eranasoulin #1 Posted January 9 Hi all, I have a problem with some of the photos from my Leica CL/Leitz Minolta CL (M-Rokkor-QF lens). About a third to half of the photos have this strange faint (and sometimes darker) black shadow. It's always in the same spot at the top of the photo and it also shows on the negatives/slides. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Is this some sort of fogging maybe? Or a light leak? Thanks, Eran. Hello guest! Please register or sign in to view the hidden content. Hello guest! Please register or sign in to view the hidden content. Hello guest! Please register or sign in to view the hidden content. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plaidshirts #2 Posted January 9 Form the uniformity of it, it looks like the film is not aligned correctly with the lens. Since the top is dark, the affected area would be the bottom after the film is loaded. Could the pressure plate be off? It may have been pushed up and not getting the bottom edge down flat as it can be. I don't think it's due to fog because the delineation is so clean. It's not a light leak either. Those will look like light streaks and won't be darker than the rest of the exposure. Have you had the same problem with other film? It could also be just a defective roll. And there's always the possibility the lab did something too. Sorry, I couldn't be of more help, but I hope you find the culprit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomB_tx #3 Posted January 9 (edited) The CL uses a vertically traveling cloth shutter, moving top to bottom. Perhaps the first curtain stops with a bit still above the edge of the gate, so it leaves a shadow. Look through the back while operating the shutter on B to check this. Edited January 9 by TomB_tx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eranasoulin #4 Posted January 10 6 hours ago, plaidshirts said: Form the uniformity of it, it looks like the film is not aligned correctly with the lens. Since the top is dark, the affected area would be the bottom after the film is loaded. Could the pressure plate be off? It may have been pushed up and not getting the bottom edge down flat as it can be. I don't think it's due to fog because the delineation is so clean. It's not a light leak either. Those will look like light streaks and won't be darker than the rest of the exposure. Have you had the same problem with other film? It could also be just a defective roll. And there's always the possibility the lab did something too. Sorry, I couldn't be of more help, but I hope you find the culprit. I've had the same problem with a few different films (both colour and black and white), and it's always the same dark line. Sometimes it's a bit wider than other times. I didn't think about the pressure plate being off. I'll check it to make sure. Before shooting this roll I had the camera CLA'd, so I'm hoping I can fix this without having to send it back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eranasoulin #5 Posted January 10 5 hours ago, TomB_tx said: The CL uses a vertically traveling cloth shutter, moving top to bottom. Perhaps the first curtain stops with a bit still above the edge of the gate, so it leaves a shadow. Look through the back while operating the shutter on B to check this. Thanks for that. I'll check out the first curtain. Though I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like when functioning properly. I'll try find some photos of the inside of the camera. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plaidshirts #6 Posted January 10 13 hours ago, eranasoulin said: Thanks for that. I'll check out the first curtain. Though I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like when functioning properly. I'll try find some photos of the inside of the camera. What TomB_tx said makes a lot of sense. In B setting, after you've pressed down on the release and are still holding it, look for the first curtain when it goes down and see if it goes all the way. You shouldn't be able to see any part of the first curtain sticking out. If it is, the part that's out will be blocking the film, which would explain the dark line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chuck Albertson #7 Posted January 10 Shutter bounce. Time for a CLA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eranasoulin #8 Posted January 11 11 hours ago, plaidshirts said: What TomB_tx said makes a lot of sense. In B setting, after you've pressed down on the release and are still holding it, look for the first curtain when it goes down and see if it goes all the way. You shouldn't be able to see any part of the first curtain sticking out. If it is, the part that's out will be blocking the film, which would explain the dark line. Thanks. I just did that and I couldn't see anything obviously sticking out. Either way, I sent it back to the person who did the CLA, so hopefully he can fix this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
