Yashica Mat film advance problem...

[aniverso]

So today I went to load a new roll of film, and the wheels came off the bus.

I threaded the film successfully, shut the camera door the right way, and went to crank the arm to advance the film. Except that it just kept advancing and never stopped. In the little window that shows you what number you are on, all I can see is the little red circle with the dot in the middle. It advanced the entire roll of film. I ruined two rolls that way, trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Now the little red circle with the dot will not go away. The shutter does work, but it seems like some part of the advance is not working??

Since this was the first time really using this camera, I hope that "I" am doing something wrong…and not that I broke my own camera. Is there anyone out there that maybe has some advise? Please point me in the right direction!

 

[Rick A]

Did you advance the film until the start arrows lined up before closing the door?

 

[summicron1]

Did you advance the film until the start arrows lined up before closing the door?

hmmm. This should not make a difference except it would mean, if you did not do advance the arrows to the "start" position, that you would lose the first couple shots. The camera should still stop at No. 1, then No. 2 and so on.

Did the camera wind and cock with no film in it?

Offhand I'd say there is something wrong with the interlink between the wind mechanism and the cocking mechanism -- perhaps things are gummed up and the camera needs service. That little red circle you mention is on a rotating disc that needs to flip back to its starting place for the advance numbering gears to engage again. If it is stuck, the camera will always think it is at the end of the roll. It should flip back when you open the camera.

Anyway, service call needed. Bummer, but those cameras are worth it.

You can salvage the two rolls of film, by the way -- in a darkroom you just need to re-roll them back onto a new spool. It's not difficult; those of us who play with 620 from time to time do it all the time.

 

[snapguy]

let me think

I am familiar with the Rolleiflex and Yashicamat. As I recall, you have to feed the film under the roller on the Rollei and over it on the Yashicamat. Or is it the other way around? At any rate, you need to check to see if you are doing this part right. If you do not, the film will just wind through the camera to the end and not stop where it should.

 

[ic-racer]

Send the camera back or send it to a repair person.
If this is a project camera then check to see that the little plunger than senses when the back is open is releasing. It could be stuck. If it is stuck and you can get it to pop up then the counter should reset.

 

[TooManyShots]

The frame counter indicator is in sync with the film advance spacing. The counter is secured by a tiny screw onto the film advance spacing plate. If this screw is missing or stripped, the frame counter would not move at all. Two, your film spacing would be off as well.

Here is a photo of the crank side interior. You have to open it and to study how it works a bit before trying to fix it. If you aren't handy with tinkering with stuff, don't try it though.


https://www.google.com/search?q=yas...le-a-Yashica-Mat-EM-Winding-Mechanism;410;549