100 Automatic Land Camera and fp-3000b questions

[TimJ]

Hello, new guy here.
I recently bought a 100 Land Camera at an antique store and ordered some fp-3000b film for it. Got the film yesterday and was out in my garden taking a few pictures today. First couple were very dark, turned the lightening ring and the rest were much better. Then I had a picture with a bright streak running through it. Took two more after that and they turned out fine so I figured it was a stray glare on the lens. Then I took one with the sun directly behind me and it has the same bright stripe.

Does this look like a light leak? I could only find a couple small worn spots on the bellows but they didn't look like they would cause a problem. I did put some black paint/fabric glue mixture on them to seal them up if they are the problem. It only happened 2 out of 7 shots. Will light leaks come and go? I was in bright sun the whole time.

Also on the fp-3000b the negative side seems to show more detail then the print. Not that the print is bad, I like the bolder shadows. I hope this is OK to post the two scans here to show the difference.

Leaf Lettuce Print, corrected to look like picture, scanner stinks

Leaf Lettuce Negative scan, corrected the same amount as the other, a little more tweaking and it really pops but that isn't a fair comparison and I know it's not for this site.

The negatives aren't easy to handle and I was wondering if anyone had some hints on how to deal with them in the field. I have read that the developing is self terminating so I wonder if I can safely wait 20-30 minutes before I peel them apart so I can do it someplace more controlled? I experimented a little on a couple negatives by running them under water to wash off all the goo and sticky stuff so they were easier to scan. That seemed to work OK.

Sorry so long of a first post, thank you for any help.
Tim

 

[vdonovan]

Hi Tim, congrats on getting out there with your Auto 100. That does look like some kind of light leak, it's certainly not normal for Land cameras. When the camera is empty, maybe take it into a dark room and put a flashlight inside the bellows. That's helped me find leaks in the past.

The negative side of 3000b is pretty cool. Scanning and reversing the image gives a faux wet plate look.

The negative side does take a long time to dry. If I'm in my car, the front seat tends to fill up with negatives laid out to dry.

I've heard that you can store the exposed film for a long time before peeling. The longest I've gone is 15-20 minutes, with fine results. Someone else on this forum has said that they put the exposed film in their pocket and peel them all when they get home. I haven't tried that.

Keep shooting, peeling, scanning, and posting!

p.s. looking at your pics, when you say you're out in the field, you really are out in the field!

 

[TimJ]

vdonovan,
Yeah my garden is a little on the large size so it is close to a real field. I weeded today and I have to say it was more fun with the camera yesterday.

Thanks I'll do the flashlight test after I take the last couple pictures in this pack. It seemed odd that it only showed on the two.

The 15-20 minutes would be great. Next time I take some pictures right around the house I will wait until I'm done, as long as I'm sure the exposure is OK.

Tim

 

[Brac]

It may be caused by goo from the developing agent (contained in the film) getting onto the camera's rollers. The instruction books for these cameras contain some instructions abou this. Mine (for a model 340) says: "Inspect the rollers frequently; if possible, do it before loading each new film pack. Lift up the latch. Swing out the rollers; turn and inspect them, especially at the ends. Wipe the rollers clean with a damp cloth, dry them. Never scrape them with anything metallic, nor with your fingernail. Open the tab slot door; clean out any dirt around the tab slot. Blow out lint or dust in the back of the camera. Push the roller assembly back into place."

I made it a regularly practice to do this routine after finishing each film pack. Almost always there was some goo to remove.

Another possibility is that you possibly pulled two white tabs before pulling a yellow tab causing uneven spread of the developer, jammed film or developer smeared on the rollers. Also there can be problems if the yellow tab is pulled too swiftly. It needs to be pulled at a steady pace, neither too fast or too slow.

Best of luck!

 

[TimJ]

Update:
I think you might have been right Brac. The last picture I took with the other pack had a gob of developer in the middle unevenly spread. I had cleaned it before but some must have been pushed out the edge and effected the rest of the pack. I cleaned it well with a damp cloth and looked for a light leak, couldn't find one (fingers crossed).

I tried a few yesterday and they all turned out well. Oh and I tried to wait 15-20 minutes for a couple of them and did not like what happened to the negative side. They seemed to start to dry and it left a sticky film on the picture side also.

Nothing fancy and not the best background but I like the look of flowering onions. (film still fp-3000b)

Tim

 

[Brac]

Glad things are now going well. I need a new battery for my model 340 and then I can take some photos wihich will be the first for years!

 

[frontdrive34]

The white mark on the 1st shot looks very light leak to me. I have a 350 that with a bellows fully extended shot there are holes that open up in the folds and allow light in but with a bellows retracted (long focus) shot its enough to close the holes and not cause a mark on the shot.

Long shot with holes opening up and light leak here http://www.flickr.com/photos/frontdrive34/4701971933/

Bellows closed in and no light leak here http://www.flickr.com/photos/frontdrive34/4694819231/