Some of my frames are only half developed?

Donald Qualls · Sep 9, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Partial frames is a symptom of shutter problems.

Right. Which is not directly a symptom of a meter issue. A meter problem won't cause shutter capping or premature second curtain follow or mess up the flash sync. It'll cause entire frames to be too dark or too light (or so light they look blank). And it won't affect edge markings (though one should be aware that .EDU Ultra films in 35 mm don't have edge markings).

guangong · Sep 9, 2022

The wind lever on a Nikon S2 that I bought recently wouldn’t snap back after advancing. I cocked and fired camera while watching movies. Little by little lever returned to normal. Camera also needed shutter and rangefinder calibration. I let a friend who once did Leica repair at Leitz do adjustments. If camera needs to be opened I pass to professional. There are a number of hobbyists who are skilled in camera refurbishing whose skills really impress me, but not for me.

AsdaFan · Sep 9, 2022

Last night I kept on winding the shutter and it appears after putting a roll of Tasma 200 through it the negs came out without any capping. 250-1000 seems to work as they should.

This film was so thin I couldn't wind it round the reel, but I managed to get some test images off and done a quick inversion on my phone.

Donald Qualls · Sep 9, 2022

That seems like an improvement. We're still hoping to see a photo of a strip of the problem negatives to help diagnose the problem there.

Also, what camera are you using? Different shutters can have different failures; half-exposed frames will be a very different problem with a Canonet than with a Barnack Leica.

AsdaFan · Sep 9, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
That seems like an improvement. We're still hoping to see a photo of a strip of the problem negatives to help diagnose the problem there.

Also, what camera are you using? Different shutters can have different failures; half-exposed frames will be a very different problem with a Canonet than with a Barnack Leica.

If you go back a page the affected neg is in there. Some are the same half exposure, some frames are fully captured.

The camera is an OM 20 as previously mentioned. One thing I didn't ask was, when the mode is set to auto and you have the shutter speed displayed in the VF, I assume you do not need to change the shutter speed on the ring unless you're in manual?

Donald Qualls · Sep 9, 2022

Aaah, I don't know how I missed half the first page, but that's clearly shutter capping and it looks like you "fixed" it with your application of isopropyl. Likely it'll come back (proper cleaning would put that off by decades), but it works for now.

AsdaFan · Sep 9, 2022

I thought the isopropyl alcohol might unstick something without having to start stripping it down , which I'd prefer not to do myself as I'm not familiar with electronics in cameras.

Any way, we'll see how it goes for now! Thanks for the insights.

Sirius Glass · Sep 9, 2022

Often dry firing cameras can exercise the shutter enough to free it up from congealed oils to be functioning again. My WideLux will start showing banding if it has sat too long, so when it has sat for a few months without film, I dry fire it several hundred times. Dry firing will not cure all shutter problems but keeps the shutter from getting permanently stuck and requiring a CLA.

Donald Qualls · Sep 9, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Dry firing will not cure all shutter problems but keeps the shutter from getting permanently stuck and requiring a CLA.

Well, or mask the need for a CLA. If you've reached the point of needing to dry fire hundreds of times to get correct function, you're already past "requiring a CLA" -- you're in "I don't need tires, these aren't flat yet" even though they have no tread left. They're just not flat yet.

Not to say I don't have a bunch of old cameras that aren't worth a full CLA, just that I don't kid myself that it's like starting up a car that's been sitting in a bar for forty years: the fact I can (eventually) get it to start doesn't mean it's ready to commute to work.

Sirius Glass · Sep 9, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
Well, or mask the need for a CLA. If you've reached the point of needing to dry fire hundreds of times to get correct function, you're already past "requiring a CLA" -- you're in "I don't need tires, these aren't flat yet" even though they have no tread left. They're just not flat yet.

Not to say I don't have a bunch of old cameras that aren't worth a full CLA, just that I don't kid myself that it's like starting up a car that's been sitting in a bar for forty years: the fact I can (eventually) get it to start doesn't mean it's ready to commute to work.

I do not repair a tire that is flat on the bottom, I just jack up the car and put the flat part on the top. Then I can drive off on the unflat part.

I was talking about clearing a banding problem. If dry fires do not clear that it goes for a CLA. Any problem that does not clear easily with dry firing or use gets shipped off for a CLA. CLAs are just part of the cost of photography and its maintenance.

Donald Qualls · Sep 9, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
I just jack up the car and put the flat part on the top. Then I can drive off on the unflat part.

My experience is that the flat side migrates around to the bottom, no matter how many times I turn the wheel over. I have, however, driven a good while on tires that were illegally bald, back when I was in college and too broke to buy new ones...

MattKing · Sep 9, 2022

AsdaFan said:
If you go back a page the affected neg is in there. Some are the same half exposure, some frames are fully captured.

The camera is an OM 20 as previously mentioned. One thing I didn't ask was, when the mode is set to auto and you have the shutter speed displayed in the VF, I assume you do not need to change the shutter speed on the ring unless you're in manual?

Your assumption is correct. In auto mode, changing that setting on the ring does nothing.
One further thing to understand though - the OM-20 employs off the film plane metering when in auto mode. There are actually two metering systems in the camera. The first feeds the information display in the viewfinder, while the second actually measures the amount of light that reaches the film (and reflects back). In auto mode, the first is just informing the photographer, while the second actually controls the shutter.
This doesn't have much to do with your capping problem, except that if you are releasing the shutter in auto mode, and don't have any film in the camera, the shutter will stay open longer, because the pressure plate reflects less light than film. That might confuse you as you "exercise" your camera.
The Olympus OM-20 is a great little camera - small, light, accurate and a great body to have if you have OM lenses. It complements well an OM 1, 2, 3 or 4. I would spend money on mine if the shutter started capping, and I have at least three other, "higher end" OM bodies.

AsdaFan · Sep 9, 2022

Ah, yes. That would explain why the shutter sounded like it was at maybe 1/60th with no film in. Thanks!

Some of my frames are only half developed?

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