Help! What could cause this anomaly?

[dow]

HI All,

I went out today to test a recently purchased 1936 Summar - no cleaning marks (shocker) but it does have light haze around the perimeter of the lens. It was cold today - about 20 degrees much worse with the wind chill. I used an afga push-on hood (see pic) and a pretty new Bessa R3a which hasn't given me any problems with my 50mm Nokton.

Here's the problem - all the pics had a light spot in the same place in the frame. I had the snaps processed at a drug store 1 hour place (they were trimmed in an odd way - often a black band on one side or the other of the image).

Any thoughts about what could be causing this? When I went to rewind the film I accidentally pulled the rewind knob all the way up but I didn't trigger the door to open. (My brain was frozen by then.)

Thanks in advance for any advice - this site has been an invaluable learning resource to me so it was the first place I thought of to ask.

Apologies to the moderators if I'm posting this in the wrong spot!

Best,

Dow

 

[35mmdelux]

curtain pinhole

 

[dow]

Really? Even with the R3a's metal shutter? There isn't a mark on it and it's less than 2 months old. I'm not saying your wrong - but that would surprise me.

 

[nikon_sam]

Run another roll through that camera but do a bit of testing while shooting...
Try to re-enact what happened before (outdoors & cold) with the Summar then switch to the Nokton...
Try different shutter speeds & aperture combos...
Watch for bright lights, harsh reflections or anything that can flare...
Shoot a few frames without the lens, then a few with the lens cap on (remove lens, point at the sun, replace with lens capped) then shoot...
Take notes of every frame shot, develop film and see if the problem returned (when and with what if it did)...
Good Luck...

 

[dow]

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like an excellent methodology to me. I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

 

[xwhatsit]

What do the negs look like? If you print them or scan them yourself, do the bright spots show up as well?

It may just be the pharmacy's printing machine. They're a digital scanner that then prints out as well.

 

[dow]

Look at the negs - now there's an idea. I did a quick scan with my POS plustek 7300 (worst purchase EVER) and as it turns out the negatives are fine (scratched, but fine). It was the printing at the lab that wasn't. And of course the negs weren't trimmed properly - it's just too hard I suppose.

I have had no luck with C-41 processing in Columbus Ohio. It's like hat blocking or coopering - a lost art. I bet there are now more competent glassblowers in the US than C-41 film processors. (End of rant.)

I'm mailing things off from now on. Which is sad - the one really good lab that was left in town - it was the last holdout that could do medium format and B&W in house - (it was also downtown, so of course it was doomed) closed a couple years ago.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Rangefinderforum is really the best.

Dow

 

[35mmdelux]

Really? Even with the R3a's metal shutter? There isn't a mark on it and it's less than 2 months old. I'm not saying your wrong - but that would surprise me.

sorry, my bad.

 

[dow]

No apologies necessary - thanks for taking the time to reply.