Light leak or flare?

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mhoskin

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Hi there-

On my Nikon S3 2000 I tend to get a few photos a roll (1-2) with this odd lighting (see attachment). I recently fixed some light leaks in the shutter and nearest I can tell it's not those causing this. The lens used is a vintage Nikkor 50mm f1.4. The lens has a skylight filter on it. The lens coating on the rear element is partially gone (about 15% is missing in a patch).

So what do you think? A leak somewhere? Flare? Some other thing I have no idea about? Note that the odd "brightness" always seems to be roughly in the same spot and always horizontal across the frame.

thanks!

Mark
 

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For me this look like a light leak in the light sealing on the back of the camera. I had a similar effect with a Minolta CLE. I fixed the sealing, and it was gone.

For flare I would expect a more rounded shape.

But as always, I might get it wrong.
 
Check the negative to see if it extends beyond the image in to the film perforations. If it does then it is a light leak.

Oh you beat me to it.
 
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I have a vintage S3 that does this if exposed too long to strong light coming through the front/lens side of the camera, not the back. Thus, if I keep the aparture smalll (f/16) and don't change lenses in open daylight, it usually is not a hassle. It pops up most consistently on the first image of a series when the camera has been unused but loaded with film and carried around for awhile, so that there is a gradual accumulation of light coming in through the front onto the first frame of the series.
 
For what it's worth, flare on an old 50/1.4 seldom if ever looks like that. It would be more connected to the light source, not a straight line.
 
On close inspection of the negatives, it's a leak :-( Arg. Now the tricky part is where from. I do wish these re-issue S3's had better shutter cloth.

thanks for the input everyone.

Mark
 
mhoskin said:
On close inspection of the negatives, it's a leak :-( Arg. Now the tricky part is where from. I do wish these re-issue S3's had better shutter cloth.

thanks for the input everyone.

Mark
Click to expand...

If it is uniform down the length of the roll or most of the roll it is NOT a light leak that occured while the film was being shot. That type of light leak is very non-uniform based on the varying time that any one portion of the film is exposed to the leak.

A uniform fogging, as this appears to be, can occur in camera only during rewind. It can also happen during film handling while processing. How was the film processed and has this happened on other rolls?

The softness and broad area make it look more like an out of the camera leak. In camera leaks are usually not so diffuse as the leak is very close to the film. It could be exposure through a gap in shutter curtains left in a half cock position as the result of shooting to the very end of the roll and not being able to complete the last advance. Curtains shouldn't gap and allow such fogging, but it does happen.
 
Actually, I think I must have screwed up with the changing bag somehow. On close inspection this was not on the very previous roll I developed but is on the two rolls I just developed. I looked very closely at the S3 and I can't find a leak through the shutter at all, and the cotton ribbon up near the top where the back connects looks in good shape.

If it appears on my next set of rolls I'll be very puzzled!

Mark
 
Thanks Dwig! Our posts crossed in the ether, but I think you are correct. I must have messed up in the changing bag somehow. -Mark

Dwig said:
If it is uniform down the length of the roll or most of the roll it is NOT a light leak that occured while the film was being shot. That type of light leak is very non-uniform based on the varying time that any one portion of the film is exposed to the leak.

A uniform fogging, as this appears to be, can occur in camera only during rewind. It can also happen during film handling while processing. How was the film processed and has this happened on other rolls?

The softness and broad area make it look more like an out of the camera leak. In camera leaks are usually not so diffuse as the leak is very close to the film. It could be exposure through a gap in shutter curtains left in a half cock position as the result of shooting to the very end of the roll and not being able to complete the last advance. Curtains shouldn't gap and allow such fogging, but it does happen.
Click to expand...
 
I thought I'd followup on my own thread here. Turns out it was operator error after all -- but not the kind I originally concluded. After a second batch of film came out with odd (but different) "leaks" which I determined were caused by aged (i.e. diminished) fixer, I had a hunch this batch may have suffered from the same problem. (I re-use my fixer solution.) Placing the negatives back in the fix (even 3 weeks later!) for awhile (~ 10min) longer cleared them up. For future reference, the film was Tri-X and the "fog" looked brownish/yellow against the purple colored film base.

I've re-attached the same pic so you can see the difference. Got to love analog photography!
 

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Cool! I'm glad you got this resolved; it was a very interesting mystery, with a solution that I never would have guessed. There's always more stuff to learn!

Cheers,
Dez
 
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