The mystery of my Leica IIIF + Blue cast on frame edge

RoboRepublic · Aug 24, 2022

250swb said:
But what you are showing now isn't as clearly defined as your first postings, in that you haven't even focused in on what people are drawing to your attention. It makes it frustrating when the lines are redrawn again and again..

I'm sorry - I'm having trouble following, what lines have been re-drawn?

r_a_feldman · Aug 24, 2022

RoboRepublic said:
I will count the sprocket distance, for the orange leak. I attributed it to the pattereon reel it went on. The roller balls on the reel tend to mark all my negatives (135/120) with this sort of pattern. The cinestill can was loaded on a job reel which is much more forgiving on the ribbon.

The roller balls on your Patterson reel should not be emitting light -- the orange marks were caused by light, not pressure. You should check your developing tanks for light leaks.

Sirius Glass · Aug 24, 2022

250swb said:
Not picky at all, particularly as the colour cast is blue/cyan which means the leak can't be coming from the BACK of the camera anyway. (If I need to explain it's because if a leak is coming from the back of the camera it will shine through the film base which makes the leak appear orange).

The leaks are orange in post #21.

r_a_feldman · Aug 24, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
The leaks are orange in post #21.

And the leaks are on the bottom edge of the film, when in-camera, which could be a light leak around the edge of the base plate on the IIIf. The fact that the artifact is not in the same place on each frame argues against a leak along the straight part of the back. If the leak was at the take-up end of the camera, the leak would move in position and get longer and/or farther apart as more film wraps on the take-up spool.

RoboRepublic · Aug 24, 2022

I'm having trouble understanding why the orange leaks on the sprocket holes are the subject of conversation, when its the blue cast on the opposite side, that bleed into the frame, that are of more consequence.
Are they some how connected?

250swb · Aug 25, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
The leaks are orange in post #21.

Yes the OP is moving the goalposts, the photo of the lady walking up the path was cropped in the first post or we'd all have seen the orange flare. Nevertheless he's interested in the blue band although I suspect both will be connected. One area that may possibly cause a multi directional leak besides the rivets (post #29) is if the end of the tripod socket has been popped open by using too long a screw.

pentaxuser · Aug 25, 2022

RoboRepublic, my point may or may not reinforce 250swb's point but what I have noticed is that you have shown us the perforations of the lady on the pavement shot which is new and yes there is clearly a problem there but originally all we saw was the print equivalent without perforations.

To get a clearer picture of all the faults we need to see pictures of all of the negatives with faults and to know if these were from different cameras and different film

Yes it is a lot of work but I don't see how we find the cause or causes of the problems until we see everything and you tell us everything

pentaxuser

RoboRepublic · Aug 25, 2022

pentaxuser said:
Yes it is a lot of work but I don't see how we find the cause or causes of the problems until we see everything and you tell us everything

I'm trying to be as forth coming as I can, this problem has been a scourge over 12 rolls, using a variety of emulsions. I'll see if I can get more organized and scan everything with sprockets with labels etc

grain elevator · Aug 25, 2022

I've seen it suggested frequently to tape up the camera body successively, taking notes, advancing the film and moving it around in full sunlight (for extended time) for each step/area of the body to identify the leak(s). In your case an intermediate step should be checking the cassettes in a similar manner.

r_a_feldman · Aug 25, 2022

RoboRepublic said:
I'm having trouble understanding why the orange leaks on the sprocket holes are the subject of conversation, when its the blue cast on the opposite side, that bleed into the frame, that are of more consequence.
Are they some how connected?

Yes, I have gone off a bit from your original question. However, it looks like you have TWO different leaks/artifacts: the blue haze at the bottom of the image and the orange leak at the top. Both can ruin your images.

I highly suggest you follow Rick Oleson’s leak test linked to by btaylor: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/lightleak.pdf. For that test, use a fresh roll of factory spooled color negative film. Run the test, then send the roll out to be processed. There is more cost with that, but you are loosing money (and time) on the rolls with artifacts that you have.

r_a_feldman · Sep 2, 2022

RoboRepublic, any updates?

I would also suggest that you look at this other Photrio thread: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/leica-iii-light-leak.182571/, which I just noticed. The leak there is much more pronounced, but the steps that the OP went through to try to track down the source might be useful.

The mystery of my Leica IIIF + Blue cast on frame edge

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