Spiraling trouble?

Putting this lot back together was fun.

Y eh! right, there is no way I'm going to start separating a plastic spiral once the film had been processed. I was of that mind set until I started to use medium format film. In the old days I would gently unpick the 35mm film from the spool unwinding it slowly so as not to damage it. Then I was confronted with having to reset the spiral so it would take 120 film and because this film has a larger surface it is very easy to damage as I have found out.

Looking back I have to say what was all the fuss about. I think it is a lot to do with the unknown. If I take it apart will I ever get it back together? I will, just takes a bit of time. In my case the first time was easy I just gripped both sides of the spiral and twisted till it went click. Then gently pulled it apart until it reached the top slot and twisted it back the other way. Done! There that was not so bad. Huh! Not quite as clever as you thought, when it came to doing it again! I couldn't get it to go back together again no matter what I tried. It took ages to get those slots to meet up the right way and then they were backwards. Just before exasperation set in I put them down. Made a cup of tea and chilled. What makes it more maddening is when I went back to the spiral it went straight together with out a hitch.

Now a days it is second nature, don't be fooled it does not always go right first time.

Beaten badly? The filter is stuck.

OH NO!!!

If you are of a delicate disposition you should not be reading this post. It shows pictures of unbelievable brutality towards a camera lens. It had to be done so the lens could be cleaned we make no apologies for the blunt force trauma needed to remove the filter.

Away from the sensational introduction the facts are more prosaic. When I have not used a camera for an extended period I generally give my cameras a good clean; in the case of my Bronica SQAi this means taking all the main components apart for checking. When I looked at the lens I noticed that the UV filter on the front was slightly out of round and there was a chip at the edge of the filter glass. I can not remember how this damage happened but it must have been something quite dramatic.

Most of my film camera lenses have a protective filter on the front, an expensive exercise now-a-days, as I have discovered. But not having the filter there in the first place would have cost a new lens. So you could say that it has been a good investment over the years. You only have to drop it once to get a good return or in this case twice, from what I remember?

O ugh that hurts!!!

It is quite surprising how brutal you need to be to remove a lens filter that has become distorted. I tried to remove it by hand but was unable to get a good enough grip to release it. So in came the meanies - my name for the over-sized water pump pliers used. The pliers are about 400 mm long, they needed to be this size so the jaw would extend to the 67 mm filter size with ease and not squeeze the filter out of shape any more than what it was. With a gentle grip on the filter and a small amount of pressure it unscrewed in a trice. Allowing for a gentle grip leaving no marks on the lens or damaged filter. Once the filter was free I checked for damage to the thread on the lens and found none. 

Ahhhh! that's better.

With the front element of the lens clean I attached the new filter. This was a gentle soothing exercise for the lens after all that brute force of earlier. All's well for the new season of picture making.

The writer of this article would like to assure the readers that the camera lens was not hurt in anyway and a stunt double was used for the photos that accompany this post.