Rollei 35 Film advance question

Arash

Arash

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I have just finished the first roll of film in a Rollei 35 new to me.
When all the exposures were done and the counter read 36, it was still possible to keep cranking the film advance lever. Is this normal for this camera or do i have a problem?

I’m used to 35mm cameras where the film advance lever stops working when the end if the roll is reached.

Thanks for your help.
 
Thank you for the response and I’m happy to hear that!
Frustratingly, the interweb continues to baffle.

Another source has told me that the advance lever should stop at the end of a roll!

To be sure, i thought i’d post a picture of the camera in case the model name alone is a cause of confusion.
Hope to hear more definitive replies to break the deadlock! What fun film cameras can be!!!!
D0578D14-68B5-4331-92E3-D0E2564A1DFB.jpeg
 
The only cameras I have that stop allowing me to advance the film when the countdown frame counter reaches the "1" position are my Kodak Retina rangefinder cameras... I don't know what other cameras had this lockout, but these are the only ones I've had that definitely do. :)

The Rollei 35 has a very short body so there is often enough film to shoot a frame or three past the 36 exposure mark in a 135-36 exposure roll loaded. Eventually, you'll run into the physical end of the film and the advance lever will stop mid-wind. DO NOT FORCE IT PAST THAT POINT! If you force it you can a- tear the perforations in the film, or b- over-stress the wind mechanism, both of which can have the side effect of jamming the camera and leading to a full service and repair.

When the film advance becomes blocked, switch the mechanism to the rewind position, complete the stroke on the wind lever, and then rewind the film.

G
 
Hi Arash, the advance lever will stop at the end of the roll, but the frame counters on the Rollei 35 are notorious for being inaccurate, or stuck, or just not functioning. So the frame counter may be reading 36, but unfortunately, that doesn't really tell you where in the roll of film you are. When you get to the end of the roll of film, you won't be able to advance the advance lever without a lot of force, which will rip the film from the film cartridge, or at least tear out the sprocket holes. But you'll notice the film advance lever will become nearly impossible to advance at that point. That will tell you you're at the end of the roll.

Best,
-Tim
 
Timmyjoe said:
Hi Arash, the advance lever will stop at the end of the roll, but the frame counters on the Rollei 35 are notorious for being inaccurate, or stuck, or just not functioning. So the frame counter may be reading 36, but unfortunately, that doesn't really tell you where in the roll of film you are. When you get to the end of the roll of film, you won't be able to advance the advance lever without a lot of force, which will rip the film from the film cartridge, or at least tear out the sprocket holes. But you'll notice the film advance lever will become nearly impossible to advance at that point. That will tell you you're at the end of the roll.

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...

Hmm. I've owned and used Rollei 35 cameras (35, 35S, 35S Silber, etc) for forty+ years and not yet seen even one where the frame counter was inaccurate or malfunctioned. ??

However, as you intimate, there is no mechanical lock-out of the film advance ... The film advance will stop only when the advance reaches the end of the film. As I said before, STOP AT THAT POINT, DON'T FORCE IT.

G
 
Godfrey said:
….Eventually, you'll run into the physical end of the film and the advance lever will stop mid-wind.

G
Click to expand...

This is not happening. Exactly my concern.
I’ll pay closer attention at the end of a roll to see if the advance lever feels any different, but on this first roll it did not give any indication that the end of the roll had been reached so i kept “taking pictures” well after the 24 frames on the roll!
 
Arash said:
This is not happening. Exactly my concern.
I’ll pay closer attention at the end of a roll to see if the advance lever feels any different, but on this first roll it did not give any indication that the end of the roll had been reached so i kept “taking pictures” well after the 24 frames on the roll!
Click to expand...

That usually means that you've either mis-loaded the camera such that the film never moved through it at all, or you tore the sprocket holes inadvertently at the end of the roll. I've done both over the years... LOL! :D

This is why Kodak put a mechanical block that prevents the Retina from advancing past the #1 frame (count-down frame counter). A user cannot tear the film inadvertently that way.

After you load and advance past the first frame or two, be sure to use the rewind crank to tension the film and then check that the film spool that the rewind crank engages with turns when you wind on the next frame. That ensures you've loaded the film correctly. :cool:

G
 
Timmyjoe said:
Hi Arash, the advance lever will stop at the end of the roll,. When you get to the end of the roll of film, you won't be able to advance the advance lever without a lot of force, which will rip the film from the film cartridge, or at least tear out the sprocket holes. But you'll notice the film advance lever will become nearly impossible to advance at that point. That will tell you you're at the end of the roll.

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim
this was not my experience. I could keep cranking and it didn’t feel like i was forcing anything. So I kept on. Only after i was well beyond 36 is when I started to get concerned. I opened the back in near darkness, the spent film was nicely spooled around the takeup reel. So i rewound it. And imagine my surprise when I see the film canister has only 24 frames!
it seems something is amiss - danmnit.
 
Godfrey said:
That usually means that you've either mis-loaded the camera such that the film never moved through it at all, or you tore the sprocket holes inadvertently at the end of the roll.

G
Click to expand...

This was not the case. I’ll spare you a retype, as I described it in a previous response

thanks
 
Arash said:
This was not the case. I’ll spare you a retype, as I described it in a previous response

thanks
Click to expand...

Well, that's quite odd. I don't know how the film advance could continue to operate when the film has physically run to the end of the roll and is still taped to the feed spool unless the sprocket holes were stripped. Once you figure it out, please report back.

(Just as a test of my memory, because I haven't used mine for some time, I loaded a junk 135-24 roll into my camera, tested to be sure it was advancing properly, and exposed it through the camera. The film advance stopped halfway through the stroke at frame 26 indicated on the counter. Unlike what I said above, I just flipped the transport clutch lever to R, rewound the film, flipped the clutch lever back to the normal position, then finished the shutter wind. I'd forgotten that, unlike the Retina, it doesn't just stop with the lever in a part-way position ... the lever springs back even when the film is at the end of the roll and a wind isn't completed.)

I bought this one somewhere around 1988 from a local dealer for about $65.
​

It's been around the world with me at least a half a dozen times... :D

G
 
Godfrey said:
Hmm. I've owned and used Rollei 35 cameras (35, 35S, 35S Silber, etc) for forty+ years and not yet seen even one where the frame counter was inaccurate or malfunctioned. ??

However, as you intimate, there is no mechanical lock-out of the film advance ... The film advance will stop only when the advance reaches the end of the film. As I said before, STOP AT THAT POINT, DON'T FORCE IT.

G
Click to expand...

That's interesting Godfrey, as I've had two over the years and both had faulty frame counters. My current one, which was serviced by Harry Fleenor by the previous owner, just doesn't move at all. But the rest of the camera works so well that I'm hesitant to send it for service. So I just ignore the frame counter.

Best,
-Tim
 
Timmyjoe said:
That's interesting Godfrey, as I've had two over the years and both had faulty frame counters. My current one, which was serviced by Harry Fleenor by the previous owner, just doesn't move at all. But the rest of the camera works so well that I'm hesitant to send it for service. So I just ignore the frame counter.
Click to expand...

Well, the frame counter mechanism is a part of the back. The mechanical interface with the film advance and shutter cocking mechanism is a small, spring-loaded finger in the body that the action of releasing the shutter releases and allows to retract, then cocking the shutter drives the finger forward against the gear surrounding the frame indicator. Several possible points at which this can fail include:
  • Changing the back ... A back from another camera may not have the counter wheel and finger shimmed to the correct tolerance for the body.
  • Deformation of either the back or the body ... The Rollei 35's biggest fault was that the outer shell is very light metal and can be deformed and/or dented with remarkably little force. Having a back which is slightly deformed can put the exposure counter wheel out of reach of the finger.
  • Finger not operating correctly with the film wind/shutter cock mechanism ... Most likely due to dirt or sticky grease causing it to not retract properly.
  • A bent actuating finger ... If the body is set down on a hard surface with the back off such that the finger is in the shutter released state, the finger can be slightly bent to one side or the other and thereby miss the gear wheel, again out of tolerance for the reach.
  • Indicator gear wheel with stripped teeth ... If the gear's teeth are stripped or deformed, the finger cannot engage properly.
  • Dirt or sticky grease in the indicator wheel ... This can cause the wheel to be too difficult to move. That little finger does not exert a heck of a lot of force.
As I said, I've never had one that went awry, but these are some of the ways it can go wrong. It's probably more likely to go awry in cameras that have not been kept in a case, where all of my Rollei 35s have always been kept in their original leather cases. None of these things are particularly difficult to repair, as repairs go, and a good camera repair tech should be able to set it right pretty easily.

My local camera repair technician graced me with the pleasure of being there to see him do a complete teardown, cleaning, and re-assembly of one of my Rollei 35s once upon a time. IIRC, I brought it in because the meter coupling had been lost. It was very illuminating to see how these cameras worked and gave me a lot of insight into how to keep them from damage by improper handling or abuse. :)

Fred is now gone, but I think of him fondly whenever I pull out the Rollei 35S or the Voigtländer Perkeo II... He refurbished both of them to as-new condition years ago and they both work perfectly still.

G
 
Hi
I just finished the second roll of film on this camera and paid much closer attention to how the film advance lever felt at the end.
rat-a-tat-tat! I could feel the cogs skipping the sprocket holes after the last exposure. Yikes. Not really a problem, but doesn’t make me feel good about this recent purchase. Looking forward to seeing if the frames were advanced evenly throughout the roll.
sigh…..
 
Turns out the coil spring on the counter had disconnected. Opened it up, re-connected it, now it's all good. Pretty simple mechanism.

Also realized that my Rollei 35 was made in March 1968, and is mentioned in one of the internet articles about the camera. Seems my camera was the last German made camera with the metal rewind handle base, as opposed to the later models that have that part made out of black plastic.

Best,
-Tim
 
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