Bolex loop former issue or all good? Urgent.

[Lewis Hart]

Hey guys

i just popped my first roll into my 16mm bolex EBM pushed the film through, stuck it onto the lower take up, ran it and then took the formers off 

 

noticed that the film doesn’t keep the loop form shape but tugs tighter on the bottom claw side and looser on the top, does this matter ?

 

seems to be running through fine other than that.

thanks ahead

Some photos below 

https://ibb.co/37vvxgg
https://ibb.co/51hFcyn
https://ibb.co/fvQGZPZ
https://ibb.co/s2JYdFc

 

[Dom Jaeger]

If this happens every time it needs the sprocket rollers adjusted. 

Is it a newly purchased camera? 

[Lewis Hart]

45 minutes ago, Dom Jaeger said:

If this happens every time it needs the sprocket rollers adjusted. 

Is it a newly purchased camera? 

Thanks Dom

purchssed a few months ago, can I still shoot with it like so? Flew out to a different country to shoot with it so very much need to ideally if it’s still workable. 

[Dom Jaeger]

You didn't test it before hand? 

Well, you can probably just use it as it is and hopefully it doesn't affect the image stability or scratch anything. Make sure the top loop doesn't hit the loop former as it oscillates or it could scratch the emulsion and cause image jumps. The bottom loop is almost so tight that it will hit the loop re-former which should reset it. You could try to manually re-centre the loop after auto-loading it: pull the loop down and run some film through again to check it holds and isn't hitting the lower loop former.

You could possibly adjust the sprocket rollers yourself, it doesn't require any dismantling but it's a little tricky to get right for a non-technician, and you don't want to make things worse just before your shoot. PM me and I can give you some instructions if you can't find a tech to do it when you get home.

I would always recommend either shooting a test or paying a tech to look over any newly bought film camera, unless it came with some sort of guarantee that it has been recently serviced. It's too expensive to just shoot film on an untested camera and hope for the best. I recall you had trouble finding a local tech but there must be someone other than Les Bosher in the entire UK who knows Bolexes.

[Doug Palmer]

If the bottom loop is too tight by say one frame, I would certainly adjust the position of film before closing the door.  It may still be steady in the gate but anything could happen ?