Filmo 70-DR Jam/trigger failure

[Cole Seidl]

Hello!

I'm returning to 16mm after decades away, and I'm doing it with a recently acquired B&H Filmo 70-DR. I'm working through shooting my first roll of film as a test, and I've run into a couple hiccups. 

After winding up the camera, the shutter-trigger will be completely loose, as if the camera has not been wound at all, and will not do anything. I was worried that maybe there was an internal issue with the plunger, but I opened the camera in the dark and manually advanced the film 1 frame, and that did the trick. Closed it up, and was able to trigger the shutter like normal again...

That is until the spring tension finished and I had to wind it up again. Same issue. So it appears that perhaps the film is jamming in a way that is preventing the trigger from being able to do its job. 

I'd like to solve this, as obviously, opening up the camera every time I re-crank it is not ideal working conditions. At this point I'm hoping it's operator error, but I'm not sure where I could have gone wrong. 

I'm shooting a (very old) roll of Kodak 7277 4-x reversal,

I have 3 lenses on the turret. A Wollensak 0.7", A General Electric 1" Television lens, and a Wollensak 3". 

If anyone has any thoughts I could certainly use help with my troubleshooting. 

[Tyler Purcell]

The shutter is probably sticky and not fully returning to the position the switch needs it to be in. I have serviced many of these cameras, most have similar trigger problems. It's an easy fix, but if you haven't done it before, it's very tricky to get it back together again and keep it running. I'm happy to do the service if you want, I'm in Los Angeles. 

[Robert Houllahan]

Just shot some film with a 70DR I bought a few years ago which looked like it was brand new or had maybe shot 3 or 4 rolls through and then was sitting for decades. 

As Tyler said getting it "unstuck" is a pretty easy thing to do but there are some small spring loaded parts on the turret which will escape across the room when disassembling to CLA and get running again. Once they CLA and re-lubed they tent to run perfectly.

[Cole Seidl]

Great! Thanks Tyler and Robert!

I'll have to just keep opening up/advancing with each wind-up until I can get through the remaining 35 feet or so, since I don't want to waste my film. Once the camera is empty again, I'll look into trying to take it apart myself and see if CLA is within my capabilities. If not, I'll have to consider sending it off to LA!

Appreciate the input. 

[Cole Seidl]

I just wanted to update for posterity. I'm pretty sure it was something I screwed up while loading the film. It ended up jamming, and I lost about 50ft of my 4-x . But I tried again with a roll of Tri-X, and the problem is now gone. 

I think, most likely, I just didn't double check to align the sprocket holes with the teeth while loading it. And/or I screwed up my loop sizes. 

The other option is that the camera simply didn't agree with the double per 4-x, but is happy with the single-perf Tri-x, but that seems unlikely to me. 

Edited June 17, 2025 by Cole Seidl

[Simon Wyss]

12 hours ago, Cole Seidl said:

other option is that the camera simply didn't agree with the double per 4-x, but is happy with the single-perf Tri-x, but that seems unlikely to me. 

Film perforated on both sides doesn’t pose a problem with any 16-mm. camera.

I have the impression that your camera needs some cleaning. Possibly it’s more than 70 years old, if an early DR. A service would bring it back to a like-new state. While at it a technician can measure flange depth and speeds, clean the critical finder, the turret finder, the mechanism including the release button and its bore. The money spent on servicing is not lost, it will be conserved as impeccable functioning, perhaps with a warranty.

[Cole Seidl]

On 6/18/2025 at 3:49 AM, Simon Wyss said:

Film perforated on both sides doesn’t pose a problem with any 16-mm. camera.

Thank you. I  suspected that was the case, but the number of variables at play had me questioning myself. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did intend to have it serviced in the near future (particularly to see if the critical focus viewer could be cleaned, because that's a nice extra feature to have access to) but wanted to make sure I was comfortable with the camera process first as I prep a larger scale project. 

Much appreciated!