Re. exposure spacing with Leica II

[JimG]

After I develop a roll of film from my Leica II and cut the roll up into 5 exp. sections I have noticed that each frame is consistently separated by a space less then half what it is on my other 35mm cameras. Does this sound like there is something wrong with the camera's winding mechanisim or is this normal? I don't remember my old Leica III doing this.

 

[Ronald M]

Normal for screw mounts. The shorter the focal length, the less space there is.

M2 and M 3 are have bigger spacing, but still not as much as an M6 or current camera.

 

[je2a3]

After I develop a roll of film from my Leica II and cut the roll up into 5 exp. sections I have noticed that each frame is consistently separated by a space less then half what it is on my other 35mm cameras. Does this sound like there is something wrong with the camera's winding mechanisim or is this normal? I don't remember my old Leica III doing this.

It gets worse with WA lenses and but it's normal with earlier Model Ds.

Joseph

 

[ZorkiKat]

I noticed this too with my screwmount RF. What exactly causes this? How does a WA lens make the frame seem bigger? The film gate remains the same, and film is pressed flat against it, giving little sense to what may seem seem to be light creeping along the gate's edges. And if it was light creeping, the edges of the frame imprinted on the film seem straight defined.

The same seems to happen with my M3 when a 28mm is used.

Leica negatives shot in LTM bodies have dimensions larger than the nominal 24X36- its more like 24,5 X 37,8mm.

 

[Doug]

This is known phenomenon, quite normal. The film rails hold the film slightly away from the film gate. So there is a slight gap between the plane of the gate and the plane of the film. The more the rear element of the lens protrudes into the body -- the closer the rear element is to the film -- the more of an angle that the light strikes the outer edges of the film. One result of this is "cosine square law" light fall off, a darkening of the corners that is particularly problematical with digital sensors, which like the light coming straight in. Anyway, as you can visualize the light hitting the outer edge of the film not at 90-deg but at a shallower angle, it is less shaded by the film gate, and "sneaks" by, making an image on the film slightly larger than the film gate. This then narrows the spacing between frames, and extends the image a little closer to the sprocket holes too.