You must be loading the film incorrectly. It may feel wrong but the printed side of the backing paper is down and the black side is up.
If you see the arrow you should be loading correctly. Is the sticky tape correctly visible when you removed the film?
I have no other explanation to offer other than a voodoo curse or hobgoblins.
I have to think you're right. But the arrow on the film is always visible and I always line it up with the red arrow on the back. If that's the case, I can't be loading it the wrong way, can I?
The start arrow will show no matter which way you've loaded the film. When you wrap the backing paper around the pressure plate side of the insert, you should be looking at the black side, not the printed side.
You should be able to tell the difference between a roll of film that was not exposed at all (clear with frame numbers) and a roll that was light-struck (dark) by looking at the negatives.
You can practice loading with just a roll of backing paper so as not to waste film. Load, fire off a few shots, open the dark slide and the back to see if the paper is the right way around.
My guess is that (far fetched as it seems) you're loading the supply spool the wrong way around and the takeup spool somehow just enough to see the arrow, but then in-camera it reverse winds and winds the paper+film forward, meaning that it winds onto the takeup spool wrong side out, because the supply spool is wrong side out, so the film doesn't see light.
Load a backing paper and pull the dark slide. You should see black.
There is no such thing as “rewinding” 120 in a Hasselblad (or any other 120 camera, I believe). The film winds from supply to take up spool; one direction only.
Is this factory sealed film? If so, I see no way for the film to do a somersault inside the camera back.
Think about this.
If you load the backing paper, and shoot up to exposure 3 or so, then open the back, you have to see the black side of the paper in the film gate, facing the lens. That's where the film would be. The paper should be wrapping around the takeup spool with the printed side out.
I assume you're talking about winding off the paper trailer after exposure 12, not rewinding, because there isn't any rewinding with 120, as Brian said. It shouldn't really matter how fast you wind those off.
Only the takeup spool pulls on the paper+film. So it is at least theoretically possible to load the supply spool backwards and have the takeup spool pull an entire roll of film through the back with the backing paper not the film facing the lens. I don't know if this is actually possible with a Hasselblad back.
In order to get no exposure on the film, it has to be backwards when it's in the film gate, not just on the supply spool. You can't invert an entire takeup spool of already-wound film by pulling on the lick-paper. Really, just practice it with a spool of paper and you should figure out what's happening.
To be clear, this is what I think happened. Clearly this doesn't happen all the time since you get some rolls that are good. But for the rolls that are blank and wound the wrong way on the takeup spool, perhaps you were in a hurry, and I think you loaded the supply spool the wrong way around. This is a Kiev back so it doesn't have a start mark, but I lined up the backing-paper arrow with about where the Hasselblad start mark is. The supply spool is on the left, and the take-up spool is on the right and the film is winding onto it inside-out. It is possible to line up the paper arrow, but feed the film back-to-front.
View attachment 315706View attachment 315707
If you see the arrow you should be loading correctly. Is the sticky tape correctly visible when you removed the film?
I have no other explanation to offer other than a voodoo curse or hobgoblins.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?