Canon rangefinder banding

Anirudha Ambekar · Mar 16, 2018

Greetings!
I've been running some films through my newly acquired Canonet ql17 and I observed a weird phenomenon at fast shutter speed and closed apertures. Please see the image attached. This image was captured at f16 and 1/500 s. The same camera, with the same roll of film, worked perfectly shooting at f1.7 and 1/125 s.
Is it light leaks? is it banding?
Whatever it is,how can I get rid of it?
Any clues are much appreciated.

Anirudha Ambekar · Mar 16, 2018

I've seen something similar to this with my canon-p.
Its not as bad and only shows a slight hint of banding at the center of the frame. I think under similar shooting conditions.

E. von Hoegh · Mar 17, 2018

Light leaks. The ql 17 has a leaf shutter, the P a focal plane shutter. It is not possible for a leaf shutter to cause banding, this (banding) happens only with focal plane shutters

02Pilot · Mar 20, 2018

Definitely light leaks. Look at the light seal for the bottom of the door for this specific problem, but very likely they all need to be refreshed.

ic-racer · Mar 20, 2018

Fast shutter speed and small aperture = bright light situation which can bring out a subtle light leak. What do the negatives look like?

Anirudha Ambekar · Mar 20, 2018

The light seals on the door are indeed worn and I will replace them. But the leaks are happening selectively at faster shutter speeds only and one would expect light leaks from the door seals to be always present (?).
Although I was thinking light leaks are more likely to occur at slower shutter speeds the higher intensity of light may have contributed to their visibility. But then again if they are linked to the shutter and I am changing the shutter speed and aperture combinations to obtain equivalent exposures each time may be they should always be present?
I'll look at the negatives more closely tonight.

02Pilot · Mar 20, 2018

Light leaks around the body can be difficult to track down, especially if they appear intermittently. Sometimes you'll have one that only lets light in at very specific angles to the source, and thus it will only appear in some frames. I suspect ic-racer's supposition is correct that it is more about the light conditions than the shutter speed or aperture setting.

Canon rangefinder banding

Anirudha Ambekar

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