Yashiga MAT 124G - red "noise" on film

Hi,

 

which could be the reason for this red noise on many color films I've taken with my Yashica MAT 124G?

Two examples

http://www.photo.net/photo/7903603

and

http://www.photo.net/photo/7903516

 

Thanks for your help,

 

 

Stefano

It looks like a light leak to me. Check your shutter and see if there are any leaks.

I had something similar once, and I simply changed the lab...

There are two things you can try: 1) Send in a blank roll to the lab to see what happens, 2) Try a different lab and if there is no problem, it was probably the first lab, or 3) Put a lens cap on, set for a small aperture and fast speed, and run a roll through the camera in sunlight. Develop it. It should be pretty nearly black. If not, you probably have a light leak. All other guessing won't help you much.

I had the same thing on my rb67 shooting chromes, they had this weird color cast around them. i thought it was my chemistry, i then shot a roll through another camera, dev the film and it was fine, come to find out the back on my rb had a light leak.

Looks like a light leak to me also. Check that the exposed film is rolled tightly before removing it from the camera. If it is rolled too loose, some light may leak in.

Looks to me like the film wasn't wound tightly enough on the takeup spool, and then the spool was exposed to bright light.

If fogging occurs mainly on the last frames of the roll, it is probably to exposure to light after the film is removed from the camera. Make sure the film is wrapped tightly on the roll and you keep it tight when you seal the end. Change the film away from direct sunlight and put it in a light-tight bag or pouch.

 

Most light leaks in the camera cause flashing across the film. The degree depends on how long the film is in the gate and can occur at any point in the roll. If you shoot two or more pictures in succession and wind the film immediately, the first would tend to have more fogging. Film on either spool is relatively protected due to the backing paper. Light leaks in the camera are due to damage to the frame, particularly to the light seal between the back and body. The Yashica 124 has a leaf shutter. If there were leaks in the shutter, the film would be fogged across the entire frame.

What about pressure plate position? Maybe some of this light leaking is caused across the roll because the negative is

not being held firmly in place during the exposure? Maybe a switch from 120 to 220 film pressure plate positions led to

an improper tension adjustment in placing the film negative firmly into position for exposure? If so, a quick check of the

Yashicamat while unloaded might reveal this. That pressure plate should have a clear 120/200 position mark on it.

 

This would be a really elementary answer, though. Light leak at the lab, above, looks more likely. It seems to me that

their light leak would be analogous to the one I described, above, because there is that graduated fog; that fog pattern

seems to imply a straight line cutting through a curved surface of film. That's what led me to suspect light leak in a

place where the film is relaxed, and not flat, under proper tension. J.

Look at the inside film chamber of your camera. If it looks shinny this could be your problem. I don't think this is a light leak, but reflection from the film chamber walls. Every light leak I've experience has been a streaking flare look, this is very uniform.

Thanks everybody.

Another element: I might be wrong, but I've never noticed such a problem on B&W films.

Regarding the lab: I've also changed lab between the two colour photos linked above and still the same problem. One lab I've used is Genesis in London that has a good reputation.