Exposure times incorrect / need adjustment?

[Jewl]

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Hi all,

the last time I had sth. similar with my M6. This looks slightly different therefore I am unsure whether this is the same issue or an issue at all? I have in a couple of shots in a roll a small black border at the bottom of the image. Cannot judge whether this is related to the exposure times that are a bit off?

Examples as follows:

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The size differs. 

What do you think?

If this needs to be readjusted and the MP needs to go back again to Wetzlar, this would freak me out to be honest. New camera which was a replacement for my faulty M6 then needs to go there the second time (first time was the replacement of the pressure plate to avoid scratching) and it is not even half a year old! 

Thanks for your input!

Best,
J

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[wattsy]

Just to be clear, are these your scans (of the whole frame) or lab supplied scans? If the latter, what do the negs look like?

[Jewl]

Gerade eben schrieb wattsy:

Just to be clear, are these your scans (of the whole frame) or lab supplied scans? If the latter, what do the negs look like?

These are the scans I got from the lab. But if you compare the dimensions they are all the same. If I cropped away the black bars, the image overall would be smaller and therefore my assumption is this is not related to the cutting/cropping of the lab. But I do not have the negs at hand unfortunately (they got archived, might need to request them to be shipped back if a comparison is necessary)

[wattsy]

1 minute ago, Jewl said:

These are the scans I got from the lab. But if you compare the dimensions they are all the same. If I cropped away the black bars, the image overall would be smaller and therefore my assumption is this is not related to the cutting/cropping of the lab. But I do not have the negs at hand unfortunately (they got archived, might need to request them to be shipped back if a comparison is necessary)

You should look at the negs. You might have some irregular spacing between frames that the scanner is not picking up and is inadvertently chopping off some of the actual photo.

Edited September 20, 2023 by wattsy

[Jewl]

Gerade eben schrieb wattsy:

You should look at the negs. You might have some irregular spacing between frames that the scanner is not picking up and inadvertently chopping off some of the actual photo.

Okay! But maybe one addition, 3 of my rolls with the MP show similar bars in each roll. The other two rolls from my Olympus Mju 2 do not show any black bars at all (same lab, same order)

[wattsy]

Just now, Jewl said:

Okay! But maybe one addition, 3 of my rolls with the MP show similar bars in each roll. The other two rolls from my Olympus Mju 2 do not show any black bars at all (same lab, same order)

The Olympus will probably have very consistent spacing between frames. Unfortunately, the same isn't always true for a Leica M. I'm confident your black bars are the product of irregular spacing between frames and nothing to do with the shutter.

[Jewl]

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Gerade eben schrieb wattsy:

The Olympus will probably have very consistent spacing between frames. Unfortunately, the same isn't always true for a Leica M. I'm confident your black bars are the product of irregular spacing between frames and nothing to do with the shutter.

Okay, but how would this then be reflected in the negs? 

[jakontil]

3 minutes ago, Jewl said:

Okay, but how would this then be reflected in the negs? 

When you scan the negatives however you do, black bars must always be cropped off, it would effect the exposure scans, or even when converting into positives when using an app like NLP

best thing is try to scan elsewhere 

[wattsy]

56 minutes ago, Jewl said:

Okay, but how would this then be reflected in the negs? 

If you look at the negs (when you get them) you be able to see whether the spacing between the frames is regular or not. It only needs to be off by a millimetre or so for it to cause a 'cropping' problem with the scans if the scanner is working to a set spacing rather than scanning the exact exposed frame area. 

Complaints about irregular or unduly narrow frame spacing from modern Leica M cameras appears in this forum occasionally. For example, 

Unless the irregularity involves some frames overlapping, it isn't a significant problem.

Edited September 20, 2023 by wattsy

[250swb]

It's a good theory and I think this may well be a case of the labs scanner not picking up on slightly irregular frame spacing. How you wind the film on with a manual Leica can affect the frame spacing as can the focal length of the lens where a wide angle lens will decrease to space between frames. A dumb scanner without human intervention may register on the first frame and then advance the film the same amount each time irrespective of the gap between frames.

[RobW0]

1 hour ago, Jewl said:

Okay, but how would this then be reflected in the negs? 

For example, look at the negative for the shot with the Hotel to see if the roof is cut off on the negative also or if more of it is seen on the negative.

[Jewl]

Alright thanks guys for the feedback. Will check the negs or will also try another lab for a roll or two as these will be shipped as a batch next year (archiving option with one year send back by the lab)

[Greenhilltony]

2 hours ago, wattsy said:

Complaints about irregular or unduly narrow frame spacing from modern Leica M cameras appears in this forum occasionally

Add a fresh one. I found the latest roll of my shutter curtain replaced and CLA’d M4 has irregular spacings every now and then. But no overlapping so I bear with it. Just a bit troublesome to readjust the stripe in the holder after 3 frames each time when scanning on my own.

[logan2z]

7 hours ago, Jewl said:

But I do not have the negs at hand unfortunately (they got archived, might need to request them to be shipped back if a comparison is necessary)

Archived??  Always get your negatives back from a lab*.  The lab may go out of business, their building might burn down, the lab owner's ex-wife might trash the place, who knows.  The negatives are the only thing that matters.  You can always make another print or re-scan if you have those.  Without the negatives, if your hard drive fails or your print gets damaged then you'll have nothing to fall back on.

*Better yet, develop them yourself.  You don't need a darkroom to do it.

Edited September 20, 2023 by logan2z