Took me 5 years to figure out I was loading my film camera backwards

I bought a Pentax K1000 from a thrift store back in 2019 and have been shooting with it ever since. Last month I got my rolls back from the lab and half the frames had light leaks or were totally blank. The guy at the shop looked at my camera, laughed, and showed me I was feeding the film with the spool facing the wrong way every single time. Something about the tension was off and it caused uneven winding. Has anyone else had a dumb mechanical habit that took way too long to notice?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan_hill6019d ago

Took me three years before I realized my darkroom bags had a zipper.

sarah22919d ago

Isn't it funny how we just accept the way things are without really looking? I notice that a lot in my own life too. We get so used to doing something the hard way that we never stop to think there might be a simpler option right in front of us. Like how I always opened my mail with a knife until my neighbor pointed out the perforated edge is meant for tearing. Once you see it, you can't unsee it, but until then you just keep fumbling around.

betty_white3919d ago

You ever spend 20 minutes looking for your glasses while they're on your face? That was me with my camera shutter button. Had a Nikon for two years and kept wondering why my finger was sore after every shoot. Turns out I was pressing the film advance lever instead of the actual shutter release. The real button was right there under my thumb the whole time.