What Went Wrong?

Etch · Aug 15, 2012

Hi
I've just recieved 3 rolls of film back i shot last week and clearly there is a problem with these two images.
Anyone have any idea what the problem was/is?
These are the last two images on the second roll i shot and are the only two images that show any problem, all others are fine.
I also shot an identical picture to the one on the left just moments before which also has no problems.
I therefore presume that the last picture has caused the problem.
The camera being used is a Mamiya RB67 ProSD with a ProSD film back. I may not have had the darkslide in between these shots but cannot remember for sure.
Thanks.

tkamiya · Aug 15, 2012

It's a light leak of some kind - which is weird because RB SD uses light traps not light seals. It's even stranger because the leak is even across the frame and edges are well defined and straight.

Did you do anything such as remove the lens, rotate the back, play with dark slide, etc? When I get an used RB, I do a test sequence that includes all these potential moves. Perhaps you could do the same to figure it out.

CGW · Aug 15, 2012

Possibly the darkslide was pulled out accidentally just enough to expose this section when the back was off(?)the camera, then either pushed home or taken out once the back was on the camera? A leak would have been present on all the rolls if you were using just one back. Slim chance it was sloppy handling in processing on this roll only.

Etch · Aug 15, 2012

Thanks for your response.
No i didn't remove the lens. I also don't recall doing anything with the darkslide.
I did shoot the last image with the mirror locked up. But only for a few seconds before i took the shot.
The film rebate is also burned through.
It was also focused to infinity or close to it, so the bellows weren't exposed.

paul ron · Aug 15, 2012

Just out of curiosity.. were these the first shots of the day on this roll?... left the undfinihsed roll in the camera overnight before shooting these pics?

The reason I ask, becuse the way film is wound in the back it tends to leave a reverse curl in the film if you leave it in for a long period of time. The problem is not when taking the pic, it may be flat in the film gate but after you remove the roll, the reverse curl tends to allow light to enter at that point, like a book mark.

Also if this is the only frame in 3 rolls, it is not a problem with the camera, light leaks or light trap. Intermittent problems n light leaks will generally show up more ofthen than that.

So suspect either the reasons above or it happened in development.

Etch · Aug 15, 2012

No they were the last two shots of the second roll, i removed the film about 10 minutes later and put another roll in which I finished off the next day. The later roll has no problems.
I'm starting to think I may have opened the film back before i had wound the film to the end in the haste to get another roll in.

paul ron · Aug 15, 2012

The last 2 shots on that roll, 9 n 10, but you left the roll, 1-8, in the camera overnight before taking those last 2 shots in the morning?

You do leave the unfinsihed rolls overnight... You are telling me you did this with the second roll. Generally you should use the entire roll n not leave it in for a long period of time.. that is what causes the reverse bend n makes a book mark where the light will get in after you take the roll out of the camera via the book marked edge.

Study the way the film loads in the camera.. it is reversed over the rollers.

As an experiment to prove the point.. load a roll of film n leave it mid roll over night. Then when you take the roll out of the camera take a look at your strip? You'll see where you left off by the reverse bend.. that is the most common cause of this type of problem.

.

Etch · Aug 15, 2012

Sorry, no they were all taken in the evening. The entire roll was shot in 2 hours. So the roll with the problem was loaded and unloaded within that time. The third roll was left in the camera overnight with two shots remaining and was finished the next morning. The third roll is fine.
Like I said, I think i've got some vague memory of opening the door of the film back before i'd wound it to the end by accident. Which I think is most likely what happened judging by where the problem is. Thanks for your advice though.

tkamiya · Aug 15, 2012

It wouldn't be that, because RB has a leaf shutter, not a focal plane....

Is this camera new to you? Has this ever happened before? I don't think we can rule out processing issues either.

I'm looking at my RB Pro-SD. I can't think of any reason why that would be there like that - except perhaps if the seal in front and back of the dark slide has opened up for some reason but that's a bit far fetched... May also be a door latch or hinge. It's unlikely though.

dnjl · Aug 15, 2012

I think this may be a problem with the revolving back. It happened to me before: the lever to open the RB gets stuck somewhere and before you know it, the whole thing is coming off.

Etch · Aug 15, 2012

tkamiya said:
It wouldn't be that, because RB has a leaf shutter, not a focal plane....

Is this camera new to you? Has this ever happened before? I don't think we can rule out processing issues either.

I'm looking at my RB Pro-SD. I can't think of any reason why that would be there like that - except perhaps if the seal in front and back of the dark slide has opened up for some reason but that's a bit far fetched... May also be a door latch or hinge. It's unlikely though.

It's reasonably new. I've shot 9 rolls i think. It hasn't happened before, it also hasn't happened on the shots taken since.
I'll just have to see if it happens again. If not i'll have to put it down to user error.

EKDobbs · Aug 16, 2012

I've had issues with the RB back-locks before. If the bottom one gets fumbled during use, it's not hard for the top one to come a little loose too, without being noticed. That's probably what it is. Good news is, it's a zero-cost "guess I won't do that again" fix, just like shooting the whole roll and then realizing you had it in MLU.

rolleiman · Aug 16, 2012

Could this be an "out of the camera" problem? When you took the film out of the camera, are you sure you wound the paper rebate round tightly before sealing it down?

jimjamz · Aug 16, 2012

You answered your own question; it's a light leak due to the door being opened and shut before the film was completely wound through.

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