Flare or Transmigration?

GeneW

GeneW

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I'm enjoying my new M2 to no end but I turned up a really weird image last Friday when having coffee with an old friend. My M2 has a little extra bit of noise at the end of the exposure at 1/30 and 1/15. I took a couple of shots of him against the light of a fairly bright window, shooting at 1/30 close to wide open with an Ultron 35/1.7. Both had some weirdness, but this was the worst case.

The results are spooky. Either his soul was leaving him at that moment, or there's something going on. Any ideas? I thought maybe the second shutter curtain was trailing the first just a little bit, but when I looked at it closely later with no film in, I couldn't see any trace of it. His shot of me, while a little blurred with hand shake, but with the window behind him, exhibited no transmigratory attributes.

My other thought is that this might be some kind of bizarre lens flare. I've noticed the Ultron is subject to flare outdoors -- the little hood that comes with it is clearly inadequate and I'll be replacing it with a vented hood soon. But could lens flare look like this?

Hey, if it's a 'feature' I might be able to make my fortune on the seance circuit :D

Gene
 
That's a pretty cool effect, Gene! My guess is that the shutter stayed open for an extra 1/2 to 1 second. It is something that is affecting the entire image area, not just the side where the shutter curtains end up.
 
The streaks were recorded on film as you swung the camera away from the subject, with the shutter still open.
 
Yeah, that's kinda what I thought too, but doesn't transmigration sound a lot more interesting? So what do I say when I take it in for a CLA? "Could you excise the ghost from the machine, please?" :D

Gene
 
Cool, if unitentional. I took my M3 up to Gord at Commercial Camera, he is a trained Leica Tech so he will have your M2 better than new really quick.

Bill
 
Uncle Bill said:
Cool, if unitentional. I took my M3 up to Gord at Commercial Camera, he is a trained Leica Tech so he will have your M2 better than new really quick.

Bill
Click to expand...

I would take mine into Kominek's only because it's in the downtown area and I sort of have an in with the owner.. where's Commercial Camera located Bill ?

The slow speeds may need tweaking Gene.

Dave
 
What we have here is photographic proof that cameras DO steal a subjects' soul. Sucks it right out!
 
I knew it! :D

I know Kominek's (had my Rollei CLA'd there some 20 yrs ago) and it's conveniently located. I'm not familiar with Commercial Camera. I've heard Kinderman's is good. Any experiences?

Gene
 
It almost looks like the second curtain did not close completely at the end of the shot and you moved the camera, creating the Ghost. Or perhaps the shutter did not cap during winding. Just guesses, that is the problem with the Nicca that was the rear lens cap of the Collapsible Nikkor. You can take the lens off and look at the shutter to see if it happens again. If so, CLA time.
 
Thanks Brian. The second curtain was my first guess as well but I couldn't see any evidence of this when I inspected it without film. In either case, I think it's CLA time.

Gene
 
Often, In my experience, this problem is caused by a small piece of torn film becoming caught up in the shutter curtains, so causing occaisional malfunction of the timing and movement of the blinds. It can be quite hard to find some times but by various maniulations may be removed. It's more common in screw thread models.
 
Thanks for the tip, Hektor. It's worth a look.

The camera is a beauty -- it fires perfectly on all the higher speeds and I'm quite taken with the 'feel' of the machine. I'll delay getting the CLA until I've had a longer get-acquainted period. I'm starting to get comfortable with loading film, though I still need a place where I can sit. Unlike the Bessa, which I can reload while I'm walking.

Gene
 
put the base in your teeth while you're reloading, and consider getting a rapid load spool and base-plug for it, they are a standard leica acessory often available s/h, - probably a lot of the RFF'ers use them and could tell you if they see one on offer.

the extra sounds you mentioned earlier are normal on a couple of the speeds,.... it should sound a bit like a little steel ball falling into a steel cup and rattling around a bit. that shows the shutter is working correctly on those speeds. it's the retard mech bouncing on the stop.
 
Rapid load spool and base plug? Does anyone have a photo of one of these? I've not seen one before.

This wouldn't be cheating, would it?? :D

Gene
 
I have the Rapid Load kit on the M3 SS. Honestly, buying a second standard take-up spool and pre-threading it for drop-in is as fast (or faster) for reloading.
 
try drinking decaf...that is an interesting effect. I agree that a CLA may be in order. Do the speeds sound consistent?
 
I had a kind of similar (actually 2) with my once functional Canonet. It since has developed the sticky shutter syndrome. I was walking parallel to my wife as I released the shutter. At that point in its lifetime it would trip the shutter after a slight delay a couple times after it had been resting a while. Got some crazy shots with it, some quite nice.
 
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