Streaking on Negative - What happened?

Fintan · Oct 21, 2006

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Ok this poorly scanned negative shows streaking. I usually process myself but I got a lab to do 3 films and the steaking continues across each of the films.

Can anyone tell me what probably happened?
Are these completely useless?

I'm so totally p***ed off.

Fintan

kb244 · Oct 21, 2006

the negatives could have actually been machine processed ( not the dip and dunk style ) and the rollers pulled the emulsion in that general direction.

The only thing else I could I could think of but I doubt ( because the negs would be ruined ) is some idiot put some B&W film into the color processor, and the emulsion started to float off the strip in the machine and they pulled it out and developed as normal.

OR.....

some idiot tried to quickly dry the strip by pulling down on it real quick to get off the excess water.

Its a number of possibilities, it helps to give us more details of where, who, how, etc. (though you may only be able to provide the where/who). And possibly the development instruction on the lab envelope if it may have been changed or possibly mistaken for something else.

vanspaendonck · Oct 21, 2006

I wouldn't rule out light as the cause.

At first glance, it doesn't look like floating emulsion to me and I noticed that the film type and the numbers printed on the edges don't streak at all.

Could you give us some details how you made these shots? Like type of camera, lens, shutter, bellows or extension rings, type of film advance (manual, motor). Were these films shot consecutively in a short period of time? I would also be interested to see a scan of the first and the last negative of each roll.

Bob F. · Oct 21, 2006

Looks somewhat similar to what I managed to do before I read the manual for my SQA. I was doing long exposures incorrectly and that resulted in the shutter still being open as I wound on the film... Wonder if something similar happened here?

Good luck, Bob.

Fintan · Oct 21, 2006

Thanks for the replies.

I'm not totally sure how it was processed or wiped at this stage. I havent ruled out something in my camera yet.

The camera is a motorised Hasselblad 500ELX, yes they were shot in quick succession. I was bracketing, so every shot is either what my light meter said, +1 stop or -1 stop. I think the exposure was 1/2 second.

This is the full roll of film. #1 is at top left, #12 is bottom right.

wilsonneal · Oct 21, 2006

I believe this is an issue with the camera, not the processing. To me, it most looks like the shutter was hanging open as the film was being advanced. Were these shot with strobe or with available light? Available light would back up my guess, strobe would make me think again.
Let us know what winds up being the answer to this puzzler.
Neal

wilsonneal · Oct 21, 2006

You used a Hasselblad.
I think your curtains are not closing between exposures perhaps. As you probably are aware, there are curtains that allow changing of lenses without the darkslide in place. I think the curtains are hanging up.
Neal

ann · Oct 21, 2006

i had a student with this problem last year, had it checked at repair center.

It is an equipment issue, not a processing one.

Fintan · Oct 21, 2006

Thanks again for the replies.

wilsonneal said:
Were these shot with strobe or with available light?

One studio light and a reflector. Black background.

Ole · Oct 21, 2006

If you look at the relative lengths of the streaks on the three exposures, you'll see that the darkest (+1) negative always has the shortest streak.

It could also be that it's the last of three in a series that has the shortest streak, but anyway it indicates a camera problem and not a processing problem. If it were processing, you would expect all streaks to be the same length, or the darkest to be longest.

vanspaendonck · Oct 21, 2006

I don't know about Hasselblads, using a Bronica EC/TL myself for 6x6, but doesn't the 500ELX use lenses with build in leaf shutters? In that case it could be that the lens your used to take these pictures with has greasy shutter blades or a faulty shutter, takes too much time to close and is still letting in a bit of light when the motor has started to advance the film (I assume that the film is advanced right after the exposure). You should be able to check this visually, but I don't know if you can fire a 'blad with no film or with no magazine.

vanspaendonck · Oct 21, 2006

Yep, it's the shutter allright. Check the lens you used. The shutter takes too much time to close and still lets in a bit of light when the film is allready being advanced. The lenght of the streaks is a bit random, but so is the behaviour of the shutter blades. A good CLA may be all you need.
Check the lens and let us know.

(Sorry, I posted this because my earlier post took 30 minutes to appear on the tread, I thought it had gotten lost in cyberspace)

GraemeMitchell · Oct 21, 2006

I don't know, but I think they're perfect!

Actually I had a similar problem with a Rollei 6008i but it was stolen right after it started to happen so I never did get to figure it out.

Platinumprinter · Oct 21, 2006

Yep – it’s a camera problem. I had the same thing happen with a Rollie many years ago. The problem was a worn gear in the film advance /shutter mechanism that allowed the shutter to hang while the film was advancing. Just take the camera to your friendly repair shop and they will fix it for you in a jiffy.

kb244 · Oct 21, 2006

Is it just me, or wouldnt a shutter problem also cause the dark 'frame' of each frame to also streak, not just the subject. Instead we see here the frames themselves have defined outlines, where the subject streaks past the frame...

Fintan · Oct 21, 2006

Once again thanks for all the suggestions.

The problem has been solved by a prominent member of the hasselblad user group who advised that its a user error, meaning me

This is the response:

This is very typical for EL(...) models.
The cause is simple: you, not holding the shutter release pressed until the
shutter in the lens has finished exposure and is shut again.
The motor will start winding film, the two doors in the back closing slowly,
while the shutter in the lens is still open.
The result are streaks like this.

The remedy is equally simple: keep the release pressed until the shutter in
the lens has finished.

Photo Engineer · Oct 21, 2006

If it was a processing problem, it would be the worst case of bromide drag I have ever seen.

I agree, it is equipment failure.

PE

vanspaendonck · Oct 21, 2006

Fintan said:
Once again thanks for all the suggestions.

The problem has been solved by a prominent member of the hasselblad user group who advised that its a user error, meaning me

This is the response:

This is very typical for EL(...) models.
The cause is simple: you, not holding the shutter release pressed until the
shutter in the lens has finished exposure and is shut again.
The motor will start winding film, the two doors in the back closing slowly,
while the shutter in the lens is still open.
The result are streaks like this.

The remedy is equally simple: keep the release pressed until the shutter in
the lens has finished.

Now really! If this is true I would say this is a serious design flaw. Keeping the shutter button depressed untill the shutter has finished its business? Even on a 2 second exposure? I thought we had left this sort of quirks behind us somewhere around 1910. 'Blads also seem to make problems if you remove the lens while the shutter is tensioned, or something like that. Makes me wonder why these capricious cameras have such a dedicated following. Makes me happy I have a Bronica ECTL, that has none of these antics. OK, I will put on my Nomex underwear now......

Streaking on Negative - What happened?

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