Light leak or bad developing?

[DKimg]

So I just received the Makina 670 days ago, and had my first test shoot yesterday with the camera in Miami. After the shoot, I developed the 8 rolls of film. Upon completing the whole development process, I notice that every roll had extreme directional flares along the edge of the rolls, especially every first to second frame, having that flare overlapping the image. Is this from a light leak or poor developing?

I'm assuming it's a light leak because my other two cameras; makina 67 and Fuji GX680 system haven't given me this issue. I'm trying to figure out the cause of the issue because if it's the camera, I'm trying to justify if I should repair the issue or return it to the seller (or it's just me, my developing process). :bang:

To give any further background info, I've used Both Kodak TMax100 and 400 (pulled to 200 ASA). It was a very windy and cloudy day, as it rained before the test shoot.

Developed with Rodinal 1+100. Used both the plastic reel/tank and steel reel/tank; however, I noticed nothing different with the end result.

 

[Chris101]

Sure looks like a light leak to me.

 

[Dwig]

It appears to be light leaks (plural).

The pattern in the last picture shows what looks to be an in-camera leak. There also appears to be frequent areas where light has leaked in from the edges, most likely from a loosely wound roll after exposure.

 

[Mablo]

Definitely light leaks from up and down sides of the camera. Slightly damaged bellows perhaps?

 

[MikeL]

Hi DK,
How does the light seal foam look like on the back of the camera. My 670 recently developed a similar leak (a band that went 3/4 across the frame) as the foam lost its spring-back. In my case, however, it wasn't on every frame, so it probably had to do with how I gripped it. I removed the old foam and replaced with black wool yarn, and it has been fine since.

 

[DKimg]

Definitely light leaks from up and down sides of the camera. Slightly damaged bellows perhaps?

Well I had a roll of kodak in there... took it out and thrown a light by the bellows in the dark. Seems like 3 pin holes on the opposite side corners of the bellows. That's truly all it takes for that major effect on a negative? I know it may sound a bit naive asking but still kind of shocked that the tiny little pinhole would do such a thing... 😱

 

[DKimg]

Hi DK,
How does the light seal foam look like on the back of the camera. My 670 recently developed a similar leak (a band that went 3/4 across the frame) as the foam lost its spring-back. In my case, however, it wasn't on every frame, so it probably had to do with how I gripped it. I removed the old foam and replaced with black wool yarn, and it has been fine since.

Ah yes I forget to even comment a concern too. The foam around the plate is a bit chipped off. It's not completely smooth but indeed it's not perfect. Not sure if that's another cause of the light leak.

 

[MikeL]

For me, replacing the foam on the camera (versus the back) did the trick. The foam had gone stiff and was no longer resilient.