Mamiya RB67 blank roll but with light leaks

Hi all, I recently shot my first roll of 120 on a Mamiya RB67 I just got, and tragically the film came back blank. I'm baffled as to how this happened, as I made sure to remove the dark slide, advance the film, metered correctly, etc. I checked the camera's shutter which seems to be firing perfectly fine. What's more puzzling is that there are repeated light leaks on the upper corners of where the frames should be. I've attached photos of the film. Wondering if anybody has encountered something like this before and might be able to point me in the right direction? Right now I have no idea what may have caused this and am concerned about shooting my next roll.

 

Are you sure the shutter is working?

 

I had my 90mm get weirdly out of sync one time trying to use MLU, and even though the shutter would fire it wouldn't actually open. I forget how I sorted it out, but it took some playing with separate cable releases on the lens and camera body to get things going again IIRC.

Are you sure the shutter is working?

 

I had my 90mm get weirdly out of sync one time trying to use MLU, and even though the shutter would fire it wouldn't actually open. I forget how I sorted it out, but it took some playing with separate cable releases on the lens and camera body to get things going again IIRC.

 

I physically checked the shutter by looking through the back of the camera and firing it. I could visibly see the shutter in the lens open and close so I'm pretty positive it's working.

The easy way to shoot a blank roll with a Mamiya RB67 is to mis-load the film inside out. From experience I can confirm that exposures made on the backing paper don't come out.

The easy way to shoot a blank roll with a Mamiya RB67 is to mis-load the film inside out. From experience I can confirm that exposures made on the backing paper don't come out.

 

Forgot about that one, and it's a mistake I think a lot of people make at some point or another when loading a reverse-curled SLR for the first time, or at least in learning the ropes of using one. I know I did on my Bronica SQ-A, although haven't done it since on my ETR, S2a, Hasselblad, RB67, or Pentax 645.

 

I find it helpful to remember that the pressure plate needs to touch the printed side of the backing paper, and the black shiny side should face toward the lens, although if indeed you do make that mistake with a bit of practice it will become second nature.

Doubt there's anyone who's shot a magazine MF camera who didn't misload in their rookie days. Those leaks, though...I'd take a look first at the hinge seal on the clamshell enclosing the film holder, then the darkslide baffle. The even spacing, location, and size of the leak resemble rolls run through crap backs I've re-sealed. Suspect the varying size resulted from portrait/landscape rotation?

Doubt there's anyone who's shot a magazine MF camera who didn't misload in their rookie days. Those leaks, though...I'd take a look first at the hinge seal on the clamshell enclosing the film holder, then the darkslide baffle. The even spacing, location, and size of the leak resemble rolls run through crap backs I've re-sealed. Suspect the varying size resulted from portrait/landscape rotation?

 

It does appear that the varying sizes of the light leaks would be because of the portrait/lanscape orientations. In terms of loading the film, I was sure that I did it correctly, with the dark side facing out and the arrow on the inside of the roll lining up with the point on the inside of the magazine when first winding it up. Besides, if the film was loaded backwards would those light leaks still be there?

On second thought, I suppose that in my haste it's possible that I could have loaded the film incorrectly--it does seem like the only explanation for the issue. I just hope that the light leaks would not show up with the film facing the right direction. Unfortunately it'll be an agonizing wait to shoot and develop another roll because photo stores here are closed for the next few weeks due to COVID-19 and I don't have my own chemicals. Thanks for all the input folks.

I recently started having a similar issue with my RB67 and the 90mm sekor. Albeit it could be user error, but After attempting long exposures in Mirror Lock up mode the roll came back completely blank. Film was loaded correctly. shutter sounded like it was firing, but didn't know 100 percent. removed back and checked to see if shutter was firing at all speeds, and it was. So Ran a daylight roll through the camera not in mirror lock up and the first 3 frames came back exposed and the rest blank. Now after wasting about 3 rolls of film hesitant to waste another. Curious if this could be a back issue, or just a sticky shutter, or some weird mishap with the mirror lock up switch. Camera is honestly well overdue for a CLA but also am somewhat handy I'm just not sure where to start.