[photo_mike]

I just recently got a Pentax 67 and when I bought it I was shown how to load film. The film was loaded as instructed in the manual and I shot the roll just to see how the camera functions. The film counter increased every time I advanced the film and pressed the shutter button. When I tried to load my own film, the film didn't seem to catch when I used the film advance lever. I may have turned the spool backwards on accident and I am wondering if I broke the advance lever mechanism because of that. When I use the lever with just an empty spool inserted, it spins normally. When I try to use the lever with film attached to the spool, the slightest resistance causes it to "slip" and the film doesn't advance. The lever goes through the full motion but the spool does not spin. The battery is fine and I tripped the shutter a few times without film to see if that would help. It seemed to work fine but didn't solve my problem. Am I missing something here or did I break it by turned the spool the wrong way?

Thanks

[mattt]

Are you winding the lead to the "arrow" on the film paper facing?

[tuco]

Open the back. Put your fingers on the spool common to the advance lever to add resistance. Now advance the lever. Does the spool want to turn or does it slip?

[photo_mike]

I can’t even get the lead far enough to the arrow. It won’t wind tight. I also tried adding resistance and the lever advances but the spool does not. The spool turns until there is the slightest resistance from the film. It will not tighten. It is always slack

[tuco]

It sounds like the camera needs fixing.

[photo_mike]

It sounds like the camera needs fixing.

I had a feeling it did. Thanks!

[Silent Street]

Broken / slipped tension pawl, part of the film advance. It is correct that putting an empty spool in the take-up section will give you a wind-on, but the mechanism is effectively disengaged until film is inserted, and when the film insertion and wind-on to frame #1 is complete, pawls engage to hold the film there and also come into play when advancing it (in addition to setting the mirror down and re-cocking the shutter).

The Pentax 6x7 and 67 cameras are designed to not fire when there is no film loaded. It is possible to force them to fire by using a key inserted under the film advance lever, but otherwise, dry-firing has no meaning or relevance other than to introduce risk of people poking around the shutter or damaging the sensitive film counter roller (to the left of the film take-up spool).

[photo_mike]

Thanks for the info! I just took it in to a camera repair shop and they will let me know what the issue is when they open it up. Hopefully the repair isn't too costly. I will also refrain from dry-firing!

[feanolas]

Silent street: how would the absence of film damage the film counter roller? It is not solicited at all in this scenario.