DAYI/Shen-Hao 6x17 roll film back

[daniel dumitru]

To All,

I recently purchased the above noted back for my camera and am pleasently suprised with the overall quality of build, film flatness, and ease of use. However, I am having difficulty with the film not wound tightly enough on the takeup roll when shooting is completed. This happens about 50-60% of the time. I am not sure why it is sufficiently tight the other roughly 40%. I spoke with Jeff at Badger graphics who sold me the film back and he suggests turning the take-up roll in smooth long turns. As noted above, this works sometimes but not others. Clearly there is insufficient and inconsistent tension on the film roll but I don't know why it works sometimes but not others. So far, only one roll has been ruined by light leaking in around the edges. I have taken to pulling on the explosed roll end to tighten the film to avoid light leakage but this may at some point lead to scratching the film. This issue of loose exposed film on the take-up roll was not noted by Kerry Thalmann in his View Camera review of this film back (Sept/Oct 2004). Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
dan dumitru

[hyperma]

No need to worry about it anyway.I been using this funny stuff for 20 months,do you mean the film has light leak problem?Is it caused a "light strip" on the film?Yes,you can see this on Kiev 120 camera backs too,you have to pull the steel tongue which for holding the film properly,maybe you need to do more works on it.But Shenhao 617 is the best quality we ever made in China.

[paul owen]

Hi Dan. I too have been using this back and I haven't experienced the problem you describe. I am pretty careful at the film loading stage to ensure that the film is being wound on tightly but other than that I don't have film problems. After exposing the 4 frames I do wind on in slow, long turns - maybe this is the key?

[Tom Westbrook]

It probably has nothing to do with your problem, but I had a similar problem with my Mamiya 7 camera (it's 6x7) which I traced to mixing take-up reel manufacturers: i.e. using an empty reel from of Fuji film as take-up reel for a Kodak film, or vice versa. Mycamera doesn't seem to keep very much tension on the film reel, so perhaps that's the problem.

[Chuck_1686]

One thing I do with my Fuji 645Zi, a camera that has a reputation for loose rolls, is keep pressure on the film with my thumb when loading on the takeup reel. This keeps the film tight when loading. Can't hurt to try.

[Ed Workman]

After the paper leaves the spool the only tension that can be applied has to come from the pressure plate or a "device" on the take-up spool. Higher plate pressure could lead to scratches, so a better place is at the take-up spool. That is usually provided by a spring loaded roller that impinges on the paper on the spool. I have approximated that in a home hacked 6x24 by jamming foam between the paper and the body so that the paper/film can't loosen during the final wind.

[Edwin B.]

I've also noticed this issue in perhaps 4 or 5 out of 20 rolls. It's never been significant enough to effect the film although I won't be particukarly suprised one day when a roll is ruined. I try to minimize it by placing some extra tension on the film as it is loaded and giving an extra wind or two before attatching the cover.

Another issue with the back that the peg that holds the film spool on the takeup reel can easilly unscrew. This is the metal part underneath the film advancing knob, the round part between the two flanges that insert into the top end of the spool. It is likely to fall out during a film change when you least expect it. Some thread-locking adhesive might be a good idea.

With that said, I still think highly of the product.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Are you trying to wind Fuji film onto Kodak spools, or vice versa? I had a similar problem with my Fuji G617, and figured out that it was only occurring when I tried to wind Fuji film onto a Kodak spool. Apparently, the spools are slightly different in size and/or shape, which seemed to lead to this. I didn't perform any scientific tests, but the problem went away when I made sure to wind the film onto a spool of the same brand.

[daniel dumitru]

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. It never occurred to me that one had to use the same take-up spool manufacturer as that of the film. I will definitely give this a try. I also thought of the suggestion of putting a small strip of velcro (the soft fuzzy part) next to the take-up spool along the inside of the back to add a little extra tension when the film is wound to keep the film tight. If the similar spool issue doesn't work, I'll give the velcro a try.

Again, thank you all for the very helpful suggestions.

Dan Dumitru