Hasselblad light leak ... can you guess where it is?

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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This had me mystified ... I noticed it on the very first roll of film I shot in one frame and dismissed it as a chance happening ... but in the second roll it was in two apparently random frames and in exactly the same position. :confused:

I've since worked out what the cause was, how it happened to be random ... and have now remedied the problem.

So you Hasselblad experts out there have a guess and see if you can nail where the light leak was coming from and why it was random! :p


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Now you've got me worried Keith. That magazine is one of the very early "12" magazines with the mechanical seal on the darkslide (as opposed to the foam in foil seal), but I checked and cleaned it and the seal seemed to be functioning ok. The darkslide isn't perfect, but once again it seemed ok with the test roll I shot the weekend before I sent it. And I did replace the bits of black string (the seal between the magazine shell and the film holder) that most people ignore or are not aware of - I used the last good bits from my kit from John Goodman. So I'm hoping there is nothing wrong with the magazine I've loaned you!

So what's left? It is either happening with the shutter cocked, or with the shutter uncocked. But in either of those states the barn doors at the back of the body are closed, unless you've locked up the mirror. If you have used the MLU, you might get a light leak around the mirror if the foam seals there have deteriorated, but I doubt you'd get a nice sharply defined spot like that in the same place on negs on different rolls. The barn doors meet in the middle, horizontally. Any damage there would tend to cause a consistent leak, not random.

I'm guessing it has something to do with using MLU, but I still can't imagine where the leak is originating. That or ghosts, as Paolo suggests!
 
ChrisN said:
Now you've got me worried Keith. That magazine is one of the very early "12" magazines with the mechanical seal on the darkslide (as opposed to the foam in foil seal), but I checked and cleaned it and the seal seemed to be functioning ok. The darkslide isn't perfect, but once again it seemed ok with the test roll I shot the weekend before I sent it. And I did replace the bits of black string (the seal between the magazine shell and the film holder) that most people ignore or are not aware of - I used the last good bits from my kit from John Goodman. So I'm hoping there is nothing wrong with the magazine I've loaned you!

So what's left? It is either happening with the shutter cocked, or with the shutter uncocked. But in either of those states the barn doors at the back of the body are closed, unless you've locked up the mirror. If you have used the MLU, you might get a light leak around the mirror if the foam seals there have deteriorated, but I doubt you'd get a nice sharply defined spot like that in the same place on negs on different rolls. The barn doors meet in the middle, horizontally. Any damage there would tend to cause a consistent leak, not random.

I'm guessing it has something to do with using MLU, but I still can't imagine where the leak is originating. That or ghosts, as Paolo suggests!
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LOL ... it was the magazine but only a two minute fix Chris. It had me scratching my head though and the fact that it seemed to be random really puzzled me.

I love that film back ... I kind of like the quirkiness of the peekaboo system and I'm happy to buy it if you still want to sell it ... I can add the money to the postage cost for the Freestyle order?

In the meantime keep guessing! :D
 
Now you really have me scratching my head! The spot is off centre, so probably not associated with the peek-a-boo flap. And a light leak from the darkslide seal would normally show from the edge. You have me beaten! And on top of that I owe you for two minutes worth of skilled labour! I'd better stand aside and let the real experts consider this one.

I think you've bonded with that magazine now - I'd better let you keep it. As I mentioned I think it owes me $45 - add that to the postage for me if you want. :)
 
Leaf shutter no closing properly/fully? ie. sticking? Does it happen on long exposure frames only?

It's off-center though...
 
I'm no expert but I don't think there are really many places that can cause a light leek on the hassy - as was mentioned, it has to be the mag (never from the lens).

But this doesn't look like a light leek to me... could it be related to the pressure plate? A problem with the foam surely would result in something less symmetrical??
 
Double Negative said:
^ That's a weird shape and spot for a typical light leak... Usually it's the mags that develop them. I'm going with operator error. :p
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I have to admit operator error was my conclusion the first time it happened ... though how I didn't have a clue!

Two more on the subsequent roll after being ultra careful really messed with my head though and made me start looking very closely at the magazine.

At this stage I was starting to think ... "Why did I want one of these things!" :bang: :p
 
Keith said:
Two more on the subsequent roll after being ultra careful really messed with my head though and made me start looking very closely at the magazine.

At this stage I was starting to think ... "Why did I want one of these things!" :bang: :p
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Well what was it?
 
Did it happen only when the magazine was removed between shots? A leak through one of the openings in the front baffle?
 
OK ... it did only happen when the magazine was removed. Around the edge of the face that mounts to the back of the body there are nine tiny screws that hold the magazine casing together. One had fallen out at some stage and was letting a small beam of light hit the film where it goes around a roller ... but only when the back was off of course. When the magazine is on the camera the hole is covered and causes no problem!
 
ok, I'm going out in left field here with my theory.

a piece of leatherette was missing from the bottom of the magazine and a screw that holds an inner part (kinda rounded and faces spool) was missing. very small screwhole allowed light to expose the film while it was on the spool.

maybe it was random because of the way you hold the camera ?
 
newsgrunt said:
ok, I'm going out in left field here with my theory.

a piece of leatherette was missing from the bottom of the magazine and a screw that holds an inner part (kinda rounded and faces spool) was missing. very small screwhole allowed light to expose the film while it was on the spool.

maybe it was random because of the way you hold the camera ?
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You were sort of close in your guess as to where the light was coming from ... but random because I took the magazine off the camera once during the first roll and twice during the second! :p
 
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