What the heck is this??

akaa

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I just got this roll back from the local processor and this artifact is on every frame (lower right hand corner)

I am assuming that this is something in the camera (seems odd to be on every frame if it were a processing problem? not sure)

What steps should I take to clean the shutter area of the camera, other than compressed air? I have not opened it up yet to look, there is a roll of film in it now.

Any other suggestions welcome! thanks

Oh yeah, the camera is an AE1-P

Thanks!
 

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srs5694

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It could be a bit of hair or thread stuck around the shutter. I've seen this sort of thing myself, although the times I've seen it, it's not extended so far into the frame. You could remove the lens, carefully lift the mirror, and have a look for something on the lens side of the shutter. If that fails, I'd rewind the current roll and have a look on the other side. Setting the camera to "B" and holding the shutter open might help reveal the source of the problem. If you've got a significant number of shots left on the roll, you could then re-load it, shoot off a bunch of blank frames (with the lens cap on), and pick up the roll where you left off.
 
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akaa

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That's what I thought at first, But I just printed optically and I could see it on the negative
 
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akaa

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how careful do I need to be around the shutter side? Can it be touched or..?
 

MPandolfo

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That's a hair inside the camera, close to the film plane, check the upper left corner of the film window with the back open and the shutter open in "B". Be careful of not letting the shutter to close while you have your fingers over there, safest way is to lock the shutter open using a cable release. Had a similar problem with an M6.
 
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akaa

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OK, film re-wound shutter on B with bright flashlight. I don't see anything there. Is it possible it was stuck there well enough to go through a whole roll of film and came out when I changed canisters?

Next question will be:

What do I do to make this "hair" go away? as much as possible anyway? I have several family portraits on this roll that are not going to look so good with that. I could try and crop it out but that would make several look pretty awkward.

Thanks everyone!
 

andrewkirkby

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Looks like pubic hair. Comes from the nether-regions.
As to how it got onto your image, that is another story.

Could be next to the shutter. It would have to be very close to the film to be that sharp.
More than likely between the scanner and film.
 

railwayman3

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akaa said:
OK, film re-wound shutter on B with bright flashlight. I don't see anything there. Is it possible it was stuck there well enough to go through a whole roll of film and came out when I changed canisters?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

Could well have been stuck while the first film was exposed (there's not really anything to dislodge it while the camera is closed), but dropped or blown out when the film was changed.
Sometimes used to happen with 8mm or 16mm film, in either the camera, in which case the image was on every frame for good, or more often in the projector, when a good clean of the gate would put things right.

If it's not on your next film (which I think you indicate you have already exposed), and nothing apparent in the camera, you may be OK now.

If the image is on every neg of the processed film, it may be best if you can photoshop it out?
 

frobozz

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I'm going to go with the theory of a "hair in the gate" (movie camera reference... sometimes you'll actually see this on very old low budget films, except there it kind of dances around from frame to frame.) It is possible it went away when you changed film, it's also possible it's a very very fine hair and you have to look harder for it... Your next roll of film should tell the story.

If you're scanning and using PhotoShop, then you're going to want to get familiar with the Clone Tool. For optical prints, I think an X-acto knife and some spotting brushes are your only hope. Maybe do that to one print and then do a copy neg of that print for future prints?

Duncan
 

Mark Antony

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As others have mentioned its a hairbetween the film and the shutter, as its no longer there don't worry.
I have seen this once before, the culpret was the felt light trap on the actual cassette, part of it was peeling from the film can and sticking out over the 'gate'.
Mark
 

pacman1213

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I had the same problem with my scanner, The same hair would show up on the same frame number even tho the bed was clean and dust free. Turns out, the hair was on the white Light plastic cover and not the film/glass.

I would check that first.
 

Shawn Rahman

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fotch said:
Looks like a hair near or on the shutter.
Click to expand...

You people need close the backs of your cameras if you want to continue combing your hair with them!!

I had the same thing once. A quick spray of air did the trick. You might try carefully with a tweezer if it is a particularly stubborn hair.
 

ruilourosa

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uau um pintelho...


put a bit of hair gel on it and improve your photos
 

bblhed

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From my experience hair on the scanner shows up white in photos. Look at the negative with a loop or a magnifier, if it is not there it was the scanner, have your photos reprinted. I have doubts it is the scanner, very few places use a single frame scanner so if it was the scanner it would show up on every Xth frame, X being the number of frames the scanner does at a time. My bet would be something in the camera that is gone now.

Sorry I don't have a witty comment about not trapping the corner of your blankey in the back of the camera.
 

AgX

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A hair would be thikker and less curvy at that scale...
 

noumin

I'm not the CSI, but it looks like a fiber of wool to me.
As for removing it - Marcelo said it all, pretty easy, no witchcraft needed.
 
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akaa

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They came scanned from the processor, so at first I thought they were from the scanner. But last night I started to printed some optically and the hair(?) line is in the negative.

Any thoughts on how to minimize it's appearance on traditional prints?

Thanks!
 

srs5694

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Mark Antony said:
I have seen this once before, the culpret was the felt light trap on the actual cassette, part of it was peeling from the film can and sticking out over the 'gate'.
Click to expand...

This was my thought, too. FWIW, my most notable similar experience was with a new FED 5 camera, which turned out to have a stray strand hanging out from some felt that lined the shutter curtain's path. Putting the camera on "B" and cutting that stray strand with scissors fixed it. Of course, if it was a stray strand of felt in the film cartridge, it would be gone now, presumably never to be seen again unless you're re-using your cartridges. If you do, try to figure out which one it was and fix it or discard the whole cartridge. (I'm guessing you're not re-using your cartridges, though, since you say this was processed by a lab.)
 

MattKing

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FWIW, based on the size of the image in your prints, I would say that the "hair" is very thin and fine. If it was a human hair, I think it would be much larger in the print.
 
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