used to shoot film.

The question is, after you've taken a shot, are you the kind of person who instinctively cocks the shutter ready for the next shot (even if you know that could be days or weeks away), or do you tend only to wind on immediately before taking a shot? (If you're a motor-drive user, this question is moot for you because motor drives of course wind on after the shot.)

I've heard conflicting arguments for both approaches. Some say that with especially fully mechanical cameras, leaving the shutter cocked for long periods is not good for the springs in the mechanism. However others argue quite convincingly that you could easily miss a shot of a lifetime because your camera wasn't prepared to shoot.

I tend to fall into the 'wind it when I need it' camp, and generally store my cameras without the shutters cocked. This way, I'm less likely to waste film by accidentally tripping the shutter, considering none of my cameras have a true 'off' button in the modern sense. Any 'once in a lifetime' shot I wasn't expecting to take is more likely these days to be captured by my phone than my cameras, which only really get taken out on prepared excursions where the deliberate intention is to shoot.

Cholentpot · Sep 4, 2017

I'm in a habit of wind before shot, I don't like tripping the shutter by mistake and losing a frame. However this does mess me up when I use an Argus C3. In that case I wind on but don't cock the shutter. It has led to a few double exposures on my part though.

Paul Howell · Sep 4, 2017

I usually leave the shutter cocked if I have film in the camera, uncocked if not loaded.

David A. Goldfarb · Sep 4, 2017

I wind after shooting to avoid accidental double exposures.

Logan Becker · Sep 4, 2017

I tend to do both. If I'm shooting a bike race and guys are continuously circuiting the track, I will cock immediately after taking a shot because I know that it's safe to assume there's another shot to present itself. If I'm photographing a subject in more of a "tamed" environment I will delay advancing the frame because I may not find anything else afterward. Say I were to cock and not shoot, the next morning I will get up before the crack of dawn and use that frame for something special at blue hour...keeps my work on it's toes

RalphLambrecht · Sep 4, 2017

OlyMan said:
I'm not sure this is particularly divisive lol, but I do know of acquaintances who had strong polarised views about it back in the day when they used to shoot film.

The question is, after you've taken a shot, are you the kind of person who instinctively cocks the shutter ready for the next shot (even if you know that could be days or weeks away), or do you tend only to wind on immediately before taking a shot? (If you're a motor-drive user, this question is moot for you because motor drives of course wind on after the shot.)

I've heard conflicting arguments for both approaches. Some say that with especially fully mechanical cameras, leaving the shutter cocked for long periods is not good for the springs in the mechanism. However others argue quite convincingly that you could easily miss a shot of a lifetime because your camera wasn't prepared to shoot.

I tend to fall into the 'wind it when I need it' camp, and generally store my cameras without the shutters cocked. This way, I'm less likely to waste film by accidentally tripping the shutter, considering none of my cameras have a true 'off' button in the modern sense. Any 'once in a lifetime' shot I wasn't expecting to take is more likely these days to be captured by my phone than my cameras, which only really get taken out on prepared excursions where the deliberate intention is to shoot.

Yes, UI wind immediately after the shot

Svenedin · Sep 4, 2017

I wind immediately after taking the shot. I find this an essential habit when using "red window" cameras with no double exposure prevention. I instinctively do it with my OM cameras too because I might well take another shot.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 4, 2017

If I'm at an event where I know I'll be making many photos in succession, then I'll wind on in preparation for the next one. I almost feel compelled to do so. If I'm on a leisurely stroll, where I may make no further exposures, then I tend not to wind on (and this is my natural tendency).

Now for older cameras where the winding and the shutter release are independent (such as an old Brownie), I will always wind on to avoid double exposing the frame.

When not in use, I leave the shutters uncocked, aside from my Hasselblads which are safer to keep cocked.

Over the years I've asked three mechanical engineers whether it's better to have springs under tension or not and each one has told me it doesn't matter: spring fatigue is caused by repeated flexing, not by one static state or the other.

Sirius Glass · Sep 4, 2017

David A. Goldfarb said:
I wind after shooting to avoid accidental double exposures.

Svenedin said:
I wind immediately after taking the shot. I find this an essential habit when using "red window" cameras with no double exposure prevention. I instinctively do it with my OM cameras too because I might well take another shot.

Me too.

Hasselblad designed its lenses to remain cocked for long periods of time and they recommended to always advance the film and cock the shutter. The dark slide is used to keep the camera from firing while not being used.

AgX · Sep 4, 2017

I wind-on from the first time I used a camera.

Chan Tran · Sep 4, 2017

When I was little and first use my father's Petri 7s I only wind just before the shot. When I bought my first camera, a Nikon F2, I also did the same. After a few years I bought the F3 with motor and also I tend to either finish the roll in a day or just went ahead and developed the unfinished roll at end of day. This is when the popular of the 1hr lab in the early 80's. During this period I would wind the film right away but released the shutter after I removed the film which the shutter cocked for no longer than a day.
I don't know what I would do now since I don't use film that much and it would take long to finish a roll and films are expensive now to waste like before.

bimmey · Sep 4, 2017

Wind on whenever there is film in the camera. One less thing to have to think about when shooting an evolving scene.

Poisson Du Jour · Sep 4, 2017

The third paragraph in your question is correct.

Some medium format cameras benefit from having their shutter solenoid / magnet released after use, rather than left in the cocked state where both film, shutter and mirror are "locked" into position, often over a long period of time. Adopting a no wind-on after the last shoot can be problematic: if you come across a scene and instinctively reach for the shutter button and find nothing happens because you must first wind-on! Getting the hang of this requires training yourself and maintaining an awareness of the situation.

The Pentax 6x7 and Pentax 67 MF cameras both benefit from leaving the shutter uncocked, as this puts the shutter / mirror solenoid in the disengaged state. It is the method I adopted a long time ago.

With my pinhole cameras the procedure is to wind-on immediately, because it is far too easy to lose track of the last shot and make a double or triple exposure.

Les Sarile · Sep 4, 2017

OlyMan said:
The question is, after you've taken a shot, are you the kind of person who instinctively cocks the shutter ready for the next shot (even if you know that could be days or weeks away), or do you tend only to wind on immediately before taking a shot?

Definitely a wind on type. Once I insert a roll into my camera, I don't have the patience not to finish it right away. It will certainly not last a week. If I have already shot at least half the roll then it will be finished that day.

Cholentpot · Sep 4, 2017

Les Sarile said:
Definitely a wind on type. Once I insert a roll into my camera, I don't have the patience not to finish it right away. It will certainly not last a week. If I have already shot at least half the roll then it will be finished that day.

I've had rolls in some cameras for over a year...

Poisson Du Jour · Sep 4, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
Over the years I've asked three mechanical engineers whether it's better to have springs under tension or not and each one has told me it doesn't matter: spring fatigue is caused by repeated flexing, not by one static state or the other.

The problem is not necessarily or always with springs in one state or another, but very commonly also with magnets/solenoids, which can become 'lazy' or stick. These situations are not so much caused by use, but inactivity and especially a cocked state over an extended period of time. Additionally, older electronics governing shutter speeds become deranged e.g. irregular/inaccurate speeds. The balanced view is to keep older mechanical cameras, and especially those with rudimentary electronics, working over, rather than left in any sort of idle state for a considerable period of time. A few days is of no consequence. A few weeks to months is.

mrosenlof · Sep 4, 2017

I wind on after exposure.

I have seen camera manuals that tell not to leave the camera cocked overnight. I have also read (on the internet, so it must be true!) that proper springs don't weaken/break if sitting in either their relaxed or tensioned states. It's when their state changes that springs might do unhappy things. I'm not a mechanical engineer so I can't verify if that's true or not.

I'm pretty sure my Hasselblad manual says it's fine to store lenses and bodies in their cocked state. Pretty sure... Of course trying to mount an uncocked lens on a Hasselblad body is definitely worse than keeping it cocked.

All that said, if a camera is empty, I make a weak attempt to store it un-cocked. But don't fret over it much.

NedL · Sep 4, 2017

I always wind first, then shoot. Somewhere I read about opening the bellows of a folder causing suction that can bow the film. I have no idea if this is actually true, but I always open the camera first, then wind and shoot. Same for 35mm SLRs, but the reason being not to leave the shutter cocked.

Whatever you do, it's probably best to always do it the same way. During the recent solar eclipse, I was taking photos of the crescent shaped "pinhole projection" suns under a tree, and I think I wound my camera and then got distracted by something and didn't take the shot. Then I couldn't remember, so I wound it again.... only later did I remember my camera has double exposure prevention. I haven't developed the film yet, but there might be an empty frame caused by doing it different from usual.

Arklatexian · Sep 4, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I've had rolls in some cameras for over a year...

I don't sweat it. I wind to the next frame. If I know it will be some time before I use the loaded camera again and if I worry about leaving the shutter cocked, I simply trip the shutter and leave it tripped. This wastes one frame. If I am so hard up for money that I can't waste one frame on purpose, then friends, I am in the wrong hobby and had better find another. I do believe Hasselblad and leave it cocked and have been told (and read) that you can leave Leicas cocked quite some time with no harm.....Regards!

winger · Sep 4, 2017

I usually wind right after the shot because I've missed shots when I haven't. But if I use my old mechanical Pentax after not using it for awhile I sometimes forget. Then I grimace when I try to shoot and it doesn't fire. Which reminds me that it probably could use a nice walk. And I nearly always wind my Holgas after shooting so I don't get a double exposure. If I intend to get one, then I usually do it soon after or I leave a post-it on it.

Les Sarile · Sep 4, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I've had rolls in some cameras for over a year...

We all do what we can to support film . . .

I did once forget an unfinished roll in a camera that was lost in my hot Las Vegas garage for at least 10 years. I finished the roll - Kodak Gold 100, had it processed and the results looked perfectly fine.

MattKing · Sep 4, 2017

NedL said:
Whatever you do, it's probably best to always do it the same way.

+1
If things like this become an instinctual habit, your photographic life will be greatly simplified.

Cholentpot · Sep 4, 2017

Les Sarile said:
We all do what we can to support film . . .

I did once forget an unfinished roll in a camera that was lost in my hot Las Vegas garage for at least 10 years. I finished the roll - Kodak Gold 100, had it processed and the results looked perfectly fine.

Olympus Pen EE3 half frame. It kicks around as a backup/family diary. It's quite a thrill to take photos over a long period of time and then see how things have moved along. 72 frames is quite a bit and can take some time. I also have a roll inside of my M645 for about 10 months now. I'm just waiting for the right shot...

MartinCrabtree · Sep 4, 2017

I was told by the service man who restored my FM2n to leave it uncocked if it was going to sit unused for awhile. Helps the speed remain accurate. My take beyond that is if it's mechanical shutter leave it uncocked,electronic no matter.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 4, 2017

mrosenlof said:
...
I'm pretty sure my Hasselblad manual says it's fine to store lenses and bodies in their cocked state. Pretty sure... Of course trying to mount an uncocked lens on a Hasselblad body is definitely worse than keeping it cocked.
...

For Hasselblad, their "natural state" seems to favor being cocked. The motorized Hasselblads always recock after each exposure. When Hasselblad lenses are shipped to retailers, the lenses are cocked and they may sit in the store for years. At the very least this reduces the chance of a jam by trying to mount/unmount a lens and body.

Mamiya RB67 favors being cocked, too, but it has a safety interlock to prevent a body/lens jam due to one being uncocked.

To wind-on or not to wind-on

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To wind-on or not to wind-on

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