What's wrong with my camera?

foon

Established
Local time
11:03 PM
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
129
Location
El Cajon, CA
I found this happen to me more than a couple times, there seemed to be a part on the film more exposed. When it happens it affects a couple shots and then it's perfectly fine again. It happens to be the same place everytime, does anyone have experience like this before? A leaky shutter maybe?
See the attachment for what I was trying to say
 
That's definitely not normal. I'm no technician, but I would guess some kind of light leak in the camera body (assuming there's no weirdness going on w/the film development). I might also suspect simple lens flare, but if you have other shots on the same roll of the same subject in identical lighting conditions that look OK, that's less likely (is it possible for you to post a contact sheet?). FWIW, I had an M2 that was giving me occasional light streaks & it turned out to suffer from improperly installed (or re-installed) light baffles (shutter was fine).
 
Last edited:
furcafe said:
That's definitely not normal. I'm no technician, but I would guess some kind of light leak in the camera body (assuming there's no weirdness going on w/the film development). I had an M2 that was giving me occasional light streaks & it turned out to suffer from improperly installed (or re-installed) light baffles (shutter was fine).
I have the same experience with c41 film too, so I am pretty sure there is nothing to do with the film development
I got something like this every four or five rolls..but when it happens it's really annoying
 
My Nikon S3 has a very slight light leak (more like a light trickle) around the shutter, which produced negatives like this. I notice it mainly if I'm out with the camera in bright sunlight but haven't shot many frames, thus leaving a frame sitting there getting slowly exposed. Soution is to keep the lens closed down to 16 or 22 and keep it out of bright light. (Remember, RFs don't have a mirror to help shield the shutter curtains from light). Real solution is a trip to the repair shop, but so far I've been too cheap to do this).

Best way to tell if it's a light leak or a development problem is to examine the negative. A development problem would randomly appear on multiple frames and cross fram boundaries. A light leak from a leaky shutter will usually be found only on specific frames.

Hope that helps.
 
AS you put this in the Leica M forum, I'm going to assume you have an M Series camera.

I would suspect a light leak on one side of the flip-up back-door. Look for this fogging to occur beteen the frames, and into the sprocket area as well. Time for a clean-lube-adjust.

This is one reason that I always use an ever-ready case. It is a first line of defense against light, and keeps the back and body from being damaged. One "Ding" into the camera's back can do more than affect it cosmetically.
 
Like Brian said, I am going to assume you have a Leica M too. You're not providing any information whatsoever about your gear.

Vince hit it on the nail; it sure looks like a light leak. But on an M body?? I cannot think of any reason how this could happen other than that the actual shutter is bent/loose/? at the bottom (your negative shows this extra "burn" strip at the top) -- i.e. the light is coming through the front (from the lens mount either via the lens or not). Definitively time for a CLA.
 
it is a m4, I examed the shutter, even with a flash light in the dark, and can't see any problem there. What keeps me wondering is I always have my camera in my hand and most of the frame don't have the slightest problem....makes me curious
i know it's time for a cla, but i think i'll try that never ready case first
 
VinceC said:
My Nikon S3 has a very slight light leak (more like a light trickle) around the shutter, which produced negatives like this. I notice it mainly if I'm out with the camera in bright sunlight but haven't shot many frames, thus leaving a frame sitting there getting slowly exposed. Soution is to keep the lens closed down to 16 or 22 and keep it out of bright light. (Remember, RFs don't have a mirror to help shield the shutter curtains from light). Real solution is a trip to the repair shop, but so far I've been too cheap to do this).

Best way to tell if it's a light leak or a development problem is to examine the negative. A development problem would randomly appear on multiple frames and cross fram boundaries. A light leak from a leaky shutter will usually be found only on specific frames.

Hope that helps.
That sounds like what my camera does too, i'll stop the lens down
I hope that will help before my camera gets a CLA
 
Assuming that the light leak is only affecting the area within the film frame, the cause of the leak is not the film door. The light leak is at the top of the frame, hence the leak is coming from the bottom of the camera. Not that uncommon of a problem. Leak should be fixable without a CLA. But if you have other problems, maybe you need a CLA.
 
I could offer you my layman's conjecture as to the cause of this problem too, but it seems like you've gotten plenty of those and I'm guessing your camera is still malfunctioning and you can't shoot pictures with it reliably. So my advice, although it isn't at all entertaining, would be to discuss the issue with, or send the camera to a Leica repairman like DAG.

foon said:
I found this happen to me more than a couple times, there seemed to be a part on the film more exposed. When it happens it affects a couple shots and then it's perfectly fine again. It happens to be the same place everytime, does anyone have experience like this before? A leaky shutter maybe?
See the attachment for what I was trying to say
 
photodog said:
Assuming that the light leak is only affecting the area within the film frame, the cause of the leak is not the film door. The light leak is at the top of the frame, hence the leak is coming from the bottom of the camera. Not that uncommon of a problem. Leak should be fixable without a CLA. But if you have other problems, maybe you need a CLA.
What do you suggest me to try fixing it, CLA's aren't cheap
i'll try anything that can probably fix the problem
 
Back
Top Bottom