Leica LTM Vertical band in print from cla'd IIIC

[Benjamin Marks]

Good lord. what a discussion. Take a deep breath. Get a grip. Repeat to self 10 times, "it is only a camera". Take pictures.

Ben

 

[kully]

Better to have photos without bands of light running from top to bottom though.

 

[atelier7]

Kully, it looks exactly like the photo you linked to!
Unfortunately, some issue with the postal service... it appears the postman delivered it as far as the foot of my office and then decided he was too lazy to come up!
my camera got sent back to the technician instead!
he has since resent it... hopefully i'll receive it today or tomorrow!

 

[kully]

I'm eagerly awaiting you telling what they did... Could you have a butchers at your negatives and see if the mark goes into the pre-exposed bit of the film too?

In the meantime, I'm blinding myself with a torch trying to figure out what it could be.

 

[aad]

Well, that was a very enjoyable and courteous flame war.

Ateller, sure hope your camera is repaired properly.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Hey atelier7, did you get this sorted? Did the streaks look anything like this:

http://superkully.com/images/photos/cameras/zorki_mir/mir_lightleak1.jpg?

Kully,

was the camera used a Leica or a Zorki? Popped the question since the url has "zorki-Mir" in it. One of my Zorki-1 did the same thing- it was from a loose screw from the back of the camera.

Jay

 

[kully]

It is a Zorki Mir, ZorkiKat.

What you say makes me feel good, last night I was shining a torch around the camera and although I saw no leak, I did notice that one of the screws holding the top plate on is pretty much on the same vertical as the light leak...

Time to blu-tac over the screw and shoot some frames.

One thing I cannot explain is why in six of thirty-six frames there was no leak (I discounted factors such as winding with the cap on, changing shutter speed, holding it vertical rather than horizontal or getting my finger caught on the shutter selector as it does its twirl). May be the top plate is flexing.

 

[ZorkiKat]

It is a Zorki Mir, ZorkiKat.

What you say makes me feel good, last night I was shining a torch around the camera and although I saw no leak, I did notice that one of the screws holding the top plate on is pretty much on the same vertical as the light leak...

Time to blu-tac over the screw and shoot some frames.

One thing I cannot explain is why in six of thirty-six frames there was no leak (I discounted factors such as winding with the cap on, changing shutter speed, holding it vertical rather than horizontal or getting my finger caught on the shutter selector as it does its twirl). May be the top plate is flexing.

Kully,

A loose screw is just but one reason from among very many which can cause such leaks. And even such a loose screw may cover the hole so that no leak happens in one instance and then leak badly in the next.

Using the camera with its leather case can sometimes shield loose screws or joints well enough so that light is no longer strong enough to creep into the loose parts. Shooting in duller days or under dim light also seems to "cure" this affliction

 

[atelier7]

i've finally got my camera back!
Will let you know if it's properly fixed when i finish my roll of film.

from what i can see on the outside, the problem area is at the corner next to the slow speed knob and lense where the vulcanite joins the metal frame.
the technician has added some sort of black rubbery material.
i can just see a bit of it next to the vulcanite but he's done a really good job
you can hardly tell it's there.
maybe light was leaking through there.

hope this helps you- kully! perhaps you have intermittent problems depending on whether you hands have covered the leak when shooting!

 

[ZorkiKat]

i've finally got my camera back!


from what i can see on the outside, the problem area is at the corner next to the slow speed knob and lense where the vulcanite joins the metal frame.
the technician has added some sort of black rubbery material.
i can just see a bit of it next to the vulcanite but he's done a really good job
you can hardly tell it's there.
maybe light was leaking through there.

Atelier

Thats exactly what happened with my 'leaky' IIIc. I used some black plush from discarded 35mm cassettes for flocking. Hope that solves the light breach problems in your camera- it solved mine.

Jay

 

[thafred]

Hi Atelier,

I hope you camera works again after two times of camera service!

If it doesn´t, then maybe it´s not a leak after all but the same problem I encountered with my IIIa just two days ago! (the "odd IIa redux" now fitted with akis fine clothes)

I hope I can explain this in english but here we go:
When I reached the end of my roll on the IIIa I as usual spun the Film advance until feeling the resistance of the film (who needs frame counters?) and then flipped the rewind lever and began winding...What happened was, that the curtain (which was sitting at middle of film gate ..overlapping and light tight since I did´t wind on a full cycle) popped open for a few milimeters exposing a vertical band onto the Film (when winding the exposure must have been minimal cuz the rest of the pictures is ok but the band obviously occured when I changed my grip on the rewind knob..and the film sat there for fractions of seconds) ... further "research" showed that on my IIIa the shutter release doesnt get pulled down as far as on my Leica I (It sits metal on metal) when flipping the rewind lever and I was still able to slightly press the shutter release while rewinding and the first curtain released.

my cure is...when reaching the end of the film, simply press the shutter release before you flip the rewind lever...that way the curtains travel back on the rollers and can´t "gap"

I hope everything is fine with your camera and that you can finally enjoy this fine machine!

best regards
fred

 

[ZorkiKat]

.....When I reached the end of my roll on the IIIa I as usual spun the Film advance until feeling the resistance of the film (who needs frame counters?) and then flipped the rewind lever and began winding...What happened was, that the curtain (which was sitting at middle of film gate ..overlapping and light tight since I did´t wind on a full cycle) popped open for a few milimeters exposing a vertical band onto the Film (when winding the exposure must have been minimal cuz the rest of the pictures is ok but the band obviously occured when I changed my grip on the rewind knob..and the film sat there for fractions of seconds) ... further "research" showed that on my IIIa the shutter release doesnt get pulled down as far as on my Leica I (It sits metal on metal) when flipping the rewind lever and I was still able to slightly press the shutter release while rewinding and the first curtain released.

my cure is...when reaching the end of the film, simply press the shutter release before you flip the rewind lever...that way the curtains travel back on the rollers and can´t "gap"

I hope everything is fine with your camera and that you can finally enjoy this fine machine!

best regards
fred

Fred

In one of the old Leica references, one advice was to cap the lens before releasing the rewind lever, and whilst rewinding. The older shutter mechanism of the older pre-IIIc Leicas has the tendency to slightly open as it is released by the rewind lever. It's like making a second, albeit incomplete exposure on the last frame. On some, the shutter laths (where the shutter opens) sits within the filmgate frame area, with the laths not quite meeting and leaving a bit of slit where light can get in.

The same procedure would be healthy to do even with the IIIc and later cameras. It's also wise to do this with Soviet LTM cameras.

Jay

 

[mc_vancouver]

This is interesting, and I'm going to get my tech to look here when he gets back from PHotokina, as I have similar issues, see example pix. I have found both the vertical overexposure line in some frames, but not all, and splotchy light leaks in some, but again, really intermittent, and it pisses me off! Otherwise camera is in great shape, and I want to sell it, but don't want someone coming to me to say I've sold them a lemon, which it isn't...

One source for light leakage in IIIc Leica is under the slow-speed knob. There is some flocking placed in this area. The original is just a strip of felt stuck on the body shell and runs from the notch where the slow knob sits, down to the bottom of the crate.

I also got a consistent fog pattern (somewhat diagonal, and doesn't go into the sprockets) whose origin almost made me crazy trying to determine. The shutter speed / exposure time never seemed to matter. I thought the fogging came from the shutters, the upper plate, or some loose screw. I also suspected shutter fog, but firing flash behind closed shutters proved that they were leak-free.

Then I noticed that the felt strip became worn and got a bit dog-eared at the upper end. The fogging actually occured whilst the film was wound in the take-up, as light breaching from the gaps between the body shell and slow-speed knob struck it. Fogging happened more when the camera was brought out in bright daylight.

I decided that this worn flocking was the cause. The old felt strip was removed and replaced with black velvet paper (the black plush lining 35mm cassette lips can be used). I covered the metal plate cover of the shutter crate found under the slow speed dial with black felt. Fogging has been eliminated totally.

Ask the your technician to check this black flocking, and have it replaced if possible.

Jay