Dodgy developing or light leak?

[thegman]

Hello all,
I recently took 4 shots in my 4x5 camera (Fotoman 45SPS), 2 of them came out rather badly, and two came out just fine.

The shots which are bad were in two different film holders, but I don't discount them both being a bit shifty, as I bought them used (I know, I know). Just wondering if this looks like bad development at the lab, or like a light leak in the holder?

It's not so awful, as my other two photos look fine, so at least I got 2 keepers out of four, I'd just like to know what went wrong so I don't repeat it.

Cheers

Garry

 

[StevenJohn]

Looks like a leaky holder to me. I would run a test on self developed B&W where I pulled the darkslide in bright light.

 

[thegman]

Looks like a leaky holder to me. I would run a test on self developed B&W where I pulled the darkslide in bright light.

I think so too, maybe I should just spring for a couple of new ones...

 

[Pirate]

With a good little flashlight you should be able to check the holder and see any light leaks. I did it with some of mine and if there are leaks there, they will show very easily.

 

[ChrisN]

That's a shame - nice subject too, although we're a few shy of the claimed twelve!

Look at where the leaks are coming from - both sides and diagonally, and shaded along one edge. If I get leaks like that with either of my 4x5 cameras I'd suspect that I was being clumsy in my handling of the camera after I've loaded the film holder into the camera.

After loading the film holder into the camera, but before removing the dark slide, make sure the film holder is correctly seated, and that the ground glass back is also firmly seated with the springs holding the back and film holder in place. When you remove the dark slide, be careful that film holder isn't lifted away from its seated position even slightly. After the exposure be similarly careful when refitting the dark slide.