Yet another FED 2 light leak thread...

[vladhed]

Okay, I did search and found a few old threads on this, but none were really conclusive (where last post is OP saying "yes, that fixed it"), so I'll start another one.

Since acquiring my FED 2d last November, I've pretty much kept it in the case and covered with a lens cap between shots and when winding on.

It had pinholes in the first curtain, which I easily fixed with some fabric paint. Now that I have found a lovely 40.5mm vented metal lense hood, I've started to carry it sans case and cap. Of course, now I'm getting light leaks galore!

The attached photo shows 3 unique and different leaks!
1. one pinhole at top of the first curtain that I missed with the paint (fixed)
2. sharp band, always same position, starts at bottom over the frame so I believe this is done either after or before the film is wound on
3. fogging of bottom left corner, doesn't always extend to the edge of the frame - which one has me puzzled the most.

Now the odd thing about this camera is, when I remove the lens and look into the mouth of the camera, I can see the shutter curtain rollers! Arn't there suppose to be baffles of some kind?!

Any help would be appreciated.

cheers!

 

[ZorkiKat]

Baffles are only on the top and bottom, none at the sides or over the rollers. A lot of baffle-related light leaks originate from the lower right of the bottom baffle. That's the curved part which covers the lower pulley of the inner curtain roller. Often the fix is just a matter of repositioning the baffle slightly.

Check your camera this way: take off lens and back. Shine a little torch on the lens side and if you see light breaching through the left side of film gate on the film side, it's a matter of how the baffle was installed. If you see it at the bottom, the bottom baffle needs to be repositioned. To do this, loosen slightly (two turns should do) the two nuts which hold the long flat release spring at the bottom of the camera. Be careful not to displace the long spring.

Hold the shutter open and move the lower baffle slightly towards the curtain roller pulley. You will see that the baffle has a curved flange which should cover this roller. When moving the baffle, make sure that you leave a channel between it and the film gate to allow the curtains to traverse freely.

Light leakage is really a problem with baffles like this. It is almost sufficient to prevent leaks under normal use. But when changing lenses, leakage is almost
inevitable when changing is done under bright light. Shield the lens mount when the lens is removed.

The baffles are made of soft metal. These are easily bent and deformed, so be careful when handling them.

Hope this helps.

Jay

 

[fidget]

Hi Vladhed,
light leaks can be a pain.... It isn't clear form the frame you posted which way up you were holding the camera, so it's a little difficult to establish where the light gets in. Checking curtains as Zorkikat suggests is a good start. One thing which I have always found helpful is to use a few frames from your film unexposed, but left in loaded for a while to "soak up" any leaks that might be coming from the cover etc. When you do this keep the lens cap on. Any leaks you see can not have got there through the lens/curtains. Narrows the search a little. In your case you are lucky enough to have multiple leaks. As the band appears cover the area of the unexposed negative that this is getting into the back of the camera. If you are going to have a go with another film, try a few unexposed frames again, with the gaps between the back and the body taped up with black tape stuff. You could even try a few with different sides taped up. The results (if you make good notes) will indicate which side if any is leaking. The back has to be a good fit onto the body, any slop or movement may be a leaky point. Oh and check the joint of the camera top casing and the body at the back, just above the film aperture, should be tight. good luck, keep us posted on your progress.
Oh, do the other marks extend into the film rebate?

Dave...