Flare (?) in pictures

[charcoal]

I get perhaps three or four pictures such as the attached in every

roll taken with my Leica III. The picture was taken with a Summar

(1/200 @ f/9) but it occurs with other lenses, too. This photo was

taken with the shutter button down, so the flare is occuring at the

end of the exposure. Note the clear areas near the frame. This occurs

at the top of the frame also but was obscured during the scan. This

camera has been checked out by three of the top Leica repair

personnel. One found a missing screw and one added light shields.

Nothing has worked.

 

Have any of you experienced any such phenomenon and, hopefully,

corrected it?

 

Thank you.

[ben z]

"This photo was taken with the shutter button down, so the flare is occuring at the end of the exposure"

 

Not sure I'm getting your drift. Looks like a light leak upper left, and lens flare upper right.

 

Here's what I'd do: go into a completely darkened room, with the lenscap or body cap on, pop a flash at the front, bottom, top, back and both sides of the camera, advancing the film one frame for each pop. Then take the lens off and pop the flash into the opening for two more frames, one with the shutter cocked and one with it uncocked. If there are any light leaks, that'll flush them out. Keep a record of what frame got the flash from what angle, and you'll have a clue as to where the leak is. Send the negs with an explanation to Jon Maddox in NC. He's the guy my local Leica dealer uses for all his screwmount repairs, he does amazing work.

[charcoal]

Sorry - by shutter button down I meant that the end of the camera with the shutter button was on the bottom for this vertical picture. Thus the end of the picture with the flare is where the shutter ends its travel, rather than where it starts.

 

Don

[johns1]

Doesn't look like flare to me. It's a light leak, plain and simple. Have a reputable Leica repairman repair the shutter.

[mike dixon]

I think it's some kind of internal reflection. Though it's rare, I get something similar (not as severe) with both of my M3s and a variety of lenses from time to time.

[c_d5]

I agree, that is a lightleak. Harder to detect on the Barnack Leica, due to the imposibility of opening the back.

[charcoal]

Thanks, folks.

 

I'm going to take Ben Z's advice and see whether I can pinpoint the leak or reflection further. In addition to Ben's tests, I'll try a couple with the Summar attached to see if I can initiate any internal reflection from the back of the lens.

 

Don