Olympus OM2SP Light leak

[colin wells]

I have a mystery light leak in my Olympus OM2SP .I have replaced all the light seals but it still occurs . (not on every pic ) .I remember reading somewhere of a light leak when someone removed the winder gear cover on another camera and was wondering if the OM2SP could be the same .

 

[Arbitrarium]

What shape is the leak, and does it extend to the edge of the negative?

 

[colin wells]

It is usually a smudged spot in the left hand bottom of the pic .My scanner has called it a draw so i cant post up one of the pics sorry

 

[Arbitrarium]

If it's in exactly the same place on every photo, it could be that the shutter curtain's are going a bit daft. Have a look through the back of the shutter against a bright light and make sure it's opening and closing as it should.

 

[colin wells]

Have done that and everything is looking good .I was thinking of loading with new film and putting black tape around door and not putting the winder on to see if it happens then .

 

[Anon Ymous]

You can put tape over the winder gear mechanism and rule out such a case, or not...

 

[colin wells]

I still have the winder door cover for the bottom of the camera

 

[OlyMan]

I can't see how light entering the winder socket could ever get in the film chamber, they are completely separate. Can you source a really bright LED torch and duck-tape it to the front of the lens? Obviously with no film in, open the shutter on bulb and see if there are any light leaks round the perimeter of the rear door. Then open the back door and trip the shutter on timer to see if any light is getting through the shutter curtains while the mirror is flipped up. Try it cocked and uncocked to check both curtains. Obviously all this is best done at night in a darkened room.

 

[colin wells]

Hi and thanks for the reply i have tried all of the above and can find no light leaks or problems with the shutter .Next step i will try changing the lens to see if its a fault with the aperture blades .

 

[OlyMan]

Can you post-up a scan of an affected photo?

 

[colin wells]

Sorry my scanner has called it a draw .The fault is generally a small figure of 8 usually with the top half of the 8 flared on the left hand bottom of the pic .The whole thing ranging from 1/4 to an 1in long

 

[OlyMan]

Hmmm....what you're describing sounds more like some kind of lens flare, not a light leak. Light leaks usually manifest themselves as a color-band down the photo, like this one I randomly stole of the interweb:

They aren't necessarily as bad as that though, and their location on the frame can vary depending on where the light is leaking in, but they will usually be consistent from shot to shot.

Here's a thought just to rule out light leaks completely: take several shots 4-5 seconds each (use B) with the lens cap duck-taped on in bright sunlight and with the camera back/front/sides angled variously towards the sun (yeah I realise that's a challenge here in the UK in January). If they all come out truly black, you don't have a light leak and it's something else.