Two cameras, same problem

[AndrewH]

I have a Rollei 2.8D, and a Mamiya C330. I am having a problem with the image floating into the writing on the film. For instance (especially with Tri-X, not as bad with HP5+, but still occasionally) the exposed area is not centered on the film and is towards the edge and sometimes the writing from the manufacturer is actually a little in the frame. I have spoken with Rollei, and Mamiya and some repair people that haven't heard of this. the spacing between frames is rather normal. I am thinking that it most be user error since I have the same problem. Any suggestions/theories/WAG's would be appreciated (that stands for wild _ss guess).

Cheers!

 

[glbeas]

Might be a lack of tension on the roll allowing it to wander side to side while winding. Also have you checked the roll is fully engaged on the spindles when loaded?

 

[L Gebhardt]

Make sure when you start the film on the takeup spool it is centered and wound under tension. I usually put my finger on the new spool to act as a drag as I wind the film to the start arrow. The few times I have not perfectly centered it, I have had problems (though not the same ones you are having).

 

[PeterC]

Certainly sounds like operator error if it is happening on both cameras. The advice (above) on tensioning the film as you load it is probably all it needs.
Try these suggestions out before you begin to panic

 

[AndrewH]

I will try and use my one finger to tension the film more as I spool it up. I did some more rolls this weekend and made sure it was in the spool correctly as far as evenly and fully picked up. I will report back.

 

[AndrewH]

Update on issue

I developed two rolls of HP5+ from last weekend and the image, while not perfectly spaced, does NOT move far enough to teh left to have the film printing intrude into the image. Does anyone know why HP5+ in particular might be less of a problem than Tri-X? Is it thicker or thinner? Any other ideas?

 

[marcello.brussard]

I believe there's still a slight difference in the dimension of the film spool between kodak and ilford.