Diy 6x9 Wide Angle Camera

RFH said:
No, unfortunately I have not eliminated the leak yet. Aside from the flares I have something like an evenly distributed double exposure on most frames, but with the second one coming from behind and being a bit larger than the image. I can only assume the light comes through the film window, but my attempt at blocking it today did not work. Sadly, the last few rolls have been useless due to this issue.
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Rasmus,

I have been looking at your night shots and your descriptions above. I want to make sure I am seeing/understanding what you are talking about.

1) In the first three night shots, the light leak seems to be in different places on the three photos
a) just above the roofs of first and second car from the right (photo 1, a vertical shot) (on right side of photo, but that would be on the bottom in landscape orientation)
b) in the upper part of the church building photo 2 (on right side of photo)
c) on both right and left side of photo 3 -- crescents, one concave, the other convex

Did I miss some?

Are these what you call flares (above)?

And when you say a double exposure, do you mean it has an image, or do you mean that there is just general light leakage (no image) that is evenly spread over not just the photograph, but slightly beyond its boundaries?

You also say that it comes from the back but covering the window does not seem to block it.

If all of that is right and I have not missed something, you seem to have

1) an intermittent entry of light (yes in night shots, no in day shots) -- but the light background of the day shots could be camouflaging it?

2) that appears in different places

3) and takes on different shapes (fuzzy round in some photos, crescent shape in others)

You also say that it varies with the outside light intensity -- do you mean overall intensity? then why not in the day photos? or high contrast?
and with how long the film has been wound.

And does the loss of recent films mean the frequency of appearance of the problem has increased from the beginning?

Some thoughts:

1) the leaks in the third night photo suggest reflections from the circular rim or internal part of the lens

2) I once had a mysterious, intermittent position changing light leak on a very different camera -- the problem was finally traced to deteriorating light seals where the back opened -- thus the problem only showed up in some shots with the sun behind me

Could you have a slightly warped back? This could be tested by taping the back after loading the film.

Still confused about some of the other variations.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Inside of camera flock or flat black?

Inside of camera flock or flat black?

I haven't read all the posts, but have you avoided internal reflection in the body of your camera by doing all surfaces inside in black paint designed for inside cameras. It's a flat black with a flock type effect.

light bouncing around inside your camera may be your problem.
 
Thanks for all of your interest and suggestions. I found a small leak in the glued edge of the lensboard. Filled it in with loads of black paint and let it dry. Checked in the bathroom with a small maglite. Everything seems tight now. Some of the flocking paint suggested by Patrick and Kuzano may do the last trick to prevent inside reflections. I have only used standard matt black, which I can see now is not good enough. I'll keep you updated.
 
pagpow said:
Rasmus,

I have been looking at your night shots and your descriptions above. I want to make sure I am seeing/understanding what you are talking about.

1) In the first three night shots, the light leak seems to be in different places on the three photos
a) just above the roofs of first and second car from the right (photo 1, a vertical shot) (on right side of photo, but that would be on the bottom in landscape orientation)
b) in the upper part of the church building photo 2 (on right side of photo)
c) on both right and left side of photo 3 -- crescents, one concave, the other convex

Did I miss some?

>No, that's them.

Are these what you call flares (above)?

>Yes. Some may call them ghosts. They seem to be related to the angle of light coming from above, so I assume it's because I didn't use a lens shade.

And when you say a double exposure, do you mean it has an image, or do you mean that there is just general light leakage (no image) that is evenly spread over not just the photograph, but slightly beyond its boundaries?

>I'll post a scan to show you. It's like a fully exposed frame but with no content that is overlaid on the actual image and off by a few millimeters. Sort of like an ND filter that renders the negative too dense.

You also say that it comes from the back but covering the window does not seem to block it.

>I'm just guessing. But I only did a half-ass job at covering it. It should be blocked by now. The false frames have an imprint of the rear of the image frame hole of the body, which creates the rippled edges I described above. You can see the ripples in the shot of the inside of the camera.

If all of that is right and I have not missed something, you seem to have

1) an intermittent entry of light (yes in night shots, no in day shots) -- but the light background of the day shots could be camouflaging it?

2) that appears in different places

3) and takes on different shapes (fuzzy round in some photos, crescent shape in others)

You also say that it varies with the outside light intensity -- do you mean overall intensity? then why not in the day photos? or high contrast?
and with how long the film has been wound.
And does the loss of recent films mean the frequency of appearance of the problem has increased from the beginning?

>I think the first film came out good because it was cloudy and grey outside, and the film was only in the body for 20-30 minutes.
When I shot in extreme sunlight the other day, the entire film was spoiled by false frames - worse than before. I can also see that because frame 1 has been loaded in position longer than the others, it has been totally blacked out.

Some thoughts:

1) the leaks in the third night photo suggest reflections from the circular rim or internal part of the lens

2) I once had a mysterious, intermittent position changing light leak on a very different camera -- the problem was finally traced to deteriorating light seals where the back opened -- thus the problem only showed up in some shots with the sun behind me

Could you have a slightly warped back? This could be tested by taping the back after loading the film.

>Perhaps. But the maglite test seemed ok.

Still confused about some of the other variations.

>Me too.

Good luck and keep us posted.
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Well, back to the lab...
 
picture-15.png


PX125 @ 400 - HC110 B @ 20c 7 mins. - 1 min. stop - 4 mins. fix - 9900f @ 800dpi.

I found some good matt paint for the inside of the box. Covered the film window with two layers of backing paper and went to shoot a roll. No more double / triple exposures and weird dark frames. The only issue left is the lens' terrible propensity for flaring as you can see in this image. Well, at least I know what it is. I'll start looking for a suitable 30.5 mm lens hood now.

Also, I'm really happy that this solution can restore my reputation in the eyes of all you prospective buyers of the Royal Twin Birth Commemorative Edition who are saving your hard-earned cash to get one. I know you have RTBCE GAS, and in hard times like these, I'd hate to let y'all down. I'm just waiting for the first paparazzi photos of the twins to appear so I can start engraving the portraits for the first shipment of cameras.
 
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I am impressed. Very dedicated work and a nice product.

Will you build the RTBCE to specification? I would like a cig lighter mounted and some blinking LED lights 🙂
 
Well done, and so much for theory. Thanks for keeping us up to date on your trouble-shooting.

RFH said:
picture-15.png


PX125 @ 400 - HC100 B @ 20c 7 mins. - 1 min. stop - 4 mins. fix - 9900f @ 800dpi.

I found some good matt paint for the inside of the box. Covered the film window with two layers of backing paper and went to shoot a roll. No more double / triple exposures and weird dark frames. The only issue left is the lens' terrible propensity for flaring as you can see in this image. Well, at least I know what it is. I'll start looking for a suitable 30.5 mm lens hood now.

Also, I'm really happy that this solution can restore my reputation in the eyes of all you prospective buyers of the Royal Twin Birth Commemorative Edition who are saving your hard-earned cash to get one. I know you have RTBCE GAS, and in hard times like these, I'd hate to let y'all down. I'm just waiting for the first paparazzi photos of the twins to appear so I can start engraving the portraits for the first shipment of cameras.
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Thanks for sharing this.
I may have to have at my box of bits and see if I can create something similar.

The results look very good and I am glad you were able to resolve your light issues.
 
Here's one of my first serious efforts with the DIY cam. Shot on Fomapan 400, developed with HC110 H for 14 mins. @ 20 degrees. The diluted developer seems to smooth out the highlights somewhat, which is just what I was looking for. And despite the strong lights above the lens, I have no flares. Yes.

auntitled-11.png
 
highway.jpg


hc3b8jhus1.jpg


Two shots from my first roll of colour film in the DIY camera. Ektachrome 64T. Scanning these positives gave a purple cast, but a bit of PS did the trick.
 
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Added a grip and a shutter cable, UV filter and shade. Now it looks like a grown man's camera.

project_10.jpg
 
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