Recently experienced a barrage of analog foolishness.
Not what one would deem as optimal for something meant to act as a distraction usually.
No. These are recent events that would tick me off were it not for a healthy perspective. Some amounted to a technical failing. Some were self-owns. Some were a combination of the above. Here they are in roughly the order of occurrence. And just to add to the fun, they also occurred simultaneously.
Film Jam (Not as fun as that may sound.)
Recently my daughter wanted to see Barbie… so we went to see Barbie. Liked it. But more importantly, we got to make some great memories. Anyhoo. As an analog companion this day, I chose a favorite SLR camera of mine and the film chosen was Cinestill 800T. Never tried it before and an evening movie showing seemed a perfect use case. Around the 20th frame, the auto film advance sounded a touch labored. Then it stopped completely on frame 27. Thought to myself, maybe this is a 27 exposure roll like some other films I am trying currently. Right? But I knew better really. Cinestill does 36 exposure rolls. But I did not want to think about the alternative outcome. The film jammed.
This means a definite loss of 9 plus exposures never used and depending on what happened with the pre jam exposures I may have pics already taken. Hopefully, this is a one-off event and not an indicator of the camera failing… because I really like this camera. But at least it should be inexpensive to replace… and admittedly I do have an ugly duckling, but also capable, Pentax AF SLR alternative waiting in the wings. But back to the task at hand. What to do about this film in the camera that hopefully has some salvageable images from a night of hanging out with my kid.
To the dark bag!… also sounds sketchy.
Opened the camera in the dark bag and thankfully the film freely rolled out of the camera and I loaded it in the daylight tank. Cool! Right!?!?! Not so fast. On the the next analog failing opportunity…
Water Heater Failure
More specifically for the first time ever the Cinestill TCS1000 that made home development of CS41 a thing threw an E05 error message. After a quick instruction manual visit I was pointed to the impeller being stuck. Followed the trouble shooting instructions:
- Unplug unit.
- Removed bottom cap.
- Spin impeller and free any debris.
- (There was no debris and it spun freely.)
- Replace the cap, plug it in, and try again…
And after several attempts, I still kept getting the same error. Have had the TCS1000 for over a year. I have developed a LOT of rolls with it. Admittedly I did not expect it to last forever, but I did not expect it to fail in a little over a year either. Braced myself for the worst but optimistically contacted Cinestill support and heard back from someone I actually knew… Andre.
He now works for Cinestill, but I met him while he studied at UNC Chapel Hill and worked at Southeastern Camera… or at least I think he did. Maybe we just crossed paths there. He was also the next owner of a Leica M3 that spent a brief time with me. Back to the task at hand. To try and make a long story short, though that ship has sailed, I now have a new TCS1000 that is on the way. I am not implying that this has anything to do with me knowing Andre. Just that along with having fantastic support it was nice to deal with someone that I knew.
I took it as a wink from the universe to remind me not to take things so seriously.
While this was a great resolution it did play a role in another incident. But let me first back up.
The immovable ASA dial.
The Konica C35 AF2 is a camera that I adore overall. Its better traits, like a very sharp lens, accurate focus and exposure, put it up there with all-time favorites and outright legends in my universe. In fact, I once had this and a Contax T2… and only the C35 AF2 remains. Not saying it is better, but it is good enough that it serves as my knock around point and shoot of choice. Great performance without having the same will I lose it or break it anxiety. The one fault? The ASA dial and my beef mitts do not get along at all. Others have moved the dial, but not me. I look like I am trying to break a tiny brick in half when I try to move it.
And it was firmly stuck directly between 50 and 100 ISO. In other words useless. I tried once more while contemplating the whole TCS1000 thing and by some miracle, the planets aligned and the dial moved back and forth. Should have set it at 400, my film ISO preference, and left it alone. But hubris led me to fiddle with it… and it promptly fused itself between 50 and 100 ASA again… A string of words came to mind that are not fit for polite company. And it was a self-own.
Got over it and Googled it. There was a video about a workaround but I was unsure how to secure the tool he used… a rolled up rubber dealie… um… never mind… so a dead end. I kept searching and on Flickr of all places someone mentioned that they used a squash ball. Press it into the dial and turn they says. My first thought was pfft… a squash ball… sounds ridiculous… and then I ordered some squash balls. And what do you know… It worked like a charm.
So let’s load up some film! I loaded a roll of a color film I wanted to try and then remembered…
…I was out of the home color development business until the new TCS1ooo arrived. No big deal. I have not used any exposures yet. Roll it back and load in some black and white. You can probably see where this is going… Next up.
The overzealous rewind.
Rolled it back too far and into the film canister. Whee!
After another brief inner monologue full of choice words I decided it was no big deal. They pull the lead out at the camera shop to load film into the machine all the time. Then I thought, maybe I will order up the little tool I see them using. Then I thought let me Google this. And what do you know? With a piece of film and some double sided tape, you could do it yourself.
And it worked perfectly the first time. Nice.
Black and white film is loaded and the color film is ready for use once the TCS1000 arrives.
I thought I would feel aggravation with all of this. Because of course life was doing its thing at the same time as it often does in adulthood. But I expect other things to go off of the rails. Film photography is my safe space. Right?
But I was not annoyed in the least. And it made sense once I thought about it.
Analog photography is not about everything going “right”. If I was interested in predictability and consistency then I should be using digital. Or pick another hobby entirely. The unpredictability is the point. Resolving unintended challenges is the distraction. And these problems brought about an opportunity to learn and try new things.
By that measure, this has been a great success.
- The jammed film was retrieved and is ready to be developed.
- The TCS1000 is being replaced at no cost.
- The immovable ASA dial was moved.
- The disappeared film leader was retrieved.
It comes down to one question.
What am I going to focus on?
Focus on problems or working towards a resolution. Resolutions it is. And I have come away with a feeling of accomplishment. Even if some of this was brought on by me. It all worked out.
Good.
Now to go finish that roll of B&W film, wonder if my Pentax *ist is okay, and obsess about the TCS1000 delivery.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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