Originally posted by g026r Answering the question: I used to own a Chinon M-1 — also sold under a number of different names — that did them pretty well: there was a dedicated switch by the advance lever that disengaged the film advance when you toggled it, allowing you to easily cock the shutter as many times as you desired without the frame moving. That and the 1/125 flash sync were the best things about it, as otherwise it was fairly pedestrian m42 camera that didn't have the quite the same quality as higher-end brands.
The Chinon CE-4, CE-4s, CE-5, CG-5, CP-6 and propably some more have this switch too, you can recognize it easily on pictures taken of the font of the cameras. Don't buy one of these cameras if you can't see the switch, because it means it is broken. The switch worked perfectly well on my CE-4.
But I would try this first:
Originally posted by LesDMess Before you press the release button, do you first take up the film slack with the rewind lever and hold it in place before pressing the rewind button?
I would cock the film with the rewind lever, bevor taking the first picture.