Torn film

[Ngothien]

I already ripped two rolls of film and I'm pretty salty. The last roll had two rips. A minor one I assume from advancing film because it was pretty far away from the large tear and the complete tear while rewinding. Any way to prevent it?

 

[MattKing]

If film tears, it is because something in the way it is being handled or transported is damaged or out of alignment.

So check your camera or, if the film is bulk loaded, your loading procedure.

 

[markbarendt]

Seems to me there may be a problem with the camera.

What camera and film and how old.

 

[Ngothien]

I shoot with an FED 3 with and the film that ripped was Ilford HP5, recently bought.

 

[markbarendt]

I'm betting a camera issue then.

 

[dxqcanada]

Film will only get torn (when rewinding) if the take up sprocket did not release properly.

To rewind the film disconnect the shutter mechanism, in order to do this with your right thumb press down on the knurled edge of the knob under the shutter release and turn it towards the letter "B" (for "rewind" in Russian), then release it.

 

[Worker 11811]

Yeah, film is pretty tough to tear. As the others say, there's either a problem with the camera or you aren't following the right steps in loading or rewinding the film.

Be careful! Although most cameras are able to withstand occasional hard use, within limits, if you have to use force to turn the rewind knob or if you have to press hard on the advance lever to get it to wind to the next frame, you stand a chance of damaging the camera.

Use a piece of junk film and test the camera before you take it out in the field again. Also test your operating procedure to be sure you're not doing anything wrong.

 

[R.Gould]

A month or so ago I had a problem with HP5 tearing in 35mm cameras, and not just one camera but in several, and it was not a camera fault, as putting kodak or Foma films in the same cameras was fine, this was happening with every roll of HP5 I used in every camera I used, so much so I quit using HP5 for a while, but went back due to circumstances ( I couldn't get any other film locally and ran out of the Kodak and Foma) and have had no problems with the same cameras, I would add that two of the cameras tearing the HP5 had been CLA'd recently, and were returned to the repairers to be checked, and were found to be fine, couldn't understand it as it was ONLY hp5 that was tearing, My conclusion was that it must have been a fault with the film batch, but all seems fine now.
Richard

 

[Steinberg2010]

If you can get a short length of film to test with, it would be worth running it through with the back of the camera off so you can see what's going on.

I have a Zorki-4 which has a very dodgy rewind release mechanism (but only the other – it's very hard to re-engage the shutter).

~S

 

[markbarendt]

A month or so ago I had a problem with HP5 tearing in 35mm cameras, and not just one camera but in several, and it was not a camera fault, as putting kodak or Foma films in the same cameras was fine, this was happening with every roll of HP5 I used in every camera I used, so much so I quit using HP5 for a while, but went back due to circumstances ( I couldn't get any other film locally and ran out of the Kodak and Foma) and have had no problems with the same cameras, I would add that two of the cameras tearing the HP5 had been CLA'd recently, and were returned to the repairers to be checked, and were found to be fine, couldn't understand it as it was ONLY hp5 that was tearing, My conclusion was that it must have been a fault with the film batch, but all seems fine now.
Richard

Did you notify Ilford? From the comments I've seen they are very good about replacing defective film.

 

[R.Gould]

Did you notify Ilford? From the comments I've seen they are very good about replacing defective film.

To be fair to Ilford I didn't as I was about to go away for a while, but this same problem happened 3 or 4 years ago and yes, when Ilford examined the film it was a weakness in the base, and they replaced all of the films I had in stock from the same batch, I have no complaints with Ilford, their customer service is very good indeed, it was just something that happened, I guess even with the best QC going, and I believe Harman have one of the best QC sections going, a bad batch can slip though the net,
Richard