light leaks with my Fed 2

Tun

kiumjoon
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just developed and collected my recent roll taken with Fed 2+J8.
And i see light leaks!!...Which part of my camera is faulty? I got to repair it fast, definetly need it badly for my travelling trip.
TIA!
 

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That looks (more than) a bit similar to the leaks I got with my Zorki 6 and which I learned was caused by the shutter curtains leaking when the shutter was being tensioned. If you have the time, try one film where you always have the lens cap on when advancing the film and see if the problem shows up or not.

/Anders
 
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Do you think it might be the body? I just did some checking in the darkroom, using a light to shine throught the shutter curtains and i dont see any lights passing through the curtains.
I dont remember me advancing the film facing the strong sun.
But all these light leaks only appear when the sun is strong.
 
It could be the body, of course, so you could also try putting black electric tape or similar to cover the seam between the back and the body. In the darkroom, did you watch the joint between the curtains carefully while tensioning the shutter? Already a very faint leak between the curtains seems to be enough to damage the film on a bright day.

/Anders
 
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Hi,
If this was a shuuter leak, I wouldn't expect the leak to go to the edge of the negs. I think a more likely cause is the body leaking at the side where to take up spool is.

Kim
 
From the flatbed scan, I would also guess it´s the body because the light leak extends over the films sprocket holes. You could take the Body (closed without lens) put it on Bulb and fire a flash through the lensmount/open shutter..maybe you can see the leak.

goodluck!
 
Well.. that's what I thought too, initially..
The leaks in my Zorki was quite a bit more severe, though, and they reached from edge to edge:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9784
If you are short on time use both tape and the lens cap and, hopefully, you won't see more leaks then.

Cheers,
/Anders

PS.
If you, like I had, have light damage on the very last length of film (after the last frame) then you can rule out a leak on the right edge of the back as the (only) problem source.
DS.
 
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Actualy my zorki 3 leaks a bit like that because (as stated earlier) the two curtains don't overlap enough, and the leaks /does/ reach the border of the film somehow, the light sort of difracts. That got me sidetracked for a bit :D
To test for that leak, tention the curtains only halfway and try to shine the lamp from behind/the side.
The temporary fix is indeed to arm with the lens cap on...
 
I had a leak just like this with a 111f. Bright sun had to be out and yet it would not always show up.

Turned out to be two small holes under the frame counter. They were found by shining a pen light around the camera in a almost dark room. It was elusive because your hand sometimes the light and sometimes the sun was at your back or left.

Black auto silicone was a temporary repair until MarkHama.com was able to tap them and install small screws with locktight. Then you grind the heads and protruding threads off.
 
Wow, so many help. Thanks rangefinder people!!
I just tried out the suggested help. I used a torch to shine while advancing film. I had to look at all angles then i found out its the shutter curtain problem.
When advancing, theres a small gap inbetween the overlapping curtains.
Now, what is the best thing i can do to slove it other than covering it with lens cap.
 
maybe u can try to increase tension of second curtain. that happened to me on my old zenit and i was putting cap, later i destroyed that zenit with some other repair so i never tried to fix that leak. :(
 
Dear Tun, it seem that I have the same problem as yours with my FED3B.
Now I wind the film with my left hand covering the lens; but I would like to read your opinion on tensioning the second shutter curtain, if you decide to do it.
Thanks and best greetings.
Mauro
 
I'm not entirely sure just tentioning the curtain can fix the problem. I think only complete disassembly of the shutter will work, we'll have to realign the curtains properly and reset the curtain roller in the limiter sprocket at it's new position.
Thats quite a job on a Barnack already; on the Zorki 3 with it's slow speed system I'm not too tempted to even try it !
Lens cap it is for me, until maybe I decide to send it to Oleg :D
 
same here, I am not going to repair it. I will just use the cap method.
or maybe later on i will send it to Oleg too.
First time disappointment with such a beautiful russian camera.
 
Contact info for Oleg, famed Zorkii repairman

Contact info for Oleg, famed Zorkii repairman

I looked through older posts but couldn't find contact info for Oleg. Can anybody help? I have a couple of Zorkiis on the shelf that I'd like to have CLA'd. Thanks
 
Tun said:
Wow, so many help. Thanks rangefinder people!!
I just tried out the suggested help. I used a torch to shine while advancing film. I had to look at all angles then i found out its the shutter curtain problem.
When advancing, theres a small gap inbetween the overlapping curtains.
Now, what is the best thing i can do to slove it other than covering it with lens cap.

It sounds like the shutter was already "re-tensioned" on your Fed 2 which widens the gap in the curtains and prevents it from fully capping during advance. Assuming the rollers are not corroded you can try to clean and lubricate the top curtain drum shaft and the gears underneath. All it involves is the removal of the top plate a "sticky" posted by Laika in this forum. I've uploaded some minor CLA tips here . after that you can re-tension the shutter - normally 3.5-4 turns each. If that doesn't work then it needs a full CLA.

Here's Oleg's contact info/website.

Joseph
 
Tun, it's always good practice when trying a "new" camera to wind on a few frames exposing them only with the cap on or lens fully covered. Those frames can have various amounts of time sat in the frame. If you then see marks, you can be sure it's a simple leak through the back/top. (always worth winding on whilst covering the lens, until you're confident about it. The marks on your negs look to show light ingress from the bottom of the camera, although it isn't a cert that it gets in whilst the frame is in the aperture. Have a look for a leak through the bottom case locking disc. It may have affected the film whilst it was between the aperture and the spool or cassette, or just a leak between the case and base at the bottom of the spool area. However, if this happened when it was in use in the leather case.....maybe not..

enjoy...
 
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