Horizontal line on Hasselblad images - Light leak? Flare? Something worse?

skysh4rk · Jun 10, 2015

Hi all,

So I recently acquired a near mint condition Hasselblad 2000FC. I knew that these can have some issues, but this particular camera looked absolutely pristine and initial test rolls looked good.

To date, I've put about 30 rolls through the camera, but only have the results from seven of those, as I develop my black and white at home, but send the colour rolls off for development and scanning.

In 4 of the 84 photographs I have so far (less than 5%), there has been a horizontal line going across the bottom third of the image. It happened once on an early test roll, but I had dismissed it as some sort of random flare, as no other photos on the roll were affected. It wasn't until I received my single colour test roll back from the lab that I realised that possibly more could be going on, as two of the images very clearly had the mark.

I have used a flashlight to inspect the shutter curtains and can not see a leak of any kind.

Has anybody seen this before? Flare? Light leak in the film back? Shutter problem?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Here are the affected images:

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Images to show that the camera has been used in similar conditions with similar settings as above with no problems:

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mike c · Jun 10, 2015

It does look like the light seal for the slide on the film magazine. The seal is one of the easiest and cheapish things to repair on a Hasselblad , there were kits available for them.

Sirius Glass · Jun 10, 2015

It is time to replace the light seals in the film back. If you have more than one back and you cannot isolate which one, have all of them checked. It happens to the best of us.

skysh4rk · Jun 10, 2015

mike c said:
It does look like the light seal for the slide on the film magazine. The seal is one of the easiest and cheapish things to repair on a Hasselblad , there were kits available for them.

Whew, I hope that you're right and I just need to replace the seals in the film magazine.

Is it typical for Hasselblads that a light seal problem for the dark slide would result in a horizontal light leak?

itsdoable · Jun 10, 2015

Dark slide seal usually give a vertical line, or a more graded horizontal streak.

That leak looks like light comming from the top of the camera between the back and body. I've seem this if the back is not securely fasstened to the body, since the latch is at the top, the back can lean back a very tiny amount, and the light baffles between the back & body are very shallow. I always ensure the back is secure on the body before I pull the dark slide (push the back and release button closed).

FYI: the dark slide light seals die from age, not from use, so if they have been in the back for a long time, it's always a good idea to replace them.

ToddB · Jun 10, 2015

Man.. That pic with the vintage car is nice.

Todd

skysh4rk · Jun 10, 2015

itsdoable said:
Dark slide seal usually give a vertical line, or a more graded horizontal streak.

That leak looks like light comming from the top of the camera between the back and body. I've seem this if the back is not securely fasstened to the body, since the latch is at the top, the back can lean back a very tiny amount, and the light baffles between the back & body are very shallow. I always ensure the back is secure on the body before I pull the dark slide (push the back and release button closed).

FYI: the dark slide light seals die from age, not from use, so if they have been in the back for a long time, it's always a good idea to replace them.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give that a check. I've noticed a tiny bit of play from left to right with the back, but it's always seemed pretty secure from the top though.

My back is a relatively late-model A12 (early 2000s), which I bought as I thought it might reduce the chances of any problems...

ToddB said:
Man.. That pic with the vintage car is nice.

Todd

Oh, many thanks! I just happened upon that car in Geneva on Sunday morning and couldn't resist taking a photo.

Sirius Glass · Jun 10, 2015

The light leaks can be bands, graded horizontal streaks, vertical bars on the left side of the photograph ==> all of the above.

See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjjxmYltCa8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbq0rWs__g
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hasselblack-film-back-cleanup/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Has...tep2/Remove-light-seal-clips-and-spring-rods/

Smudger · Jun 10, 2015

I'm pretty sure your problem is "shutter capping". As to lateral movement of the A12 - my brand new ELM showed this,straight out of the box.

skysh4rk · Jun 10, 2015

Smudger said:
I'm pretty sure your problem is "shutter capping".

I was thinking something similar, but wouldn't a shutter problem in a focal-plane Hasselblad show up as vertical lines?

I thought that the shutter travelled horizontally across the frame in these cameras, but I could be wrong.

Smudger said:
As to lateral movement of the A12 - my brand new ELM showed this,straight out of the box.

Yeah, I was a bit concerned about the lateral movement initially, but I've gotten the impression that it wasn't necessarily an uncommon occurrence.

Dan Daniel · Jun 13, 2015

Put the film in the back as if it was loaded. I bet you find that the leak is at a spot away from the shutter. Light is hitting the film as it comes off of the spool or is being rolled onto the take up spool. You'll see it based on where the fogged film sits before or after being in the film gate. The sporadic nature comes from the amount or angle of light being able to get through a defective seal sometimes but not all times.

Sirius Glass · Jun 13, 2015

Put film in the back and aim the darkslide slit towards the sun. If the seals are bad, the film will have fogging.

Douglas Fairbank · Jun 14, 2015

Dan Daniel said:
Put the film in the back as if it was loaded. I bet you find that the leak is at a spot away from the shutter. Light is hitting the film as it comes off of the spool or is being rolled onto the take up spool. You'll see it based on where the fogged film sits before or after being in the film gate. The sporadic nature comes from the amount or angle of light being able to get through a defective seal sometimes but not all times.

I think Dan is right! In my opinion this is the seam between the chassis and metal shell at the top where there is a foam light tap.

DWThomas · Jun 14, 2015

In my Bronica SQ-A that pattern is the foam seal where the back "shell" closes over the film insert -- dunno how similar H'blad magazine construction is.

skysh4rk · Jun 15, 2015

Sorry for slow response; I was away for the weekend.

Dan Daniel said:
Put the film in the back as if it was loaded. I bet you find that the leak is at a spot away from the shutter. Light is hitting the film as it comes off of the spool or is being rolled onto the take up spool. You'll see it based on where the fogged film sits before or after being in the film gate. The sporadic nature comes from the amount or angle of light being able to get through a defective seal sometimes but not all times.

Oh, this sounds very plausible. I hadn't thought about the prospect of light hitting the film before or after it was in the film gate on the spool. I will investigate this immediately.

Douglas Fairbank said:
I think Dan is right! In my opinion this is the seam between the chassis and metal shell at the top where there is a foam light tap.

Yeah, there does seem to be a strong likelihood that could be it. I hope that Dan is right, as it's something that I'm capable of fixing... I think.

DWThomas said:
In my Bronica SQ-A that pattern is the foam seal where the back "shell" closes over the film insert -- dunno how similar H'blad magazine construction is.

Although I've just started using a Hasselblad, I'm mostly a Bronica SQ-A user myself.

It's possible that the foam seals could be similarly placed, but the backs themselves certainly load quite differently between the two brands, which surprised me. For instance, the shell itself never opens up on a Hasselblad A12 back; the film magazine pops out the side of the back instead.

Horizontal line on Hasselblad images - Light leak? Flare? Something worse?

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