M6 Help - Faint line running across the top of photos?

[anoldsock]

...so I developed a roll of film at the local Wolf Camera and noticed a faint line running vertically across the top of my photos. So I decided to run another test roll a week later, and that faint line is still showing up across the top. Is this a mechanical problem with the camera body or is it caused by the lab? I can't imagine that it would be something with the shutter, but does anyone have any insight on this?

I would provide a photo, but I can't seem to scan an image in where the line shows up.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Never Satisfied]

It depends in weather or not the faint line is white or black on your prints. A dark or black line across your prints would mean a pin hole in your shutter. A white line (no exposure) would indicate that there is something in the back of the camera masking the neg or in the rear of the lens. You need to post a photo for better advice, Andrew.

 

[itf]

Is it all done with the same lens? What lens? Might help. A photo as an example might help. An M6 has a horizontal traveling shutter, but I suppose it could be something else to do with that. Maybe some light leak?

Are the photos taken into the sun? I've got a CV 25 snapshot skopar with the small "hood" that comes with it. Sometimes if the sun is at a steep enough, but not too steep, angle the little hood stops flare in the top of the photo but then the flare comes in with a distinct line. You'de probably notice the flare though, though it may be slight.

EDIT: Never Satisfied got there first and probably knows more about leicas than I.

 

[rogue_designer]

Are they actually in the negs?

Where are you seeing the line? Scans? Prints? Some scanner holders reflect slightly and will kick linear artifacts into the images.

You should also try sending a roll to another lab.

 

[anoldsock]

...well, I know a photo would help, and I tried to scan some negatives in, but like i said the faint lines don't show up. Anyhow, on both rolls they appear to be a very light shade of gray. I don't think it's the lens because it runs all the way across the photo parallel to the edge. As itf stated, because of the horizontal shutter it leads me to believe that the shutter could potentially be the problem, although admittedly it doesn't make much sense to me. Any ideas?

 

[rogue_designer]

roller/hairline marks from a dirty processor maybe? C41?

Try another lab.

 

[anoldsock]

Yeah, I think I'll have to send it to another lab. I only see it on the prints and not the negative. Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[payasam]

I am confused by "vertically across the top of my photos". As others have said, a sample photo would help. It is unlikely to be a lab problem. Does the line appear in all frames on the roll or only on those that were in the gate when you changed lenses? Leaking light shields are known to cause such problems.

 

[anoldsock]

"Vertical line" is just a very faint line that runs parallel to the border across the top of the photo, not sure how else to describe it, it's pretty straight forward.

I didn't change lenses, I used the same lens on both rolls which I took 1 week apart.

No photos available cause the lines don't show up. I can post one, but you won't see any lines cause my scanner doesn't catch it. I can't tell if they are on the negative or not. Why do people keep asking for pictures?

Rogue Designer, you are right on...the roll was processed C-41.

Payasam, do you have some examples of a defective light shield so I can compare? What I see on the pictures do not look like light leaks to me, but then again, I could be wrong.

Until I can get another roll to a different lab, I'm just going to assume they mucked up in the lab.

 

[mad_boy]

Study the negative closely.
If the line is there also between the images, then it is not the shutter or the lens. In that case check if it is a scratch.
The scratch can be either from the camera (grain of sand somewhere), the film housing or the lab. clean the camera and test an other roll.
If it is not a scratch, then it is most likely the lab.

 

[oscroft]

"Vertical line" is just a very faint line that runs parallel to the border across the top of the photo, not sure how else to describe it, it's pretty straight forward.

If it's parallel to the border across the top of the photo, then isn't that horizontal and not vertical?

 

[payasam]

Exactly. The conflict between "across" and "vertical" is what set me spinning like, well, a triple stranded helix.

 

[Philip Whiteman]

I have suffered the same problem with my mid-1980s, Wetzlar-built M6: mild fogging of the film in a horizontal line, with a sharp edge approximately 3mm from the bottom edge of the image (i.e. the top of the picture in a print or projected trannie). definitely a light leak of some kind, although it was hard to imagine how light could be getting in and be cut off sharply in the way it appeared to be.

The problem would appear on, at worst, two or three frames on a film, then be entirely absent for many rolls. I had the body and shutter checked by Leica UK, and they could find no problem.

The whole thing remained a mystery and something I just lived with, until my brother borrowed the camera for an extended period and what had been a rare problem began to affect many exposures on every film he ran through the camera. Examining the camera very closely, I found there was a small amount of play in the lens mount – if you grasped the lens and attempted to twist it gently up and away from the body, you could see against the vulcanite the mount moving outwards. Tightening the lower screws eliminated the play and has – so far – killed the fogging problem.

I still have no idea of the possible (leaking) light path involved!