Analog Therapy/Film Test/Support Riddle Solved: Lomography MC-A – Lomography Redscale XR.
Let’s start with the last item.
Support Riddle Solved.
As noted in recent posts after a long successful run of initial rolls of film I have had been dealing with some Lomography MC-A issues.
As shared with Lomography support:
- On the third-to-last roll of film, the camera would go dark after an exposure. The screen turns off, and the lens does not return into the camera. Was using the rechargeable battery that came with it, so I thought the battery might have gone dead early, since the battery showed that there was plenty of battery left. But when you take the battery cover off and put it back on, the camera springs back to life, and the lens goes back in. I did notice a blank frame on the negative, but did not think much of it. Charged it fully, and then on the second-to-last roll of film, it happened again. Thought the rechargeable battery may be faulty, so I used a new battery, and it did not shut off again, but…
- The remainder of the roll had numerous empty frames. 9 out of 27 frames were blank, and this is not normal. I am used to a nearly 100% hit rate with the MC-A. To make sure, I ran another roll of film through it, and once again 9 frames were blank. (Pictures of negative attached.) Photos were taken back to back with similar lighting conditions using P mode to take human error out of the equation. Paid close attention, and it also sounded like the shutter was sticking on some frames.
Lomography tried a replacement battery first. At first I thought the issues may be sorted after a successful roll with an Amazon Basics battery…
…gifted to me by Cesar…
…to bail me out of a tight spot while we were at a Lucha Libre/Car Show event. But then… the two replacement batteries arrived from Lomography. Charged them up and gave them a go. It did not go well.
Battery 1.
As I was loading the film the camera blacked out like it did with the original battery. I immediately removed it and put in…
Battery 2.
Roll seemed to go well, but once done I found that the second issue came back. This time it was not seven blank exposures, but thirteen.
No bueno.
End result? I do not trust that first camera anymore.
That brought me back to trying only the Amazon battery.
The riddle?
Is the issue the battery or the camera?
With this roll it seems that the battery does play a part… maybe? Because while the Amazon battery and last Lomography battery seemed to solve the blackout issue, I have now seen the skipped frame issue with both as well… If a Lomography battery touched the camera’s battery compartment at any time… which makes no sense.
For one last roll I tried only using the Amazon battery again. But regardless of the outcome I had lost confidence in the camera. It should not behave this way no matter what battery I use.
Fortunately after a couple of weeks of silence and unreturned emails Lomography started a return/replace process with me. Which is good, because I really like this camera.
So I am glad the new one arrived.
I already posted the first test roll with it.
This here is the second roll of film through my second MC-A.
The occasion.
A mixed bag. Carried it while milling about living life.
The film.
For my troubles Lomography gifted me a nice camera strap and a three pack of Lomography Redscale XR film. Nice. Have tried another red tinted film before. Harman Phoenix 200.
Some images with Phoenix almost look like regular color film with enough light
Had thought Phoenix film was red, but Redscale said hold my film canister because you have not seen anything yet. More on this with sample pics below.
Developed with Cinestill CS41.
The pics.
A very red film. I like it. But some pics got me wondering how they would look converted to black and white. Pretty good it seems.
Thoughts.
Great film.
Nice film. And for free.99 the price is right.
Happy capturing.
