Apparently, you are loading the camera correctly so it's either Ilford's fault or gremlins.
Generally directly away from the front of my body (i.e. perpendicular to my torso). I believe I had the lens cap in place when loading this roll as well.
I close the baseplate without advancing any frames. Once the baseplate is secure, I advance one frame and then take up the slack in the cassette. Then I advance one additional frame and start shooting. Because I had this happen on a previous roll, I may have advanced two frames instead of just one after taking up the slack to try and avoid the issue, but I can't recall for sure.
Apparently, you are loading the camera correctly so it's either Ilford's fault or gremlins.
I'm going with a light leak or gremlins. I've recently loaded lots of HP5+ in other cameras (Leicas, Nikons, Pentax) and have never experienced this with any of them. In fact I've shot several rolls of HP5+ in this M2 in the last few months and only started to notice this issue recently.
Even with factory service, it's still a sixty year old camera and something has come loose. If you're dealing with Leica in Wetzlar, their customer service is good. Kinda a shame it may need another trip halfway around the world but it's worth your time to contact them.
Somewhere in the deepest darkest crevices of my memory, I remember reading a post (probably here) about a Leica camera that someone had repaired that somehow leaked light in through the rangefinder area.
Maybe try opening the back, leaving the shutter closed, and shine a bright mini-maglite around the rangefinder and top cover area from the front.
If any light shows up in the film area, that would indicate where the problem is.
Hope this helps.
One thing I have noticed with this camera is that, when the film is just about fully rewound, it takes quite a bit of force to get the film pulled free of the takeup spool.
Out of curiosity, is your M2 a lever or button rewind?
I haven't noticed anything like that, but I'll watch for it again the next time I load the camera.ICheck if you feel any slipping or binding when advancing the first few frames.
That's definitely worth a try.Another suggestion before sending it off, try a fresh roll from another manufacturer just to eliminate the film as the culprit.
Quick update: I just developed another roll of the same film (HP5+) shot with a different camera and the same thing happened - some sort of fogging of the leader up to and including the first frame. All other frames look ok, as far as I can tell (the film is still hanging to dry).
One thing I didn't mention earlier in this thread: I don't fully rewind the film into the cassette but I leave the leader out so that I can trim the corners in daylight before loading it onto the reel. I also prefer to load the reel directly from the cassette rather than opening the cassette and taking the film roll out in the changing bag. One thing that @250swb suggested to me on another forum is that this could lead to light piping. I thought that was pretty rare and only affected films with a polyester base. Also, as soon as I unload the film from the camera, I put it right into the black opaque canister that the film comes in, so the film cassette is not exposed to light with the leader sticking out for more than a few seconds. I've been doing this same thing for quite a while now and have never had this issue crop up.
I'll guess I'll shoot a roll of a different film and see if this is somehow related to the batch of HP5 I'm using.
I guess the good news is there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with my M2.
Aha! I suspect that you are getting some light leaking in around the felt. At least your M2 doesn’t need more work.
If it is a leak at the light trap, I wonder why this would have just started to occur recently? I haven't changed the way I handle the film cassette during loading/unloading.
Lousy cassettes from Ilford's supplier, maybe?
I don't fully rewind the film into the cassette but I leave the leader out so that I can trim the corners in daylight before loading it onto the reel.
I do this all the time, including with HP5+, but I use that film in bulk load only. It's not very susceptible to light piping at all.
Quick update: I just developed another roll of the same film (HP5+) shot with a different camera and the same thing happened - some sort of fogging of the leader up to and including the first frame. All other frames look ok, as far as I can tell (the film is still hanging to dry).
One thing I didn't mention earlier in this thread: I don't fully rewind the film into the cassette but I leave the leader out so that I can trim the corners in daylight before loading it onto the reel. I also prefer to load the reel directly from the cassette rather than opening the cassette and taking the film roll out in the changing bag. One thing that @250swb suggested to me on another forum is that this could lead to light piping. I thought that was pretty rare and only affected films with a polyester base. Also, as soon as I unload the film from the camera, I put it right into the black opaque canister that the film comes in, so the film cassette is not exposed to light with the leader sticking out for more than a few seconds. I've been doing this same thing for quite a while now and have never had this issue crop up.
I'll guess I'll shoot a roll of a different film and see if this is somehow related to the batch of HP5 I'm using.
I guess the good news is there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with my M2.
Since this has now happened when using a different camera, you should also now consider how you handle the film for processing. If you load the reels in a changing bag, then that's another potential place for light leaks. Changing bags deteriorate over time, and this has been a problem seen here in other threads.
There have been multiple threads here on this site where people have found the changing bag to be a problem, even though they were "certain" that it was perfectly fine. Changing bags work great, until they don't. The rubbery material coating will degrade over time, and they'll all eventually fail.
Load your next film in the changing bag at night with all the lights off, to ensure that there's no chance for light to get in even if the changing bag has gone bad.
I'd say the odds are at 80% that this is a bad changing bag issue. The odds of it being a film issue are much less than 1%.
I considered that, but I'd expect a leak in the changing bag to affect more than just the start of the film strip.
I'd say the odds are at 80% that this is a bad changing bag issue.
No, I don't advance the film until the back is closed and the bottom affixed.Are you advancing any frames with the bottom off and the back closed?
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