[chucuyuco]

Of course it wasn't the camera that let me down, it was the user. I bought it about a month ago, and I've only used film a handful of times in my life. I was so excited I bought film and loaded it and started shooting the day I got it, riding my bike around looking for subjects. Unfortunately, after three weeks of photos I got the blank negatives back, I loaded the film wrong! Lol I'll learn I suppose, and I started to worry I'd done it wrong after I watched an online video... at least they gave me my money back. But wow film is expensive to buy and develop compared to digital! Great lil camera though, makes me appreciate all the controls my K-x has at the tip of my fingers.

[builttospill]

Like you said, chalk this one up as a learning experience. You don't need to buy expensive film to learn with, and you certainly don't need to take your film to pro labs while you're learning. Depending on your desire for a new hobby you can either develop the film yourself or take it to your local drug store with a coupon in their weekly circular ads.

Once you get the hang of your K1000 you'll enjoy having all the controls you need at your fingertips to make a great picture too. Keep at it, and make sure you post your progress here!

[mattt]

I've been using my K1000 to exercise "Sunny 16" - Its very assuring to make an approximate judgement on exposure and have that needle pat you on the back. I installed my first roll wrong too. If the rewind spindle doesn't turn when you advance the frame, then its miss-fed. I've a couple of rolls waiting to go for a swim, and a willing mentor to show me how. I cant wait

[DaveHolmes]

Worse is when you load the film right, and know you have a load of good shots when you get to the end of the film and in your excitement to put more film in forget to rewind and just open the camera door wide open...

I reckon anyone who shoots film has don something stupid twice...

[Ratmagiclady]

With film, this requires habits: my loading method is usually to thread leader onto the spool and pull it across the sprockets and shutter gate by hand, wind on a bit, remove shot film by hand, and then close the back: this takes some practice, but I used to be insanely quick at it and you were always positive you're loaded, that way. (It's also a better way to do it while on the move, and one hand holding the camera. It once made for an impressive/entertaining juggling act when you got film boxes and cans involved: I prefer to use a table these days. Having digital means there's very little call for reloading film cameras quickly, and the arthritis and lack of practice could just make it embarrassing. It's really just a matter of that 'how fast can you take your time.' )

Whichever way you do it, once you've closed the back and wound on a frame, you can turn the rewind crank a few turns to take up the slack on the film canister's spool: No need to use a lot of force: just till you feel resistance: this will mean that when you advance your next blank frame or two, you'll see the rewind crank turn with the film and you'll always know for sure you're in a loaded state.

It's for this reason that film cameras with built-in winders and no rewind crank tend to give me fits: if it's impossible to know the film's feeding, I don't have that reassurance that everything is OK in there.

[DaveHolmes]

I think it's that I have a handle on the cost of shooting film... I'm not equiped to or competant enough to develop my own film so I get my negs developed and scanned at a cost of £5 a time... Plus the fact that a roll of 36 exposure fuji is also now just short fo £5 - Some weeks I just can't afford to shoot film...

[B Grace]

The cost and the process just makes shooting film a more valuable adventure. With digital now covering all of my snapshot requirements plus much of my hobby work I shoot film because it slows me down and relaxes me. I would bet that an hour walk might give me time to shoot ten frames at the most. Film also makes a person appreciate using a meter with taking meter readings on several areas of a frame before composing a final shot. Having a matrix metering system in a DSLR lets me be lazy and forget about metering.

As for loading film I'm rusty but twenty years ago I could rewind and remove a completed roll and load a new roll in maybe a minute while walking an easy trail. It's best to verify the film can is placed properly in it's spot and that the rewind knob is pressed down and landed properling in the film can. It's good to check that the film lands on the guide rails in the proper area and doesn't get pinched. And it's good to check the film leader falls across the winder spool teeth and engages as you wind the film advance. Once in a blue moon the rewind release button on my K1000 would stick when pressed in but it should release when you open the camera back.

[EyeSpy]

the check the crank may work on the classic cameras but not on the modern types PMHE. auto load sucks as well. maybe switch to a LF and change films sheets manually then you know