To wind-on or not to wind-on

seezee · Sep 6, 2017

It depends. If I'm out shooting, I wind/cock the shutter after each shot until I'm ready to put the camera back in the bag. That applies whether going in the bag implies that I'm done for the day, or just packing up to move to a different destination to continue shooting. If the latter, I wind as soon as I retrieve the camera.

In the case of my Leica IIIf and my Zorki 4, "winding" really is a winding action — one has to turn a small, sharply knurled knob through a couple of revolutions to advance the film. It's much easier & faster to advance the film on the Rolleiflex, the Hasselblad, or the Leica M cameras. With those cameras I might not bother to wind until just before the shot.

Gerald C Koch · Sep 6, 2017

Yes, I always immediately wind to be ready of the next shot. However since I never leave film in the camera there is no problem. Mechanical shutters are fairly robust. Unless you plan to leave the camera on a shelf for a few years cocked then there is really no problem.

This notion of leaving a camera uncocked all the times really needs to be elevated to camera myth status.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 6, 2017

Here's a concrete example of the constancy and longevity of a good spring under dynamic cyclic load - the balance spring in a watch. I know of no other spring application subject to longer and more intensive research & development, both material and form, essentially unbroken from the about 1780 to the mid 20th century, by which time modern balance spring alloys were well developed; since then it has been mainly refinement of said alloys.
I've been using the same wristwatch since new in early 1983, a high grade Swiss watch. 34 years, let's say 30 years of running due to gaps for cleaning, not wearing it while crawling under cars, cutting stone, etc. The beat rate is 300BPM, lever escapement being a double beat escapement means 150 spring cycles per minute.
150x60x24x365x30 = 2,365,200,000 cycles of the spring. The rate of the watch has not sensibly changed in the time I've had it; when the rate changes, the watch needs cleaning, after cleaning, the watch returns to it's original rate, therefore the spring itself has undergone no changes in rate in over two billion cycles. Original mainspring, too, but being a selfwinding watch that's a different barrel of vermicelli.

Leaving a focal plane shutter cocked puts more strain on the curtains, the ribbons, and their attachments, disregarding the spring - which is always under tension, in any shutter, whether cocked or not.
Good mechanical practice dictates leaving anything under as little strain as possible, therefore my shutters spend as little time cocked as possible.

Svenedin · Sep 7, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
Here's a concrete example of the constancy and longevity of a good spring under dynamic cyclic load - the balance spring in a watch. I know of no other spring application subject to longer and more intensive research & development, both material and form, essentially unbroken from the about 1780 to the mid 20th century, by which time modern balance spring alloys were well developed; since then it has been mainly refinement of said alloys.
I've been using the same wristwatch since new in early 1983, a high grade Swiss watch. 34 years, let's say 30 years of running due to gaps for cleaning, not wearing it while crawling under cars, cutting stone, etc. The beat rate is 300BPM, lever escapement being a double beat escapement means 150 spring cycles per minute.
150x60x24x365x30 = 2,365,200,000 cycles of the spring. The rate of the watch has not sensibly changed in the time I've had it; when the rate changes, the watch needs cleaning, after cleaning, the watch returns to it's original rate, therefore the spring itself has undergone no changes in rate in over two billion cycles. Original mainspring, too, but being a selfwinding watch that's a different barrel of vermicelli.

Leaving a focal plane shutter cocked puts more strain on the curtains, the ribbons, and their attachments, disregarding the spring - which is always under tension, in any shutter, whether cocked or not.
Good mechanical practice dictates leaving anything under as little strain as possible, therefore my shutters spend as little time cocked as possible.

Yes. To use another example from horology, if a spiral mainspring (not a balance spring) is left wound (i.e under maximum tension) for a very long period it can become "tired" or "set" meaning it will not return to its original state when unwound and so cannot provide its original power.

blockend · Sep 7, 2017

I habitually wind on when out shooting, but always ensure the shutter is not cocked at the end of a roll, or if the camera will remain unused for some time. If using older roll film cameras, folders, etc., I adopt the same wind, cock, focus strategy to avoid wasted frames and ensure I'm ready for the same shot. A few years ago I regularly used a Zeiss Ikon Nettar for candid photography, and the process became second nature and surprisingly quick. Unsurprisingly, the skill is lost if you regularly shoot an autofocus, auto-wind, auto-exposure camera.

Sirius Glass · Sep 7, 2017

Svenedin said:
Yes. To use another example from horology, if a spiral mainspring (not a balance spring) is left wound (i.e under maximum tension) for a very long period it can become "tired" or "set" meaning it will not return to its original state when unwound and so cannot provide its original power.

As I stated before, Hasselblad designed the cameras and lenses to be stored in the cocked configuration. It depends on how the camera was designed. I believe that most cameras were [are] designed to be stored in the cocked position.

AgX · Sep 8, 2017

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

I never thought of doing it differently. Actually I never thought of it at all, and never read about it. Now I am amazed what this thread brings up.

Svenedin · Sep 8, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
As I stated before, Hasselblad designed the cameras and lenses to be stored in the cocked configuration. It depends on how the camera was designed. I believe that most cameras were [are] designed to be stored in the cocked position.

Yes fair enough. I wind on immediately every time. I don't have any cameras that cock the shutter with the winding anyway. My older cameras require the shutter to be cocked separately. I only cock the shutter as I am preparing to take a picture along with setting shutter speed and aperture.

Ces1um · Sep 8, 2017

I have to wonder, of those members that wind on immediately, do you ever throw said camera into a bag? Do you get accidental firings? It would seem to me that if you did anything other than hold your camera or set it on a shelf there's a chance at accidentally tripping the shutter. Maybe not often, but perhaps once in a while?

AgX · Sep 8, 2017

Good point. My first camera was a AE-1, it got a release lock. As many others of mine. And I typically use cases that avoid accidential release.

(Obviously release locks were designed with wind-on-photographers in mind.)

Billy Axeman · Sep 8, 2017

Another camera which is usually stored with the shutter cocked is the Rollei B35 (perhaps other models too), because the lens can only be retracted in that state.

Svenedin · Sep 8, 2017

Ces1um said:
I have to wonder, of those members that wind on immediately, do you ever throw said camera into a bag? Do you get accidental firings? It would seem to me that if you did anything other than hold your camera or set it on a shelf there's a chance at accidentally tripping the shutter. Maybe not often, but perhaps once in a while?

Yes occasional accidental firings but not with "red window" old cameras that need the shutter cocked separately. It is such a habit for me to wind on immediately that I would be more worried about pressing the shutter and nothing happening (from not winding on immediately) than the occasional blank frame.

Sirius Glass · Sep 10, 2017

Ces1um said:
I have to wonder, of those members that wind on immediately, do you ever throw said camera into a bag? Do you get accidental firings? It would seem to me that if you did anything other than hold your camera or set it on a shelf there's a chance at accidentally tripping the shutter. Maybe not often, but perhaps once in a while?

For 35mm Nikons I turn the camera off. For 35mm Voightlander, I fold the camera up. For the Tessina, I close the lens door.

For 120 I insert the dark slide.

I never throw a camera into the camera bag. There is lies your problems.

To wind-on or not to wind-on

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