Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Fred, I'm going through a couple of thousand LUG emails and saw your one on the jamming R8 with Velvia. I've had much experience with this. Your description of the problem reads as if you have been looking over my shoulder for the last few years. I've sent bodies back to Germany (not so easy from Australia!), sometimes with good results - sometimes with the problem recurring almost immediately. Here's my understanding of the film sprocket tearing problem. I think it's a consequence of the R8 motor drive being so powerful and from oxidation of the electrical contacts between the camera body and the motor drive. The signals that transmit between camera and drive, telling the drive to stop and start, get screwed up and one of the sprocket holes tears. For me, usually around frame 20. Sometimes at the end of the roll. It makes that dreaded sound you are now familiar with. For some time I was using methylated spirits to clean the electrical contacts, with a cotton bud (aka Q-tip?). It was an Australian Leica technician who told me to use Metho. Well, he was wrong - it's probably the worst thing to use. From talking to various people on the web I decided to give some electrical contact cleaner a try. I bought the most expensive can of high quality contact cleaner I could find, from a proper electronics supplies outlet. It's made by CRC and is called CO Contact Cleaner. It's like Servisol which might be easier to find. I sprayed it onto the tip of a cotton bud (gotta be cotton!) and twirled the tip in the female electical contact holes and across the male tips. I cleaned the contacts for the camera back too. Guess what? No problems since I've started using this method. It might be worth a try. If the problem arises again for me, I might get a DMR too! Good luck and please let the LUG know how you go. Regards, Rick Dykstra Australia. http://gallery.leica-users.org/Nature On 19/10/2005, at 10:10 PM, Fred Hess / Phenix Visuals NL wrote: > Hello folks, > > I recently switched form Kodachrome to Velvia for my wildlife- > photography. > I faced a strange problem: when I use Velvia 50 film in combination > with my > Motor Drive and Leica R8 my motor gets jammed after about 20 > pictures. I > even can not use the advance lever to transport the film. I can > hear the > sprockets ruin the perforations (in moterized mode as well as manual) > It looks like the film got stuck in the cassette! > > This has happened with several Velvia-films, not with Kodak or Agfa > films. > > Is Velvia-film to thick for the R8 or should there be a technical > problem > with my Motor-Drive? > > Has anyone encountered the same problem? > > Hopefully my ordered DMR arrives soon,so I don't need Velvia anymore! > > Looking forward to your replies. > > Kind regards > > Fred Hess / Phenix-Visuals.nl > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >