Uneven Exposure - M6

[B-A-C]

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Hi All,

 

I'm a film newbie. Recently while shooting some low light scenes in color my negatives seemed overexposed on the left side of the frame. It's more noticeable with dark backgrounds. The shutter speeds were between 1/15 - 1/60 second. Any ideas why this is happening? Shutter off kilter?

 

Thanks,

 

BC

[andybarton]

Yes.

 

It sounds like it's sticking as it passes the film gate.

 

It's easily fixable by any Leica technician.

[DigitalHeMan]

Do you have the same issue with higher shutter speeds as well? Sounds like the shutter might need some adjustment.

 

 

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[B-A-C]

Do you have the same issue with higher shutter speeds as well? Sounds like the shutter might need some adjustment.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Until now I've only shot B/W with the M6, and have never noticed it. Even at slower speeds it wasn't noticeable. With the Portra night shots it's clearly uneven. The camera hasn't been used regularly in a long. Perhaps it will get better with more use. Otherwise it's back to DAG. Thanks for your insight.

[B-A-C]

Here is a picture showing the issue. At low light the left side of the frame is always lighter than the right.

 

Thanks,

 

BC

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[jdlaing]

I don't see it. Looks even to me.

[too old to care]

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I don't see it. Looks even to me.

 

I don't either. Maybe do a test shot of a while wall in low light.

[DigitalHeMan]

It's a bit difficult to see what you are referring to with this shot as either the exposure or the scan is not very good, but the way I would read this image is that the light source, and therefore the brightest part of the image, is in the center of the frame, and there is light drop off to the left and the right. The right hand side is darker as the light source is obscured by the tree. In fact there are some speckles of light coming through the tree.

 

Remember that the human eye is able to deal with differences in light intensity in a scene much better than film. Add to that the natural vignetting of many Leica lenses when used wide open, and you will see darker exposed images on the edges of an image.

 

As too old to care suggested, your best test would be to use an evenly lit target, such as a white wall, to do some more testing and see if the same thing occurs then. However make sure the light is evenly spread across the wall, and not just a single source with drop off.

[pico]

I agree with Simon in this case. We would have to see more examples to be certain.

 

This looks to be a case where the image is under-exposed and 'pushed' in post-processing (or scanning) to the extent that the color shift of the mixed lighting went very badly.

 

Here is a black-and-white rendition.

[B-A-C]

Thanks for the comments. It is quite noticeable on dark backgrounds. I don't see it above 1/60 second. As film is a hobby for me I'll just have DAG check on the next CLA.

[IanWR]

I suspect it may be that a shutter speed adjustment is required. I have seen something similar years ago on an M3 that had not been used for a long time. A servicing and adjustment fixed it. As I understand, film Leicas have two shutter mechanisms - one for speeds up to 1/60 and another for the faster speeds. The slower speeds are often the ones that require adjustment more frequently. It may be relevant that you do not notice the problem above 1/60. Anyway, I'm not a technician and I might be quite wrong, but hope this helps.