Dark stripes on negatives on a new MP

[indergaard]

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I purchased a new Leica MP some time ago, and I've been seeing bright stripes on my scans frequently ever since. I assumed it was the scanner - dust on the glass or the sensor or something similar. Recently my wife started scanning her negatives however, and she has a Leica MP too, albeit a n older one. She did not get the same bright stripes in the scans as I do.

 

Our development process is the same. The same gear is used. A lot of our film are even developed together at the same time in the same tank, and for our color films the same lab has developed them. It happens with all the film I've tried: TX400, HP5+, Silvermax 100, Acros 100, Portra 400, Superia 200, Fuji Pro 400h, etc.

 

So I recently started to inspect my negatives, and to my surprise there is a dark stripe on them, that matches what I'm seeing in the scans. I've checked the back plate of the camera, and it's clean without any sharp edges as far as I can see or feel.

 

I've attached a few images that clearly shows the stripes on the negatives and how the scans looks.

 

Does anyone have any idea what this could be caused by?

 

Negative:

 

 

Scans:

 

[Guest Her Berger]

I'm sorry for that, but I don't know a solution.
But, if the SG is yours, you shouldn't hang it on an exteriour wall!

 

Best

Andreas
 

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[indergaard]

I'm sorry for that, but I don't know a solution.

But, if the SG is yours, you shouldn't hang it on an exteriour wall!

 

Best

Andreas

 

 

Why not? It's always available Yeah I love the SG! Trying an SG was a revelation for me after using Les Paul's for 5+ years. I was surprised that I liked playing the SG much more. It's so much lighter and quicker to play, and the fret access is superb, and the sound is more punchy and focused. The LP was quickly swapped out!

[wattsy]

Is there a pinhole in one of your shutter curtains? A dark line on the negs (bright line on the prints/scans) implies extra exposure. With a horizontally running shutter, my guess is that you have a tiny pinhole causing a small light leak that runs with the curtain.

Edited November 6, 2015 by wattsy

[indergaard]

Is there a pinhole in one of your shutter curtains?

 

Not that I'm aware of. I haven't looked at them yet, as I've got a roll in the camera currently.

Should I look at them from the rear or the front of the camera? And should I look for a hole or a stripe/mark or something else?

I would assume that the camera wouldn't ship from Leica with a damaged shutter curtain though. My MP is a recent production model, manufactured in January 2015, so it should be fairly "fresh". I started using it myself in March, but haven't used it that much, and just recently started developing and scanning... And noticed this in mostly all my scans!

Edited November 6, 2015 by indergaard

[Doc Henry]

Indergaard , some hypothesis :

curtain sealing problem ?
this happens at all exposure speeds ?  throughout the roll ?

Best

Henry

Edited November 6, 2015 by Doc Henry

[wattsy]

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Not that I'm aware of. I haven't looked at them yet, as I've got a roll in the camera currently.

Should I look at them from the rear or the front of the camera? And should I look for a hole or a stripe/mark or something else?

I would assume that the camera wouldn't ship from Leica with a damaged shutter curtain though. My MP is a recent production model, manufactured in January 2015, so it should be fairly "fresh". I started using it myself in March, but haven't used it that much, and just recently started developing and scanning... And noticed this in mostly all my scans!

 

I've never had a pinhole myself but it usually happens as a consequence of being burnt by the sun through the lens, like using a magnifying glass to burn paper. Should look like a tiny hole. The Nemeng FAQ has some info.

Edited November 6, 2015 by wattsy

[indergaard]

I've never had a pinhole myself but it usually happens as a consequence of being burnt by the sun through the lens, like using a magnifying glass to burn paper. Should look like a tiny hole. The Nemeng FAQ has some info.

 

Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. I never use lens caps... But I do use UV filters. I guess I should finish the roll in the camera and have a look. Finally I can put my 8x loupe to good use for something

I've sent an email to Leica CS with the images too, as I have 5 years passport coverage on it apparently, but they tend to be on the slow side to respond to emails.

Edited November 6, 2015 by indergaard

[earleygallery]

I thought of a pinhole although I'd expect to see some brighter spots at regular intervals along the strip.

 

No film in the camera, take the lens off, open the back and point the camera at a light then slowly wind the shutter on looking for any sign of light coming through the curtains.

 

The stripe is over the whole roll of film so it's definately a leak of some sort, rather than a problem with the shutter at the point of exposure.

[Fotoklaus]

A pinhole in the curtain may be  the reaseon. Make some exposures with the lens cap on it, then in the sun without, then with lens cap in the sun, and probably with lens cap and the whole camera in the dark.

So you are probabply able to locate the light leak, if there is one. But it looks like a light leak, because a scratch is not dark in the negative.

[Monochrome]

There is a simple check: put in a roll of film, take some pictures in bright sunlight, than cap the lens or the body and take another five or six frames with the cap on. Remove the cap and use the rest of the film.

If the black stripes do not show on the frames that you took with the cap on the lens, it is probarbly a pinhole in your shutter curtain.

I noticed that the stripes also show up in the spacing between the frames, which is a bit odd.

 

It might also be fogging caused by something that puts pressure on the film. Check your filmpath carefully.

 

Hope you will be able to fix it quickly. 

[indergaard]

Indergaard , some hypothesis :

curtain sealing problem ?

this happens at all exposure speeds ?  throughout the roll ?

Best

Henry

 

I can't really say. I haven't kept a record of the exposure speeds. I found out that it was the camera, I was assuming it was the scanner until I compared the scans made with my wife's MP.

[earleygallery]

It's not an exposure problem - if it was the line would only run within the frames but you can see it runs along the whole film.

[dewittehd]

I checked a couple of my negatives which have the same symptom, and in my case those are scratches. The scratch diffuses and refracts the light, resulting in a white line. In your case you could have a piece of debris in the film path, not necessarily on the film plate. Check the emulsion side of the path for small protruding metal particles.

Good luck,

Jean

[ekindangen]

You should try another roll of film and see if the line persists. Do you bulkload your film? If so, do you do it yourself?

[indergaard]

I checked a couple of my negatives which have the same symptom, and in my case those are scratches. The scratch diffuses and refracts the light, resulting in a white line. In your case you could have a piece of debris in the film path, not necessarily on the film plate. Check the emulsion side of the path for small protruding metal particles.

Good luck,

Jean

The emulsion side of the negatives are completely fine. Zero scratches. These lines are most visible from the shiny side of the film.

[indergaard]

You should try another roll of film and see if the line persists. Do you bulkload your film? If so, do you do it yourself?

 

If you read my post you would see that I've seen this on many rolls of film taken over a long course of time, with many different film types, and no - I never bulkload.

[dewittehd]

The emulsion side of the negatives are completely fine. Zero scratches. These lines are most visible from the shiny side of the film.

I still suspect scratches. I know it is difficult to check the whole film-path, due to the peculiar construction of Leica.

Jean

[pop]

I don't think it's a scratch. All scratches I've encountered so far were much thinner and had no soft borders. 

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[TomB_tx]

^{Scratches on the back side of the film will also be visible on images. Over the years I've had a couple of new cameras that came with a small burr on the pressure plate that caused identical lines on all rolls of film.} 

^{Put in a trash roll of film, close up the camera and crank on a few frames, then open the back and examine the "shiny side" while still in place in the camera to see if there is a scratch, and where it stops, and see where that lines up in the pressure plate.}

^{I used a very fine honing stone to remove this problem in my cases.}