M3 film problem

[erdandi]

Hi all!
I'm practicing with my M3 and I shot a B/W film, but many photos are blank.. I'm posting a shot of a piece of the film where you can see the photo on the left that's is ok ( underexposed but ok) and the next two photos cutted.
I tryed to figure out what's the problem and it seems like if the shutter do not completely opens, am I wrong? and why it does happen on some photos only?
Thanks to all.

 

[drewbarb]

Looks like your shutter needs service. I'm not sure whether this is called capping, or if there's an issue with the brake, but either way, this should be a fairly straightforward shutter service. Good luck!

Edit: Also, that's pretty purple for FP4; is your fix exhausted? If not, make sure you are fixing for long enough (say 4 or 5 minutes should be plenty) and that you are washing completely. If you aren't using one now, perma wash would help, too.

 

[fubar]

Agree with drewbarb. Shutter problem. Shouldn't be a big deal, but it does need to be serviced.

 

[Tom A]

Your shutter is "capping" - it doesn't stay open long enough to expose the full image. The 2nd curtain is chasing the first one too close. Quite common for cameras that have stayed inactive for a long time. Do you remember at which speeds you shot the images. Capping usually appears first in the 1/1000 and 1/500 bracket and in the slow speeds. It is not a big job to adjust, but you need a technician to do it. It is usually indicative of a need for a regular CLA too. On some earlier M3's (double stroke) also can have problems with its shutter brake - but that usually shows up as uneven exposures across the frame (a bounce in the shutter).

 

[_goodtimez]

You could actually make a test in front of a TV (with a CRT, not flat screen) using a known working camera at the same speeds for comparison.
See my previous post on the repair of my M2. In this thread I explained also how to test your classic M with a Digital Camera as a reference.

Good light

 

[erdandi]

Goodtimes could you post the link of your post please?

Thanks for all the ansrwers!

 

[momus1]

If you have just recently bought the camera, it may have been sitting up a while (years). Try firing the shutter over and over at all the different speeds and see if the speeds pick up after a while. In the end you're probably gonna need to send it in for a CLA, but sometimes exercising the shutter will help.