M6 light leaks

[alex.wheatley]

Scrap all that I said about the rangefinder window!!! It is the rewind lever! I took 7 shots with only the rangefinder taped up, 4 with no tape, 7 with only the rewind lever taped up and then repeated and the shots with the rewind lever taped up were leak free the others not! I think my mistake was a mixture of bad taping and low light...

p.s. just to clarify as I may have my terms wrong by rewind lever I mean the small toggle switch on the front of the camera you push down to release the sprocket gears.

The only confusing thing is I did get one mismatch result, but I think the tape may have not been perfectly light tight. Also I now saw on some pictures a thin black exposed line along the top of the negative as well, but I think thats probably due to the fact that I was rewinding half used rolls putting them in a changing bag, cutting them in half and re-inserting them to try and do more test (at least thats what I hope)??!!
Alex

 

[alex.wheatley]

Pretty certain that I've found it now as took a who roll of iso1600 out without any leaks when the lever was taped up. Thank you John and all for all your help, I will post if any updates arise but hopefully now diagnosed should be a relative easy fix rather than a long wild goose chase!
All the Best
Alex

 

[nobbylon]

Alex,
it would be interesting to see what colour the leak appears as if you use clour film. Maybe you could post here in due course or PM me. It's always good from a learning point of view to be able to diagnose in the future.
In most of the images the leak does not bleed outside the frame although you say it looks like it when you see the negs. Usually if it doesn't bleed beyond the frame it's a front or reflection leak. Do let us know,
regards john

 

[alex.wheatley]

Just to say got the camera back today, apparently the technician couldn't see a leak, but he dismantled and re-asssembled the rewind lever and it appears the leak is now gone, so thank you again for all your help, without it I'm sure it would have been a lengthy back and forth repair!
Best
Alex