K 3 perforation damage and light leak

[Damian Tyler]

I've just acquired a Krasnogorsk 3 which I'm looking forward to trying. It came with a length of exposed film for me to practise loading. At first I struggled with this, but after about 10 - 12 attempts I got to the stage where I could consistently load it and have it run smoothly throught he camera. Except that sometimes, not every time but often, the first 12 - 18 inches of the load have either torn perforations, or stratches between the perfs, or both. And, not as often but sometimes, the last foot or so will have similar damage. I'm assuming it's caused by the pull down claw. I'm rewinding by hand and examining the film as I do, and there is no damage to the rest of the film.

If this was a real load the sections in question would be unuable anyway because of light exposrue, so in theory it might not matter, but it worries me. Is it down to someting I'm doing or not doing? Or a problem with the camera? Or does it always happen?

The other issue I have is that there will definitely be a light leak around the footage counter. When  the camera is open I can see light coming in there - whatever foam sealant there once was has long gone. I will tape over the counter on the outside, but will want to look at it from time to time. I've read suggestions that you should tape around the counter inside the camera. This would stop the light leak, but I'm worried about having tape in there - if it came adrift the consequences could be horrendous. Does anyone have any experience of doing this?

[Dom Jaeger]

If it's only happening at the start of a roll, it's probably due to the auto-loading and not a big problem as long as the film runs smoothly afterwards. But any perf damage or scratching is not ideal, and will contaminate the camera with film dust or chips. Some things to check:

Check that the sprocket roller is set to the correct height so that the teeth line up with the groove in the guides on each side, and the guides don't open out when you run the camera. Check that the film perfs are properly engaging with the sprocket teeth going in and out. The sprocket roller is held by two screws, you can loosen them to re-position it.

Does your camera have the loop formers? If so, it's possible that the rotational position of the sprocket roller teeth and the top loop former position are feeding the film into the gate so that the claw is not properly engaging with the film perfs. The pressure plate tends to vibrate in and out when that's happening. You can try to loosen and rotate the sprocket roller (there is a flat surface on the shaft inside for one of the screws to lock on to) and see if that helps the claw engages a perf as the film is fed through the gate, or ideally just remove the loop formers and form the loop manually. 

If the loop formers have been removed, check that you have positioned the film in the gate with the claw engaged in a perf.

There shouldn't be a problem using gaffer tape to block any light leaks. People tape every surface of the camera sometimes to prevent leaks in K3s, you've probably seen this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeB1bTwhso4

 

[Damian Tyler]

Thanks Dom. I will have a look at the sprocket roller position. Guides stay closed when the camera is running. The loop formers are still in place, and once the plunger is depressed the pressure plate is stable. I'll take the chance with the gaffer tape - so long as the surface is clean it should stick well and I'll check it between loads.