Overexposed strip along one edge of photos - Canon EOS 1v

adm · May 1, 2014

Hi all,
I recently purchased a Canon EOS 1v from eBay and I am finding that many photos from it have a weird bright strip along one of the long edges (same edge every time). It's hard to explain so here's an example where it's quite apparent, see the top edge:

and the right-edge of this photo: (click for big)

here's a crop of the edge of a b&w (neopan 400) photo showing the phenomenon: (click for big)

The severity of the fault seems related to the amount of ambient light when the shot was taken, i.e. the fault is most severe on outdoor/daylight shots but not existent (or at least not noticeable) on low-light or underexposed shots.

Any ideas what might be causing this? A faulty shutter curtain? I am hoping to get an idea of the root cause and hence the ease or cost of fixing it. Thanks.

Buje · May 1, 2014

I had the same problem with a Mamiya 645. I attributed it to rear curtain bounce when closing or lag when beginning to travel. Not sure which. I never did find out exactly. I sent it to Mamiya for CLA but it still did it. I finally sold the body.

AgX · May 1, 2014

I don't even see such artefact.

anyway:

adm said:
The severity of the fault seems related to the amount of ambient light when the shot was taken, i.e. the fault is most severe on outdoor/daylight shots but not existent (or at least not noticeable) on low-light or underexposed shots.

One source of exposure would be the finder, as a mirror typically does not form a lightight trap. Such exposure would be dependant as well on the ambient light level as the exposure time. However such exposure would be diffuse and also reduced by the eye more or less covering the finder. Test would be simple: Long exposure with uncovered finder and body or lens cap attached.

Exposure by spill light into the camera back would be dependant on ambient light Level as well as uncovered time of the film between cartridge and take-up spool. However with colour film such exposure would yield a red hue.

M Stat · May 1, 2014

Looks like shutter bounce to me. Time for a CLA.

Poisson Du Jour · May 1, 2014

How old is the 1V? The rear cover seals may need to be checked but it's not an easy task to replace them (service bench).
The 1V, like the 1N, has one of the best shutter dampening mechanisms ever made and it would be extremely unlikely it is shutter bounce unless the shutter itself has been compromised e.g. by mechanical interference ... touching/pressing.

adm · May 1, 2014

Poisson Du Jour said:
How old is the 1V? The rear cover seals may need to be checked but it's not an easy task to replace them (service bench).
The 1V, like the 1N, has one of the best shutter dampening mechanisms ever made and it would be extremely unlikely it is shutter bounce unless the shutter itself has been compromised e.g. by mechanical interference ... touching/pressing.

I don't know how old it is but I can tell it's been "well used". I had a quick look at the shutter from the rear and couldn't see anything obviously wrong. In my case, the dark strip (as it appears on the negative) is confined to the dimensions of the frame, would it extend outside of the frame if it was a rear cover seal issue?

Poisson Du Jour · May 1, 2014

The EOS 1V can report the number of exposures and actual shutter activations along with system level faults. Even well used and beat-up bodies soldier on in perfect working order. If this problem persists or worsens the best thing would be to take it in for a check-up -- it's not the camera to play with if you are a DIY type. ;-)

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk

adm · May 1, 2014

Poisson Du Jour said:
The EOS 1V can report the number of exposures and actual shutter activations along with system level faults. Even well used and beat-up bodies soldier on in perfect working order. If this problem persists or worsens the best thing would be to take it in for a check-up -- it's not the camera to play with if you are a DIY type. ;-)

If it is a shutter issue I would be very interested to find out the number of shutter activations and whether it's reached the 150k mark. I guess it could've been damaged in some other way at some point in its life. Looking around the net I came across some other people with very similar symptoms:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
https://www.flickr.com/groups/562926@N25/discuss/72157623540606165/
https://www.flickr.com/groups/562926@N25/discuss/72157630058215776/

CatLABS · May 1, 2014

Bad shutter.
Could happen anytime at any age of shutter life.

EDIT: If this is only at one edge of the frame it might be a processing issue.

John Koehrer · May 2, 2014

adm said:
I In my case, the dark strip (as it appears on the negative) is confined to the dimensions of the frame, would it extend outside of the frame if it was a rear cover seal issue?

This rules out processing, The fault(to me) doesn't appear as a perfectly straight line that would be shutter bounce.
Are the edges sharp on the negatives.
If they're not, the suggestion of a light leak from a bad seal sounds good though.

ic-racer · May 2, 2014

The second curtain is slow to close the last millimeter or two. The effect is more prominent the faster the shutter speed. At slow speeds it becomes less noticeable on the negative.

AgX · May 2, 2014

That retardation of the second curtain at the end of exposure would indeed make sense if one rightly deduced from low light levels to longer exposure times.

(But still I do not see such artefacts at the samples. Well, I always can blame it on my computer...)

John Koehrer · May 3, 2014

AgX said:
That retardation of the second curtain at the end of exposure would indeed make sense if one rightly deduced from low light levels to longer exposure times.

(But still I do not see such artefacts at the samples. Well, I always can blame it on my computer...)

time to upgrade(again)

yelmarb · Aug 25, 2018

Hi adm, did you ever get this problem fixed on your EOS-1V?

Overexposed strip along one edge of photos - Canon EOS 1v

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