I Shutter to Think

While shooting fall foliage in Pennsylvania with one of my Olympus Chrome Sixes, a number of the frames came out "fogged" (for lack of a better term). I posted some on the images in the color film forum in a post titled "It Wasn't Foggy" and the responses there convinced me that the problem wasn't with the film or processing. That leaves me to conclude that the problem is somewhere in the camera.

After examining both the negatives and the trannies, it looks for all the world like a second exposure directly overlaid on the first. Having taking my fair share of double exposures I've gotten used to the look of them. Even trying to be scrupulously careful, I still managed one double exposure out of the six rolls on this trip. Since most of these "fogged" frames are uniform across the image the only way I can think of extra light getting in is thru the shutter.

I have dry fired a number of times and the shutter seems fine. This camera was also serviced by a top notch shop and the "good" shots come out perfectly exposed even at the top shutter speed (1/200s). Has anyone ever heard of a Copal shutter causing a problem like this?

I think you have developed a light leak in the back but a pin hole in the bellows may be the cause.
Put a bright light inside the camera in total darkness. Weaknesses in the bellows will be dim yellow spots and pin holes will be bright white spots.

I looked at the images posted on the "color film" forum, and I agree with shutterfinger, it looks like you have a bellows light leak.

The film sits slightly behind the film gate, so a leak in the bellows imprints an image offset from the lens due to parallax. The longer you have the bellows extended, the more the fog - maybe you can remember and correlate that with the images you took. Also the fog is consistent to one side of the frame, that and the parallax offset should direct you to the side of the bellows that the leak is coming from (usually the opposite).

Thanks for the replies. I have checked that bellows for pin holes a least a dozen times and didn't see anything. Last night I look a little LED that fit completely inside and closed the back. Sure enough, there was a tiny, tiny pin hole. It was back near the body and positioned on a convolution such that it couldn't be seen or illuminated from the back.

I took some liquid electrical tape and put two coats on the corners of the bellows. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Tim, get some Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Artist Paint #1040 Carbon Black and a 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide fine bristle artist brush. The brush does not have to be high quality.
Dilute the paint 1:1 with water, mix well, and paint the inside of the bellows at the weak spots. Apply 2 to 3 coats as needed to make them light tight.
This paint is very durable and beats all other coating tips for patching pin holes.
http://www.michaels.com/golden-heav...qualifying&prefv1=Golden&prefv2=Black&start=3
http://www.michaels.com/simply-simm...ifying&srule=price-low-to-high&sz=24&start=13

thuggins said:

..... It was back near the body and positioned on a convolution such that it couldn't be seen or illuminated from the back.....

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That's happened to me twice! It seems like those pinholes are purposefully trying to sneak into places where they can't be seen!

shutterfinger said:

Tim, get some Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Artist Paint #1040 Carbon Black ...

Click to expand...

Great tip!

shutterfinger said:

Tim, get some Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Artist Paint #1040 Carbon Black and a 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide fine bristle artist brush.

Click to expand...

I wasn't able to get the Heavy Body but I did find the Golden Fluid Acrylic Carbon Black. Assumably, this is the prediluted version of the heavy stuff. I painted the inside and outside corners to the extent they were accessible. I did have a concern from the beginning, as in my experience acrylic paints stay a bit sticky, even after they are well dried.

Sure enough, the convolutions now stick together. In trying to "work to loose" other pin holes have developed. Next time I'm going to try painting only the outside, let it dry for a couple of days, then sparingly apply some talcum powder over the paint. Hopefully that will do the trick.

the best fix is a patch. i use shutter curtains from old 35 mm cameras, or you can buy curtain material from microtools. its very thin n light proof. i use contact cement to adhere.