gsn flare? or leak?

[it'sawhat?]

hi all just got a nice gsn the other day and ran a test roll if fuji 200 . In a couple of shots what seems to be flare or a leak shows up. First one shows what looks like the iris in upper middle of the shot, and on the second one a few frames down it's lightly fogged in the same spot. I had a skylight filter that came with it on. Question is doest the gsn flare much ,could the filter contribute, and any idea if a neutral desity filter would help? I really like the heck out of this camera other than this . any suggestions welcome I'll shoot some more to see what the limits seem to be. BTW this was between 9 and 10 am if I remember right and I was facing the sun shooting into shade.

 

[Mablo]

I wouldn't say the GSN lens is particularly prone to flare but of course like most lenses it will flare if you shoot more or less against the sun. Scratches on the front lens and/or a dirty filter will make things worse. I think the best thing you can do is to buy a good lens hood, take away the skylight filter and try not to shoot against the sun. I'm not sure if ND filter would help with flare (but I have my doubts).

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Hmm... Can you post a scan? Or just a digicam photo of the negative strip?

Test the light seals: shoot three blank frames (e.g. with lens cap on). Leave the camera out in bright light, but not direct sun, for a day or two. Three more blank frames. When you develop the film, look at the strip of negatives. Should see six perfectly blank frames. Anything else is a light leak.

My experience with Electros is they all need the light seals replaced.

Facing the sun shooting into shade? Tough situation. Anytime direct sunlight is falling on the front of the lens is tough. Find a way to shade the lens. And, it's tricky on the GSN, because most 55mm lens hoods will obscure the viewfinder and metering window.

 

[it'sawhat?]

thanks guys, I'll take you're suggestions just need to be more careful when it comes to the angle of the sun. I didn't have to watch it much with the pentaxs i used to use but just need to adjust.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

GSN Flare Example

GSN Flare Example

Lens flare... Three distinct features... 1) overall loss of contrast, 2) ghost images, and 3) diffraction rays or "star" pattern.

This is an absurd case just to illustrate. I shot with the winter sun in the frame with a GSN. Notice the 10-way diffraction pattern from the 5 bladed diaphram. And, the ghost image in the lower right.

Of course there is some overall loss of contrast, but less than I expected. There is still detail and contrast in most of the frame. I think this is an extreme case.

Probably f/16 at 1/500th, and probably it was over-exposed. It's Arista 400 (Tri-X).

For the OP, did your example look anything like this?

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Last December, I wanted to see how my GSN did with flare. Hence, the image above, and this one, with direct sun reflection off the ice. In this tough situation, I'd say the GSN did pretty well -- No ghosts, contrast is OK on the walkway and on the ice in background.

The bright reflection on the left has erased some of the trees. Probably halation in the film, another feature when you have spectral light sources in the frame.