Ruined film in Retina 11a

<p>Hi all, Just got this film back from developing and all frames are ruined by some fogging light leak etc, the Retina 11a has'nt been used for a few months because the frame counter broke which locked up the wind mechanism, I have bypassed the mechanism by tying back the spring pawl in the wind lever so that it does'nt lock up the wind mechanism, I can now wind on and fire the shutter , but do not have a frame counter, I move it by hand every time I wind on. I put a colour film through the camera last week and got the results back yesterday from my local Tesco Superstore develop and scan. All the frames have this banding on them some very noticeable and others not so. I have checked the camera and can find no obvious places that light is getting in, the bellows look to be in very good order. Any ideas would be welcome , could it also be a development fault by the lab staff?</p>

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<p>Light leak 2</p><div></div>

<p>My first suspect would be the vertical sides of the film door.<br>

If the leak was in the bellows I would expect the effect to be much worse (and not a reasonably clear horizontal line.</p>

<p>My second suspect would be something you removed/changed under the top cover when you disengaged the frame counter. The light leak appears to be fading from the bottom of the photo to the top, suggesting that the leak is somewhere at the top of the camera.</p>

<p>Does the leak show up over the sprocket holes on the negatives?</p>

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<p>Hi Rick, I'm afraid I chucked the negatives in the bin in disgust, but from the examination I made (not detailed) I got the impression the whole film was fogged even in the margins, I did'nt remove the top cover just the wind handle and everything in the film counter went back on with the exception of the broken counter spring. Ive looked at the film door and think I will put a couple of strips of thin foam just to be on the safe side.</p>

<p>When using cheapo film processing, you have to be careful not to rule out the lab. Not a criticism, I very often let Walgreens handle my C-41 processing and scans. If it were me I'd tape up the back door just in case, load up a roll of film from a different source (just to eliminate another variable) and have the film processed at another lab.</p>

<p>If you get the same results, which I sorta doubt, it's time to head to the closet w/ a flash or strong flashlight and look for the light leak. Or, now that I think about it, it makes more sense to start w/ the closet routine, and if you find something, that's the problem. If you don't, then try the new film/lab idea. </p>

<p>Most probably a processor fault, I would suspect, from my lab experience. The fogging is in series and very regular; note the small spot of fog that reoccurs near the center line in each instance. Looks to me like a light leak in a belt-and-cog-driven film processor.</p>

<p>I would have said film scanning was at fault, if it weren't for the fact that you saw this on the negatives. A test will show if the same flaw occurs on another roll, processed elsewhere. If it does, you'll at least know it is in the camera.</p>

<p>I'm also guessing it's the processor, but to be sure you should shoot another roll and inspect the negatives.</p>

<p>Thanks guys, I self suspect a processing fault, I always have my films (colour) developed at Tesco its only a mile away and charges £3 for dev and scan, I can dev B & W myself, so I have put a B & W Film in the Retina and will dev it myself , lets see what I get. Thanks for the input.</p>

 

<p>Hi again, Well I have developed a Agfa 100APX film in the Retina11a, Rodinal 1:100 stand develop for 60 mins, fixed for 20 minutes. Film was exposed various lighting conditions from inside , outside , flash etc. Result: a set of near perfect negs, not a hint of double exposure anywhere, the camera was even left on the windowsill for a couple of hours. Seems obvious now that the problem lay with the processing machinery, I will have to metion this to the staff at Tesco when I take my next film in. Sometime next week,<br>

Thanks for all the helpful comments, much appreciated</p>