Full Blurry Roll /w M6?

[2WK]

I recently did a lifestyle shoot on a camping trip for a Sunglass company. I shot only film, using my M6ttl and a Mamiya 7ii. The last roll of film I ran through my M6 was a roll of expired (2005) Portra 400 NC. I was excited to see these shots, as I had a good feeling about them. Forest walks at dawn, beautiful light etc. Well I got the roll back from a new lab I had never used, and immediately the negs looked bad. I thought then that the expired film must have been to blame. I quickly scanned a bunch of frames and got really bummed out. They are all extremely blurry. But the strange thing is it looks to me like my rangefinder was way off or something. Like some parts of the image (branches of a tree) will be reasonably sharp, but my subject will be totally off.

So at this point I would conclude that my rangefinder is way off and needs a calibration. BUT! I developed a roll of tri-x from after the shoot....and it seems to be fine. Sharp images like normal.

What could it be? The badly expired film to blame? The shady new lab?
Im at a loss. I will post some of the pics for you to see shortly.

Thanks.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Did you use the same lens for both rolls? The lens and the camera are both adjustable for focus accuracy, so if you have more than one lens and one focuses right, the other can be off.

 

[venchka]

Unless the film has been stored in a dumpster in El Paso, it should be fine. I routinely use Kodak 400 & 800 Portra film older than yours with perfect results.
Controlled testing with the same camera/lens combination that produced the bad results is in order. Test the new lab as well.

Wayne

 

[ruby.monkey]

Rigid or collapsible lens?

 

[2WK]

Sorry, nokton 35 1.4sc. I have shot a ton of rolls through it, and the only blur I have had is from too slow shutter speed in low light. Then this one roll is totally off every frame. The worst part is that the photos have great exposure and I can tell that if the focus would have been on point, they would have been really nice. 🙁

I'm wondering if I somehow loaded the film improperly, or the lens wasn't on all the way, but that doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Lflex]

Could you share a scan?

 

[sanmich]

Do you have a sharp film taken AFTER this one?

It is possible that you knoked off your RF just before the last roll.
First, maybe check the RF at infinity (just take the camera out, no film, and try to focus on a very distant object like an antenna, the moon, or an antenna on the moon)

 

[paradoxbox]

film flatness could possibly cause an issue like that, if the film wound around the spool with one side tight and the other more loose, but you probably would have started noticing it when winding the frame advance lever.

is it possible you just accidentally used the wrong aperture?

i agree that a calibration may be in order - stick a piece of frosted scotch tape over the film gate and examine it with a 10x loupe while focused on a distant object at infinity, then again at objects closer to you. they should all appear in focus at the proper distances, if there's any blur then you know what the problem is.

 

[baisao]

I am not familiar with the Nokton but had half a blurry roll once when the front element of the lens I was using started to unscrew from the barrel. Just a thought.

 

[denizg7]

I had the nokton 1.4 SC before my summilux.

Let me say When I got the lens there was some oil that was used on the helicoid on the back of the lens, thankfully it was outside and i quickly cleaned it with alcohol..

I went on a road trip and left the camera upside down on an everyeady case on a hot weather, and did a whole roll , all shots were blurry..

I took the lens off and checked the back of the lens , there was grease again , cleaned it and fixed the problem...

 

[Pete B]

Do you have a sharp film taken AFTER this one?

I took the lens off and checked the back of the lens , there was grease again , cleaned it and fixed the problem...

So at this point I would conclude that my rangefinder is way off and needs a calibration. BUT! I developed a roll of tri-x from after the shoot....and it seems to be fine. Sharp images like normal.

Ten characters
Pete

 

[Richard G]

Do let us know the outcome. Intriguing. Unscrewing of a lens element could be it, if the Nokton allows that. A finger print on the back of my brand new ZM C Biogon 35 caused me some anxiety initially. I love the scotch tape test described above. Can't wait to try it.

 

[sanmich]

Ten characters
Pete

yup,

sorry, my bad...
really weird if so.

 

[2WK]

Thanks for the help. I did the scotch tape test, that was pretty cool, unfortunately I only have an 8x loupe, and I couldn't quite get it close enough to the tape to get a clear focus as my loupe is round.

I checked out the lens, and I think the elements are secure... no grease.

Here are some shots from the roll. Its puzzling to me because I took a couple landscape shots, and I know for a fact I focused to infinity @ f8 - f16, yet the foreground is in focus.

 

[2WK]

Here are a few more.

I have to say, I really miss the color of Portra NC.

 

[2WK]

:bang:

This experience makes me want to also shoot some digital as a backup for next time(s). As I was leaving for the trip I had the D3 in my hand, and then I thought.....'nah why bother' and left it on the shelf.

 

[2WK]

And yes, I do have some sharp scans from a roll of expired tri-x I shot after this trip.
So apparently, it is just this roll. I'm going to develop two more rolls of fresh tri-x today as well to be sure.

 

[mooge]

the back element of the nokton also unscrews... well, the ring that holds it in does. It's the one with the two things.
Maybe check if your lens rattles (i.e. there's something loose inside)-- I just checked mine and it doesn't rattle at f/16 and there's nothing wrong with it as of... well, like 10 rolls ago. The aperture might rattle a bit but it'll probably be obvious if there's a loose element.

 

[2WK]

Hmm the lens has a very slight rattle to it.
I think my best bet is to just take the whole mess down to Steve's Camera in Culver City and have him check it out ($$$) 🙁

 

[2WK]

The strangest thing is... say the lens was loose during those photos, somehow it managed to fix itself for this photo, days after.

This was shot on tri-x that expired in 1991!

Is there any way that the lab could have messed up and the images came out out of focus? I don't think so...