I suspect you've nailed the problem -- there's several places where lubed parts
might stop moving properly at low temps, the mechanism that disengages the
sprocket shaft for rewinding being only one. The test would be to hold your
thumb on the sprocket and wind the camera empty before loading to be sure the
sprocket had engaged after rewinding. It is possible to "winterize" the camera
by removing all the liquid lubricants, but realize that doing so may
significantly reduce the useable life of the camera (or, more plainly said, it
may wear out faster!).
But at those temps you're lucky to have a camera that worked at all -- cold
batteries = no power, frozen film breaks like glass, there's greater likelyhood
of static causing streaks on film, etc., etc. Note that these have nothing to
do with a particular model -- any camera will suffer from these problems at
sub-freezing temps.
Adam Long wrote:
> I take it my post was ignored due to all the html - apologies. Here 'tis
> again.
> I recently changed films with my OM4ti on top of a mountain in patagonia. I
> don't know what the temperature was but the rubber OM lens hoods went very
> stiff - I'm guessing about -15deg celsius. I'd hope to avoid it but could
> hardly miss out on the summit shots! Anyway when I got the film back there
> were only 29 shots out of 36, the first 8 or so being superimposed. It seems
> as we lost height (and the temp went up) whatever was stopping the film
> winding on properly went away. This is the only film in 5 years I have had a
> problem with. My best guess is the rewind button stuck down for some
> reason - maybe thick/sticky lubricant? Can anyone with more experience give
> me a more informed opinion, and maybe advice on how to stop it happening
> again? Luckily I got one summit shot from the end of the last roll, but
> performance in these conditions is the main reason I bought the camera!
> Cheers,
> Adam
>
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