what went wrong?

Figures...I go on a trip out east and something like this happens.

Here's the skinny: It shows up on about 50% of the shots. This is one of the worst, others are faint and I can burn/spot them in while printing so they're salvageable for the most part. I developed these with 13 other rolls of film at the same time and it ONLY showed up on the two rolls of FP4 125 film that I load in my Leica M4-P. So, I suspect camera. I have a sync plug busted out that I taped up and tape is slowly peeling, but this "leak" isn't hitting the edge of the frame -it's only inside the picture. This leads me to believe it's a sticky/erratic shutter movement or bounce, but it's not a super clean line. I looked at the curtains and they seem alright, but I think there was some patching going on at some point or something spilled around the spot where this is showing up. But since it happens for about 8 frames in a row, then skips 8, then another 4, then clean for 6, I don't think it's the curtains.

Thoughts? Something on the shutter curtain track? Thought I would ask and explore myself before I send it in.

The thing that stumps me the most is not the line in the photo you see, but in a blank shot, that has a "light leak" type of look to it. It likely fired in my bag, which would indicate this isn't a shutter issue. Not sure what to think at this point and any help would be great.

Thanks in advance!

That blank shot can indicate that there is a leak in the cloth shutter. Go into a dim room, let your eyes adjust, and shine a flashlight through the front of the camera with the back flap up to check, then wind on and check again. If you see those little bright dots, then you have found your problem. Those frames that skip can be explained if you shot in a fast succession a row of images where a tiny light leak would have not seriously affected it, or if you shot a series in a darker setting, such as at night or indoors, where there was not enough light intensity to have marked the film.

If this is the case, the diy remedy is usually some black fabric paint, and i have heard of people using plasti-dip as well.

The blank frame indicates firing of the curtains is not the problem. However, I would suspect you have a sticky spot or burr on the curtain track which is causing the top edge of the first curtain to hang slightly when winding is about 2/3 done, revealing an acute triangular area as the second curtain continues moving on. At least this is what I'd suspect with a Pentax horizontal shutter. Put a flashlight right into the lens in a darkroom and wind slowly. If this is the problem, it will be glaringly obvious.

Newt_on_Swings said:

That blank shot can indicate that there is a leak in the cloth shutter. Go into a dim room, let your eyes adjust, and shine a flashlight through the front of the camera with the back flap up to check, then wind on and check again. If you see those little bright dots, then you have found your problem. Those frames that skip can be explained if you shot in a fast succession a row of images where a tiny light leak would have not seriously affected it, or if you shot a series in a darker setting, such as at night or indoors, where there was not enough light intensity to have marked the film.

If this is the case, the diy remedy is usually some black fabric paint, and i have heard of people using plasti-dip as well.

Click to expand...

Brilliant! I'll put my nickel on that answer.

i have a IIIc that does something similar to this, but it is a horizontal band and I suspect that sky/sun is leaking through the 60-year-old curtain material if the camera is allowed to not have its lens cap on.

This looks more like a film can leak, perhaps -- is this bulk loaded film? Sometimes the first few frames of a bulk load get this when the felt is not really tight. but you say this is along the whole roll?

hmmmm. Some sort of internal reflection deal? If the camera had a film type port I'd say that was leaking, but M leicas don't have those.

And you haven't had this on checked luggage on an airline flight, right?

...right...no film hit an xray...if it did, the 125 was with 400 film too, so I don't think that could be a cause.

I did some preliminary tests and could see shutter leaks or a dragging rewind...but it was just a quick test of about 15 minutes before work this morning. Will try again soon and report back.

summicron1 said:

i have a IIIc that does something similar to this, but it is a horizontal band and I suspect that sky/sun is leaking through the 60-year-old curtain material if the camera is allowed to not have its lens cap on.

This looks more like a film can leak, perhaps -- is this bulk loaded film? Sometimes the first few frames of a bulk load get this when the felt is not really tight. but you say this is along the whole roll?

hmmmm. Some sort of internal reflection deal? If the camera had a film type port I'd say that was leaking, but M leicas don't have those.

Click to expand...

I was thinking canister too, but it would have to be VERY coincidental that out of the last 100 rolls I've developed, this is the only pattern that doesn't hit the edge where the sprockets are and that only does this to my last 2 rolls of 125 out of the same camera...that's some lottery chances there.

looks like light leak to me, are you sure the foam on the back of the camera hasn't deteriorated and in the bright sun some light streaked across the top of your film?

This particular pattern in the same spot on multiple frames points to a horizontal opening between the first and second curtain. I think the reason this appears on multiple frames, disappears on multiple frames, and varies a bit between frames when it is visible is just an indicator of where the lens was pointing during winding. Think about where your camera is pointing during wind-on. Sometimes it's pointing down at dark grass, sometimes bright pavement. And when that first curtain sticks and doesn't follow the second curtain, whatever the lens sees will make it onto the film since this camera doesn't have a reflex mirror blocking the light during wind-on. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a little sliver of film or some other obstruction in the upper curtain track.