On the plus side: I received my manual. A tiny little thing that doesn’t offer much information.
On the negative side: I realized this weekend that I had been filming…nothing. No film cartridge in the carriage, and this after taking what I thought would be great footage on our trip to Angel Island–with me and Sly waving at the camera like idiots.I read that 50ft of film produces about a 3 min. or so movie. It seemed like a lot longer than 3 minutes, so I became suspicious. I took a closer look at my camera, checking out the functions, trying to get the thing to zoom again. Then I noticed a gauge on the side of the camera that read “0…34…12…14” Then it dawned on me what that meant: that was a film indicator letting me know how much film was left in the cartridge. I took a closer look: didn’t seem to be any film in the camera…Only one way to know for sure: open the back and check.
I read that exposing the film would only expose several frames, not the entire cartridge, so I took the risk. Sure enough, it was empty.I popped in my reel of 1987 dated film and pushed “record.” I heard the sound that indicated that something was working, but it didn’t seem as if the film advanced at all. I took the film out, marked it, put it back in, tried the button again. It made the same noise. I took the film back out, and the film hadn’t advanced at all. Bummer.
My options are to try and see if this camera is reparable, or purchase another one. If I purchase a new one, I need to decide if it will be the same camera, or something different. Still not sure.On the positive: while reading the dinky manual on the BART ride to work, I read that sometimes when the camera makes a sound, but doesn’t advance the film, it could have something to do wthe batteries.
Tonight, I’ll try replacing the batteries, and ensuring they are correctly in place.Another question: what happened to the film reel of my brother’s first day of school?’
