What's wrong with my negatives?

[cartierbresson]

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The lab just developed about a dozen of my films and almost all of them look like the attached picture.

 

In almost each roll I got developed, there are a few pictures where about half of the frame is washed out. Very often, they appear together. What's going on? These were taken using my M6, and they're the first few rolls I've taken. I noticed the problem on both the HP5 Plus and the Kodak 400TX. 

 

 

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[TomB_tx]

Looks like shutter issues. When the 2nd shutter curtain travels faster than the 1st curtain, the exposure isn't even across the frame. The effect is most obvious the higher the shutter speed. When the 2nd curtain is enough faster, it can catch up to the 1st curtain part way across the frame, leaving part of the frame blank. This is called shutter capping.

You were using high speed film, so likely also used high shutter speeds, and chances are the affected frames used 1/1000 or 1/500, where the problem shows up.

Have the camera serviced by a good Leica technician. There are several factors that can cause this issue so a full CLA is a good idea, not just a quick adjustment.

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[cartierbresson]

Looks like shutter issues. When the 2nd shutter curtain travels faster than the 1st curtain, the exposure isn't even across the frame. The effect is most obvious the higher the shutter speed. When the 2nd curtain is enough faster, it can catch up to the 1st curtain part way across the frame, leaving part of the frame blank. This is called shutter capping.

You were using high speed film, so likely also used high shutter speeds, and chances are the affected frames used 1/1000 or 1/500, where the problem shows up.

Have the camera serviced by a good Leica technician. There are several factors that can cause this issue so a full CLA is a good idea, not just a quick adjustment.

 

I was afraid that my camera might be faulty I bought it last year and only recently started developing the films. Thank you very much for weighing in though.

[fotohuis]

Yep, right about the shutter curtain. This camera will need a C.L.A.