[HannahZ]

Hello,

I bought a 645 nII on Ebay from Japan and it arrived and seems to be in great condition. I loaded film and thought I was shooting a roll and kept wondering where it displays what frame number I am on. Half way through the roll I googled it and the manual says that it should display the frame number right on the indicator screen by the on/off screen. It also says that if the film is improperly loaded that it would have an E displayed where the film counter would be. On my camera it is not displaying either. It just has the small D in the upper left hand corner indicating that it is imprinting data on the film and then the ISO setting and then it is blank to the right of that.

Any idea what is going on?

I don't know whether I should keep shooting this roll that I was thinking I was shooting (I had what I thought were some special shots of my family that live far away on the beginning of it.) Or if I should just rewind mid roll and try a different roll or just open it up and see?

Would love to hear any insight anyone might have.

Thank you very much.
Hannah :-)

[asahijock]

I only have the P645N not the Nii but I suspect the film loading and frame number system is the same. Does everything else that should be on the screen show such as film speed, aperture etc? I have no idea whether this is the first P645 you have had so forgive me if I seem to be insulting your intelligence

When you load the film into the insert it goes on the bottom spindle and is spooled to the top spindle with the backing paper at the back so that the film is facing the lens. The backing paper needs to be wound forward from the top spindle so that the start line on the backing paper lines up with the start mark. Unless this is done and you can see that the backing paper is attached to the top spindle properly it may be that the top spindle is not winding the paper or film forward. This might account for nothing showing.

When you put the insert into the camera and pressed the shutter can you recall a whirring noise as if the paper was being pulled? This should have resulted in the number 1 appearing. If this never showed on the screen then maybe the film has not been pulled through at all?

If you have access to a darkroom or very dark cupboard into which you can go I'd release the insert and in the dark check how much of the film remains on the bottom spindle or how much has been wound, if any, onto the top spindle. This should tell you how much has been pulled forward. Alternatively iIf you haven't got a darkroom or cupboard then can you get a changing bag into which you can place the camera and then release the insert?

I'd try and rewind the whole film back onto the lower spindle and then try again. You could try a mid-roll wind-on. That at least will tell you if the film is being pulled through as you will hear the noise. If it is being pulled through and ends up on the upper spindle then you know the film was properly attached to the upper spindle. I'd then suspect that the information screen's electronics may be faulty. I take it that from what you have said you hear the click each time you press the shutter button, do you hear a whirring winding noise as well? This is what you should hear as the film is being wound to the next frame

Let us know how it goes

asahijock