Scratched film problem?

[tom leoni]

My trusted Leica iiia has displayed a problem with the last 2 rolls of film

I've shot: it appears as if it is scratching a few visible horizontal lines,

which get feinter towards the end of the roll (without disappearing).

 

I am puzzled. It's never done that before, it's in great condition and it's

been DAG'd this past January. Does anyone have any idea why it may be doing

this?

 

Please help... I absolutely love this camera, which is somewhat of a

battlehorse for me.

 

Tom

[tom leoni]

...Or could it be the plastic cassette of the film doing that (the last two rolls I shot were generic grocery store brand film)?

 

Tom

[colin jackson]

Tom, are the scratches down the edge of the film or into the exposures? I once got

scratches at the edge as well as exposures sitting down partly into the sprocket holes.

The film was not sitting between the guide tracks of my MP when inserted so slipped down

while advancing and the sharp start of the track was scratching the rebate area. Once I

got into the habit of checking the seating the film between the tracks prior to closing the

back there was no more problem.

[GlennS]

Have you tried opening the shutter (bulb setting) with the lens removed to check for debris in the film path? Sometimes small bits of film get broken off during loading. Much easier to check on M's with the back door. I assume you're not bulk rolling your own film. If you are, be careful the felt light traps in the cassettes are clean. Lastly it may be happening in the darkroom during processing. Perhaps a bit of dirt in a film squeegee?....

[tom leoni]

Thanks for the answers, guys. Colin, to answer your question, I am very careful when I load--I got this down to a T, and the sprockets always engage. (I was taught a lesson early on, when I went on a photo safari and kept snapping away without the film actually advancing!) ;-)

 

I also am very meticulous about how I cut my film--I leave no sharp edges or bits dangling... Glenn, no, I do not roll my own.

 

This is really puzzling me. I think I may just break down and send the camera to Youxin Ye, since I'm already sending him my iiif. He suggested that there may be a few things causing the problem--one being that these "lines" are actually not scratches but light leaks in the curtain where the sewn holes got stretched.

 

What kills me is that I've used the camera like crazy in the past year and it's only doing that recently...

[tom leoni]

Here's an example of a picture from the last roll I got. You will notice the lines in the bottom third of the photograph... Sigh...<div></div>

[billsr]

Youxin Ye may be right in suggesting that the "scratches" are actually light leaks. View the negatives under magnification. Are the marks lighter or darker than the background? A scratched emulsion would appear lighter whereas a light leak would look darker. If your sample image is from a transparency, it could be more difficult to discern, but scratches should be self evident with enough magnification and strong side lighting. Best of luck, Bill

[stric]

I've noticed a similar problem with my MP. I cannot say whether it happns all the time because I noticed it occasianally but I am inclined to belive that it has something to do with the camera. Can someone suggest a good starting poiint for checking into this. I carefully cleaned the camera with air-blower recently but until I develo the next roll I cannot say for sure. If this is a camera issue, where does it originate?

Thanks

[colin jackson]

If the film is scratched, you can see the scratch with a good loupe (or 50mm lens) looking

along the film against reflected light. Check both sides, not just the emulsion. If it is a

light leak issue, the film surfaces will be smooth. I can't imagine such fine lines being

light leaks.

[tom leoni]

William, I did exactly as you said.

 

Looking through a 50mm lens to the negatives, the lines are darker than the subjects--almost appearing black.

 

Tom

[terry_rory]

No suggestion for the cause of the light leak/scratch problem but scanning the negs on a scanner with Digital ICE (fine setting) will tell you if it is scratches or light leaks.

 

If scratches, the ICE will remove the effect on the scan. If not scratches then the effects will remain on the picture.

 

A few of my old negs got a bit scratched by labs in the past and clean up nicely when scanned with ICE on the neg scanner just the same as dust. However, tiny distant objects like insects or small birds which just look like dust particles to the eye, remain.

[mukul_dube]

If the lines on the negatives are almost black, you're almost certainly looking not at scratches but at the effect of light. If I were you, I'd carefully examine both shutter blinds. Remove lens, stick white card behind shutter, shine powerful flashlight through mount, angle body this way and that. A mirror would be better, but that or any other hard object could easily damage the pressure plate. Why the lines should get faint towards the end of a roll baffles me. There is the remote possibility of mechanical fogging.

[tom leoni]

Why the lines would get fainter towards the end of the roll? Because in both cases I finished the roll under poor lighting conditions... now it all makes perfect sense. Good old Mr. Ye.

[mukul_dube]

Now he tells us...

[tom leoni]

...Well, I myself had to think about it pretty hard. ;-)