I have a Nikon FE2 35mm. The lever to advance the film is stuck! I want to take off the base plate to see what is going on and to try to fix it, but I have a roll of film in the camera. Would removing the base plate expose the film to light?

  • Did it stick immediately after you took a shot or...? Is it stuck fully closed or part way through it's movement? – Hueco Aug 22 '18 at 22:38
  • It stuck after about the 18th shot..Seems to be stuck fully closed..thanks for your reply – mikey Aug 23 '18 at 15:27
  • I'll take a look at my older film bodies to see if I can help point you in a direction. However, your next step should be to pop the back in a change bag or darkroom, get the film out, roll it back into the canister, and make sure you have a chance to salvage at least some photos before progressing to troubleshooting. – Hueco Aug 23 '18 at 15:41
  • How many exposures were on the roll of film? Is it possible that you have simply reached the end of the roll? (Perhaps the exposure counter isn't reliably counting up, and you've, e.g., actually shot 24?) – Jim MacKenzie Aug 23 '18 at 21:16
  • It's 36 exposure roll..I've now managed to remove the film..I took the base plate off the camera and noticed a little gear lever was preventing the film advance lever from winding/advancing, so very carefully i pulled it back and it seemed to work as normal again..But, i left it for a while and it got stuck again! I repeated what i done but it eventually goes back to getting stuck? – mikey Aug 24 '18 at 8:44

Whatever is causing the film-advance lever to be stuck involves a chain of components that are in contact with the film. Even if removing the base plate does not itself expose the film to light, exposing the stuck components would likely allow light into the camera.

If there are any shots on the film that you wish to preserve, you should remove the film before attempting to operate on the camera. Although the film-advance lever is stuck, you may still be able to rewind the film. Otherwise, you will need to use a dark room or changing bag.

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