Black Curtain Negatives

I had a lot of success in attaining insight into film troubleshooting on my last post and thought I would pose this one too:

 

I've had this issue on various rolls of different types and development locations (store or done by myself) but all shot with the same Canon AE-1 Program. I will occasionally get this "black curtain" over the edge of my negatives. As far as I know, it always affects the right side of the negative/advancement lever side (if shot horizontally). I was wondering if this was a camera mechanism issue or something in post.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I've learned a lot from this community and hope to continue.

 

 

 

Did this happen at fast shutter speeds? These are achieved by the second shutter curtain moving across the frame just behind the first curtain, effectively moving a slit across the frame. If one of the curtains is moving incorrectly, the slit can close up completely, blanking out an area of the picture. It looks as if your camera needs a service unfortunately.

Further, you may be able to see this effect by looking through the camera with the back open while operating it at high speeds on manual setting - if this is possible with the AE1.

Further, you may be able to see this effect by looking through the camera with the back open while operating it at high speeds on manual setting - if this is possible with the AE1.

 

 

Yes, I believe all of those images were shot at high shutter speeds. Thank you for the tip. This camera has been worked well for me so far so I can’t fault it for giving me an issue. I’ll look into getting it serviced when things start getting a little more normal.

 

Thanks for your time and reply. I really appreciate it. Stay safe!

OK. Probably stick to say 1/125 or slower.

I think it looks more like it affects the left side of the negative. Remember that the image in the camera is upside down.

Yep, that would be due to the 2nd curtain of the focal-plane shutter catching up with the first. A fairly common fault with shutters that haven't been serviced in a loooong time.

 

Get a better camera! Since repair will be more expensive than replacement. Unless you can DIY the shutter adjustment. Usually it only requires removal of the camera base and using a small screwdriver to re-tension the leading blind of the shutter.

 

If that's not something you feel you can tackle, then get a camera with a more modern metal-bladed shutter. Those old horizontal-running cloth shutters are rarely accurate, and will cost a lot of service time to make work even half decently.

Yep, that would be due to the 2nd curtain of the focal-plane shutter catching up with the first. A fairly common fault with shutters that haven't been serviced in a loooong time.

 

Get a better camera! Since repair will be more expensive than replacement. Unless you can DIY the shutter adjustment. Usually it only requires removal of the camera base and using a small screwdriver to re-tension the leading blind of the shutter.

 

If that's not something you feel you can tackle, then get a camera with a more modern metal-bladed shutter. Those old horizontal-running cloth shutters are rarely accurate, and will cost a lot of service time to make work even half decently.

 

Great! Thanks for the reply! I’ll look into repairing it at home.

 

Any recommendations on comparable film cameras that have metal shutters and are “better” than the faulty AE-1 Program I have?

If you want to stick with Canon FD - Canon F1 or F1 (new). Canon EF - the only Canon with the Copal Square metal shutter - if you can find one in working order. Canon T90, again must be in working order.

If you want to stick with Canon FD - Canon F1 or F1 (new). Canon EF - the only Canon with the Copal Square metal shutter - if you can find one in working order. Canon T90, again must be in working order.

 

Another FD body might be the T70, (think they have a vertical running metal shutter), the T70 also has a partial area metering mode - think of the FTb with it's 12% area metering. They made loads of T70's and they should be cheap enough now. Having said that I don't know what their survival rate is like now - totally battery dependent with complex electronics.

I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with Canon's legacy camera range. My flirtation with Canon started and stopped with a 5D.

 

However, I have quite a few old cloth-shuttered 35mm SLRs of other makes, and none of them have accurate shutter timing, while a few have more serious faults with their shutters. OTOH, the majority of electronically timed metal-shuttered cameras I've tested have been pretty accurate.

 

Most surprising were my old 645 Mamiyas. Despite having cloth blinds, their shutters all have near-perfect timing, right up to the top speed. The control is electronic though. The mechanical leaf shuttered lenses unfortunately aren't so great! Not managing to crawl much beyond 1/250th at the 1/500th setting.