The Importance of Replacing Light Seals.

Cholentpot · Dec 11, 2017

I've been wondering about the importance of replacing light seals.

In my SLRs over the years I've done it time and time again. No issue, a few hours of work and good as new. I just got an XA2 in the mail, camera works fine and I passed a roll of HP5+ through it and see no light leaks. However, the seals are basically gone and need replacing. Issue is that the XA series has much tighter tolerances than the SLRs I've worked on.

Should I poke around and try to replace or just leave and let be? I never bought any kits, always fabricated myself out of foamies and used film can felt.

Camera if fun to use BTW but I'm not seeing the awesome lens that people go on about. Guess I'll need to run more rolls through it!

Jeff Bradford · Dec 11, 2017

I don't replace them myself unless there's a light leak or they look really bad.
But if I send a camera in for CLA, I expect the seals to be replaced no matter what condition they're in.

jim10219 · Dec 11, 2017

Some people prefer preventative maintenance and some people prefer to not fix what ain’t broken. The importance of replacing light seals in a camera that doesn’t actually leak light is more a reflection of yourself than the condition of your camera. Then again, some people prefer light leaks in their cameras.

For me, if the camera doesn’t leak, then I don’t mess with the seals, unless I’m already doing other maintenance on it.

MattKing · Dec 11, 2017

Old, gooey light seal material is known to travel into the "innards" of cameras, and can cause havoc.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 11, 2017

In my experience, XA2 is best at higher shutter speeds and smaller apertures - so I use typically ISO400 rather than my normal 100 or 200.

Sirius Glass · Dec 12, 2017

It depends on what your photographs are worth. It is easier to replace the seals than save a photograph damaged by a light leak. It is easier to replace the seals than do a complete CLA because the mechanism got gummed up from sticky, gooey seals.

Helios 1984 · Dec 12, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
It depends on what your photographs are worth. It is easier to replace the seals than save a photograph damaged by a light leak. It is easier to replace the seals than do a complete CLA because the mechanism got gummed up from sticky, gooey seals.

+1

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Here's a link for the light seals of your XA2.

Arbitrarium · Dec 12, 2017

I always replace the foam along with a general clean and a shampoo/balsam treatment of the leather (if any). As people have mentioned, old foam bits can travel to the shutter or the viewfinder where you can't get to them. Another reason I replace the seals is the tighten up the film door. Rattly doors make the camera feel cheap and new seals usually pad it out enough to make it feel solid.

AgX · Dec 12, 2017

Even in the days of sheet metal backs there were ways to make them light-tight without a seal. For these seals are grooves needed anyway. A problem though remained with the hinge.
Most likely the idea behind the seals is dust-sealing.
With the advent of compact AF cameras and the Canon T-series for instance design went back to plain ridge&groove solutions. Until waterprooving became a new issue.

Cholentpot · Dec 12, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
It depends on what your photographs are worth. It is easier to replace the seals than save a photograph damaged by a light leak. It is easier to replace the seals than do a complete CLA because the mechanism got gummed up from sticky, gooey seals.

So, clean out them old gooey seals and see where I'm at looks like the order of the day.

Theo Sulphate said:
In my experience, XA2 is best at higher shutter speeds and smaller apertures - so I use typically ISO400 rather than my normal 100 or 200.

I was shooting at 200. Thanks for the tip, I'll throw some Tri-x in there at 800 and see what happens.

As mentioned before I always replace but I'm unsure if the XA can handle foamies, that's what I've got on hand.

darkosaric · Dec 12, 2017

Arbitrarium said:
I always replace the foam along with a general clean and a shampoo/balsam treatment of the leather (if any). As people have mentioned, old foam bits can travel to the shutter or the viewfinder where you can't get to them. Another reason I replace the seals is the tighten up the film door. Rattly doors make the camera feel cheap and new seals usually pad it out enough to make it feel solid.

+1
From another side - I really like Leica and original Nikon F light sealing .

benjiboy · Dec 12, 2017

If required, I buy the self adhesive 2mm X 2mm foam light seal strips ( because I find cutting foam into accurate 2mm strips impossible) and sheet self adhesive foam of the correct thickness I require off eBay..

Cholentpot · Dec 12, 2017

benjiboy said:
If required, I buy the self adhesive 2mm X 2mm foam light seal strips ( because I find cutting foam into accurate 2mm strips impossible) and sheet self adhesive foam of the correct thickness I require off eBay..

I just use a paper guillotine thingy. Gets the foam pretty thin. Stick on with weldbond and some cloths pins to hold in place.

Cholentpot · Dec 12, 2017

I took out a few hours today and replaced the seals and sanded the paint off the back. Now I have a mirror brushed steel looking XA2. Kinda cool looking. Letting everything dry and out gas.

This was one of the harder re-seals I've done. I ended up taking the back door off and wiping down with GooGone. It worked, the seals on the plastic part of the camera were a little easier to take care of and came off with some alcohol. Fun little camera, smaller than my Pen EE3.

E. von Hoegh · Dec 13, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I've been wondering about the importance of replacing light seals.

In my SLRs over the years I've done it time and time again. No issue, a few hours of work and good as new. I just got an XA2 in the mail, camera works fine and I passed a roll of HP5+ through it and see no light leaks. However, the seals are basically gone and need replacing. Issue is that the XA series has much tighter tolerances than the SLRs I've worked on.

Should I poke around and try to replace or just leave and let be? I never bought any kits, always fabricated myself out of foamies and used film can felt.

Camera if fun to use BTW but I'm not seeing the awesome lens that people go on about. Guess I'll need to run more rolls through it!

"Light seals" are not always for light, very often the light is dealt with by a labyrinth, the foam is there to keep dust out. Dust is not good.
And yes, I replace them. Sometimes I use black wool yarn, and felt for a mirror buffer - it depends on the camera. At the moment I have in use a badly neglected Nikon F2, I removed all of the dry foam around the back, and am using an improvised mirror buffer, just to run one roll of film to identify any issues I've missed so far. When it gets overhauled, it will recieve new Sover Wong foam seals.

Cholentpot · Dec 13, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
"Light seals" are not always for light, very often the light is dealt with by a labyrinth, the foam is there to keep dust out. Dust is not good.
And yes, I replace them. Sometimes I use black wool yarn, and felt for a mirror buffer - it depends on the camera. At the moment I have in use a badly neglected Nikon F2, I removed all of the dry foam around the back, and am using an improvised mirror buffer, just to run one roll of film to identify any issues I've missed so far. When it gets overhauled, it will recieve new Sover Wong foam seals.

You won't like what I did with the seals. Not a bit...

And the back's even better! I have a new mirror!

But no worries! I ordered some nice red leatherette to recover the back. It's my camera, I'll bubba it the way I want.

darkosaric · Dec 14, 2017

Cholentpot said:
It's my camera, I'll bubba it the way I want.

Nice non standard work !

E. von Hoegh · Dec 14, 2017

Cholentpot said:
You won't like what I did with the seals. Not a bit...

And the back's even better! I have a new mirror!

But no worries! I ordered some nice red leatherette to recover the back. It's my camera, I'll bubba it the way I want.

E. von Hoegh · Dec 14, 2017

The seals... are... purple... .
No worries, I keep looking at the white lacquer and my Kiev 4a that has most of the black paint worn off. A white Ukranian might be in the works, I need to learn to use lacquer for another project, and the Kiev has fuzzy ribbons.

Cholentpot · Dec 14, 2017

darkosaric said:
Nice non standard work !

E. von Hoegh said:
The seals... are... purple... .
No worries, I keep looking at the white lacquer and my Kiev 4a that has most of the black paint worn off. A white Ukranian might be in the works, I need to learn to use lacquer for another project, and the Kiev has fuzzy ribbons.

It's pink you philistine! Get your color wheel out. Anyhoo, I think I'll used the leftover leatherette on one of my Argus C3s. The old girl can do with a makeover...

E. von Hoegh · Dec 14, 2017

Cholentpot said:
It's pink you philistine! Get your color wheel out. Anyhoo, I think I'll used the leftover leatherette on one of my Argus C3s. The old girl can do with a makeover...

OK, purply-pink. That's as far as I'll go.

Cholentpot · Dec 14, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
OK, purply-pink. That's as far as I'll go.

Tangy-Taffy colored?

E. von Hoegh · Dec 14, 2017

N

Cholentpot said:
Tangy-Taffy colored?

No. Go over it with a black sharpie.

Cholentpot · Dec 14, 2017

E. von Hoegh said:
N

No. Go over it with a black sharpie.

Never! My camera is identifies as pink and that's that. Don't stomp on the rights and ideals of pink cameras, they are just as capable as taking a photo as a back or chrome camera. It's not the color that counts but the film inside!

Truzi · Dec 14, 2017

I thought you sealed it with bubblegum.

The Importance of Replacing Light Seals.

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