Nikkor 50mm 1.4 AI-S: Holly flare!

CMoore · May 31, 2021

zanxion72 said:
I have checked the curtains for pinholes and the viewfinder for leaks to the focal plane and this seems not to be the case. The hood might be the cause. Look at the metal ring how wide and reflective it seems (under room lamp):
View attachment 275968

Is that amount of reflection liable to cause that big of a burn on the film.?

zanxion72 · Jun 3, 2021

I am not sure, but checking anything else seems to be the only source of glare. Anyway, I am testing now the camera and the lens with a new film and it will be given to another lab just to make sure it was not a fault of the development service.

zanxion72 · Jun 4, 2021

Quick question. Trying to narrow down the cause of it, could it be due to my son shooting with the lens wide open in strong sunlight? Could it be that using a 1.4 aperture in strong mid-day light be the cause of it?

grain elevator · Jun 4, 2021

zanxion72 said:
The curtains are 100% light tight. Else there would had been marks on the negative in the space between the frames while advancing the film in sunlight with the lens uncovered.

You can't be certain of that. An small light leak might leave no trace in the fraction of a second the film passes by when winding, but it can expose the film if some time passes between shots.
I'd also explore internal reflections. Has the blacking come off of the inside of lens or camera somewhere?
Shooting wide open does make lens flare worse, but shouldn't lead to something like this. Especially as the rest of the image doesn't look terribly flare-y.

zanxion72 · Jun 4, 2021

grain elevator said:
You can't be certain of that. An small light leak might leave no trace in the fraction of a second the film passes by when winding, but it can expose the film if some time passes between shots.
I'd also explore internal reflections. Has the blacking come off of the inside of lens or camera somewhere?
Shooting wide open does make lens flare worse, but shouldn't lead to something like this. Especially as the rest of the image doesn't look terribly flare-y.

I will check again the body for internal reflections. The lens seems not to be the cause of it. If it was, I should see this as a blinding blob in the viewfinder when pointing it against strong light, am I right?
The curtains I am 100% sure that they are light tight. If it was through the slit between the curtains, the leak should show line/band alike shapes.

Mark Crabtree · Jun 4, 2021

Film? Have you shot another roll to eliminate that?

zanxion72 · Jun 4, 2021

Mark Crabtree said:
Film? Have you shot another roll to eliminate that?

I am running a new one now. Fingers crossed! Pity that my son was let down badly by his first go with film.

shutterfinger · Jun 4, 2021

When looking through the lens is there any bright shinny spots along the edges of the lens? The lens should be black along the edges of the elements and the spaces between them.
If this roll comes back like the first post a picture of the camera/lens combo from the back with the back open, the shutter open on B, aperture at f1.4, pointed a a well lit light colored wall.

zanxion72 · Jun 7, 2021

shutterfinger said:
When looking through the lens is there any bright shinny spots along the edges of the lens? The lens should be black along the edges of the elements and the spaces between them.
If this roll comes back like the first post a picture of the camera/lens combo from the back with the back open, the shutter open on B, aperture at f1.4, pointed a a well lit light colored wall.

Thank you, I will try that. Looking through the lens I can see no shinny spots. I thought that it could had been oil leaked inside the optical path, but the lens is absolutely clean.

BradS · Jun 10, 2021

I do not think it is the lens. If it is, there is something very, very wrong with that specific individual.

looking at the photo of the building (2nd photo in the OP), the shadows in the windows suggest that the sun is overhead and perhaps, slightly behind the camera...so, it does not seem like flare from the sun is even a possibility in that case - especially if a lens hood was in use.

I'm a long time Nikon user and have many Nikkor lenses of all vintages. I've never seen one flare anything like this...here's a more typical example of my experience...These two photo have the sun in the photo!

directly into the morning sun

the setting sun is in the trees along the right edge

Nicholas Lindan · Jun 12, 2021

You might want to look at #5 in the thread https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/kiev-19-adventure.184671/
for testing for light coming in through the VF.

zanxion72 · Jun 22, 2021

I have finally found and eliminated the source of that flare. It was from the viewfinder and at the back of the mirror. At that point, there is a thin rubber strip that rests behind the mirror and blocks light coming down from that silt, but also limits the shear transmission of light through the mirror pane. It was shaggy on the one side and when shedding light with a bright led at the back of the camera through the viewfinder, it was really glowing there. Pushed that back and to its place and the difference is huge. Now the mirror cage is completely dark.

Horatio · Jun 22, 2021

Glad to hear you found the cause and corrected it.

zanxion72 · Jun 22, 2021

Thanks @Horatio , pitty that for amateurs like me, takes a couple of rolls wasted till solved.

MartinCrabtree · Jun 22, 2021

Persistence pays off. Good job.

Horatio · Jun 22, 2021

zanxion72 said:
Thanks @Horatio , pitty that for amateurs like me, takes a couple of rolls wasted till solved.

Hey man, I'm in the same boat. I have a "leaky" N2002 still to conquer. Fortunately I can bulk load very short rolls for testing.

abruzzi · Jul 2, 2021

Horatio said:
Fortunately I can bulk load very short rolls for testing.

This is the primary reason to have a bulk roll setup. The cost savings are no longer what they once were, but spinning up an 8 or 12 exposure roll to check for light leaks, or just to test the function of a newly aquired camera. I just got another F2 from Adorama, and I have loaded up a shrot roll of TriX therun some tests on it.

Moose22 · Jul 2, 2021

abruzzi said:
This is the primary reason to have a bulk roll setup.

I never considered this. That's smart. Saves blowing $15 on shooting and processing a roll of something expensive just to find out you need light seals.

shutterfinger · Jul 2, 2021

So now you have a good feel for troubleshooting such problems.

zanxion72 · Jul 6, 2021

Eventually, I gave it away to a friend for spares and added an early version FM that was missing from my selves.

Nikkor 50mm 1.4 AI-S: Holly flare!

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