fed 4 mystery: shutter ruined?

[grapejohnson]

after walking around shooting outdoors one particularly bright and glarey day with the jupiter 8 lens i had just purchased (without a lens cap), i was baffled to see pictures like this:

i attributed it to lens flare at first, but the second picture is in a bar and was shot at about 1/15th of a second wide open. i later looked at my shutter and noticed some vertical marks on it which look like burns, like if you would burn polyester pants or something on the bit of the shutter when it's cocked. they don't match the direction of the lines in the images though. could it be sun burns? could it be light leaking from the top of the shutter? since this happened, i've used a lens cap and hood at all times, and leave my shutter uncocked until i'm composing and ready to take a picture. i haven't seen these mysterious lines on my pictures since, but i got my bessa r3a not long after and haven't used the fed much since. anyone know what it could be?

 

[greyelm]

If the problem is being caused by holes in the shutter a quick fix is to thinly paint liquid electrical tape over the holes. This fix can last for a reasonable length of time and is worth trying before looking for other light leaks.

Something like this


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starbrite-Liquid-Tape-Coating-BLACK/dp/B0000AXNOD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346225135&sr=8-1

 

[wolves3012]

Sun-burnt curtains tend to have one or more small holes, even many if it's happened repeatedly. They usually produce one to many white spots on the negs. That doesn't match your shots and I'm struggling to associate it with shutter issues. Looks much more like some kind of light-leak, whether in-camera or not. The bar shot really doesn't seem to have any light sources bright or white enough to cause that streak, suggesting it was caused pre or post-exposure and not during. I think I'd be looking elsewhere first. The line being at the top also means a leak would be towards the bottom, although it could be reflected from almost anywhere.

If you want to check the shutter cloth, shine a very bright light into the camera body (lens removed) and look at the other side (back removed!). Do this in a dimly-lit environment and you'll see any light getting through. A small, bright torch will do the trick and don't forget to check both curtains i.e. with shutter cocked and uncocked. Likewise, that same bright light might reveal a leak around the shutter area.

If you're worried about sun-burns, close the lens right down between shots. I did some experiments a while back (search the threads) and by f/16 it takes quite some seconds of carefully focussed and carefully aimed sun to damage the cloth. You'd be unlikely to stand still long enough and have the lens focussed accurately on the cloth to do it. Avoid leaving it on a table, pointed at the sun, for instance.

 

[funkydog]

Are all the pictures on the same roll like this? You might have a light leak somewhere in the seams of the removable back cover. Something could be flexing as you grip the camera and a gap opens temporarily.
Perhaps this thread will give you ideas for identifying the cause.
Help me track down a Zorki 6 light leak!

 

[grapejohnson]

Are all the pictures on the same roll like this? You might have a light leak somewhere in the seams of the removable back cover. Something could be flexing as you grip the camera and a gap opens temporarily.
Perhaps this thread will give you ideas for identifying the cause.
Help me track down a Zorki 6 light leak!

I thought this was the issue at first, and covered all the sides and places where light could have been leaking when i took these pictures. It's only three or four pictures, and I've used the camera since for other things since and haven't had the issue.

 

[DaveP]

Ive had the same experience, since the light streak goes across the frame like that ,its the shutter curtains. Mine would do that but only on a few frames per roll. I found out by accident that the problem was me. My finger nail was just barely hitting the shutter speed selector as it spun and causing a slight gap in the curtains. I put a soft release on the shutter button which raised my finger enough to miss it, havent seen the problem since. Hope thats all it is for you.

 

[grapejohnson]

Ive had the same experience, since the light streak goes across the frame like that ,its the shutter curtains. Mine would do that but only on a few frames per roll. I found out by accident that the problem was me. My finger nail was just barely hitting the shutter speed selector as it spun and causing a slight gap in the curtains. I put a soft release on the shutter button which raised my finger enough to miss it, havent seen the problem since. Hope thats all it is for you.

Wow, that makes perfect sense. Great

 

[Dez]

Ive had the same experience, since the light streak goes across the frame like that ,its the shutter curtains. Mine would do that but only on a few frames per roll. I found out by accident that the problem was me. My finger nail was just barely hitting the shutter speed selector as it spun and causing a slight gap in the curtains. I put a soft release on the shutter button which raised my finger enough to miss it, havent seen the problem since. Hope thats all it is for you.

Wouldn't that make overexposed bands that were vertical instead of horizontal?

Cheers,
Dez

 

[DaveP]

Yep your right, my mistake.

 

[fidget]

It looks to me as if it could be that the curtains laths are separating as the film is wound on. There is a little guard or fence at the top and bottom of the curtain track. This helps to stop light leaking around the sides of the curtains, but their function is also to "hold" the laths closely together as they are cocked (they move across overlapped).

If the guards/guides give the laths too much space, so they can separate, it can lead to the marks extending beyond the frame (you didn't say) and can obviously vary according to when and in what light you cock the shutter. Look at it in a darkened room with a torch on the far side as you cock the shutter. If you have film in it, run a couple of frames off, shot with a lens cap on but cocked with the cap off and deliberately letting light in.

Dave