FED2 part-frame overexposed - not capping!

[GregSted]

Hello hello. I'm having a problem with my lovely FED2(b). My problem doesn't fit with the usual shutter capping problem of these cameras, it's something else.

The problem is that my negatives have a gradient (ie soft and fading away gradually further up the negative) bar extending roughly a third to a half of the way up (landscape orientation) of overexposure. At least, I think that's what it is. Below is a link to one of the shots, which I worked on a great deal in Photoshop in order to even out the pale lower half of the image. It was much much lighter than this originally.

The extent and degree of the paleness varies somewhat from shot to shot. Oddly, and probably very significantly, even the first wind-on shots (with lens cap on etc) already appear to have been partly exposed along the bottom. This is not visible to the naked eye, but my neg scanner picked it up (yes, I have tested the scanner and it is not causing the problem).

Seems like a light leak from the back? I dunno, it looks very tight to me.

Anyone have any similar experiences? I love this camera, and I don't want to relegate it to the 'what might have been' shelf!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greg_stedman/89263961/in/set-1170527/

 

[w3rk5]

Did this problem just start or was the camera always doing this? I'm not an expert at repairs but could it be the "lens mount" being a little lose, or possibly the shims under the lens mount are missing in areas?

 

[vladhed]

Can you post an uncorrected version? I can't see any problem with it.

 

[jonasv]

I really like that photo! I hope my new FED 3a starts acting up like yours... 😉

 

[GregSted]

Yarn seal? That's news to me, G'man. I'll give it a shot though. Nothing looks or feels loose, and I have tried the bright light thing already. Yes, it was maybe a bit silly to point you to a photo which I had corrected. Trust me, if you saw a 'before' to this 'after' you would feel faint. Thanks all, I'll report back soon. G

 

[fidget]

Greyhoundman, did the 2b have a light seal? my 2c & 2d don't have a yarn seal, should all models of the 2 have seals?
Some questions about the film, does it show some exposure in the film rebates? If only in the correct frame area then a possibility is poor development, if all the film shows signs of exposure then possibly this may have been acquired after the film left the camera.
I guess that a key question is, is this the only film shot in this camera?

 

[GregSted]

Thanks everyone. I'm going for this yarn seal thing, since there aren't any seals on my back at all. I don't think it was a development problem. I have used this camera before, but only once. There were no problems then, so maybe I didn't fit the back on as well this time and that in conjunction with the lack of light seals may account for what happened.

Actually, now I come to think of it I may have kept the case on when shooting the first roll, which would account for that one being fine.

I'm so glad I use rangefinder cameras. I don't think I'd get this kind of friendly support network if I had problems (which I did) with my Olympus SLRs. Thanks again.