Weird fogging

[stnolan]

This vertical band appeared in every shot from a recent roll of Portra 400. It did go through domestic carry on bag x-ray twice but according to everything I have ever read it should be safe and recent rolls I shot have been fine traveling internationally. Not sure if its an airport thing or what. I have had developers fog rolls before but not like this. Any ideas??

 

[Dwig]

This vertical band appeared in every shot from a recent roll of Portra 400. It did go through domestic carry on bag x-ray twice but according to everything I have ever read it should be safe and recent rolls I shot have been fine traveling internationally. Not sure if its an airport thing or what. I have had developers fog rolls before but not like this. Any ideas??

Does it appear in the same location on every frame? If so, it happened in camera when the pix were shot, when the film was wound to the next frame, or while the camera was stored between frames. Also, if it repeats in exactly the same location on multiple frames it is not the result of some one time "exposure" (e.g. NSA screening X-ray, ...).

 

[stnolan]

Dwig - the line does move around from frame to frame. Sometimes it is in the middle of the frame and sometimes more to the left or right in the frame. Thats what has me puzzled.

 

[Dwig]

Does the fog "line" extend out over the sprockets?

If so, does it ever pass over a sprocket hole?
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And if so, does an "echo" appear elsewhere where the fogging "exposure" passed through a hole and fogged another spot?

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If these are all true then the film was wound on a spool when it was fogged and could have been fogged in a single event. Also, the lines should align consistently when the whole roll is rewound.

The example seems very crisp edged which does not lead me to believe that the fogging occurred in a single event fogging through several layers at once. It looks like the type of fogging that can occur when a horizontal focal plane shutter partially uncaps while being cocked. That type of "fogging" never exposes any film outside of the image area.

 

[stnolan]

No the fogging does not extend and seems to be a consistent length although it appears in different parts of the frame throughout the roll. When you say " horizontal focal plane shutter partially uncaps while being cocked", does that mean there is a mechanical issue with the camera or perhaps the film wasn't set properly when i loaded it?

Thanks for the help

 

[Sparrow]

It means it's probably the shutter blind tensions that are a bit off ... and they're letting some light in when you wind-on

Although I've not had that happen to me it seems a reasonable explanation of the evidence

 

[Dwig]

... When you say " horizontal focal plane shutter partially uncaps while being cocked", does that mean there is a mechanical issue with the camera or perhaps the film wasn't set properly when i loaded it?

Thanks for the help

If uncapping is the problem then it is a mechanical fault in the camera's shutter that would require skilled repair.

 

[charjohncarter]

I would say not a development or a scanning problem. It is more likely as above a shutter.

 

[x-ray]

I had exactly the same thing happen on one of my MP bodies. It was the shutter not capping properly when I wound the shutter while ratcheting the wind lever. If I wound it in multiple strokes it did this. The bands were in different places in every frame and happened in several rolls.

Fortunately my MP was under warranty. This happened early in its life and has not happened again in six years.

 

[maddoc]

I had a similar problem with MP but only at fast shutter-speeds (1/500 and 1/1000). It was still under warranty at that time so Leica fixed it for me and some other electronic-related problems.

 

[stnolan]

Thanks everyone. Off to Youxin