Half of finished picture black

[User_2019667]

I am still learning to use my Leica IIIC and being the amateur that I am I

have another question to throw your way. I just finished shooting a roll of

Kodak Ultra Color film and about seven or eight of the finished photos were

totally black for half of the picture while the other half was perfect. Most

of the shots were made in nice sunny weather and I was shooting with a shutter

speed of 1/500 and 1/200 with the F stops at 12.5 or 9.0. The rest of the

photos in the roll of 36 were beatuiful. What could have caused the blackness

on half of some of the photos??

John P.

[adrian bastin]

John. Sounds like a shutter curtain hanging up. It either needs a lube or there's a bit of film in the gate or gears. Or rather, the bit of film that is most likely in there from someone not loading the camera with film in the proper way, is causing the curtain to hang up. Either way it needs looking at by a camera technician familiar with Leicas.

[alex_lofquist]

Was your index finger coming in contact with the shutter knob when taking the photo? This shaft is directly connected to the opening curtain, so if you slow it down at all, the trailing curtain will catch up with it and give lower or no exposure over some of the frame. This is most noticable at the higher shutter speeds. The only sure cure is to watch where your finger is!

[anthony_brookes5]

Alex's is an explanation. Don't leave your finger pressed on the shutter button.

[john_shriver]

Nothing wrong with leaving the finger on the shutter button, just keep it away from the speed dial.

 

Take notes next time, if it's only happening at 1/500 and 1/1000, the shutter is "fading", which means it's time for a clean, lube, and adjust. Basically, the lube on the bearings for the first curtain has turned to glue, and it's moving too slow, so that the second curtain catches up with it. I bet it's always the right hand side of the image that's missing...

[anthony_brookes5]

You have answered a long time question of mine. I had this same problem and I took it to a camera shop which has now gone and they told me this was the cause - too long a finger pressure. But now you say it could be gunged up lubricant. That might add up because it gradually got better and I always assumed what the shop told me was right.

[Rob F.]

I don't buy the finger pressure theory. There's no way you can get your finger off that button fast enough to make a difference at even 1/30 second, let alone 1/500 or 1/200! A finger dragging on the speed dial is a more likely explanation. But a curtain hanging up is a very likely cause as well.

 

John exercise the shutter a couple of dozen times at each speed, without film. That might distribute the lubricants enough to ease any shutter problem that might be occuring. Take the camera outside in the warm sun for a bit before you do this. That may help the grease thin out, if it's congealed.

 

Very likely, there's a CLA in your camera's future.

[andy_piper2]

In college I had a used IIIc, and it definitely had a slow first curtain such that the picture

faded to black 1/2 way across at 1/200 and 1/500. Likely it was also fading some at 1/100,

but not as noticeably.

 

As a starving student I never bothered to get mine serviced - but that's likely what you need.

CLA (clean/lubraicate/adjust).

[User_2019667]

To all who resonded to my problem, I thank you very much. I'm sure this old Leica does need a CLA and I will persue that.

Rob, I did run the empty camera through all the shutter speeds with the lens removed and the curtain worked just the way it should through all speeds. I did notice one thing, the Advance/Rewind lever wasn't quite thrown all the way over to the A and when it was like that the curtain seemed to have been sluggish then. If that would make a difference I may not have had the lever thrown all the way over as far as it could go towards the Advance position. Do you think that could have added to the problem??

[Rob F.]

John: I'm not sure that the A/R lever is the culprit. Might be a coincidence. But it's been some years since I had an LTM. You could always shoot a short roll to see if it's behaving better now.

[User_2019667]

Rob; Yea, I was thinking the same thing. I will get a short roll of film and shoot it and see what happens. Thanks for all your help on this issue. And thanks to all who responded. I have been using those darn automatic cameras too long I guess. I just acquired this Leica last winter and everytime I use it it's a learning experience.

But a nice learning experience. I just love this camera.

John P.

[nesrani]

John, probably the best thing you can do is get another camera, by the sound of it. But the second best thing would be to shoot a lot of film, so that it isn't a learning experience every time you use the camera. After fifty or so rolls through it, it should be evident whether the problems are due to you not handling it correctly, or just problems with the camera itself.

 

Having read this thread, I'm convinced never to buy one of these ancient contraptions.

[Rob F.]

I'm wondering about the possibility of a tiny film chip that may be intermittently getting caught in the shutter. That happened to my dad's IIIf, in the summer of '59.

[adrian bastin]

Another Rob. With all the lenses available to them, these are still some of the best little performers you can get. If they are 'ancient contraptions' to you, you've missed something important in your conception of things somewhere along the way.

[nesrani]

Rob F - it's interesting you should mention that, because it brings back a memory. I can't remember what it was, though.

 

Anyway, at least they don't use batteries, eh?

[User_2019667]

To another Bob. I have two other cameras, a Minolta X-370 which is a great little camera and a Pentax ZX-7 which does a great job also but they ain't a Leica. It's not that I mind the learning experience. It's actually a challenge which I do hope to master one day. Photography is not my job it's just a hobby. Thanks for the advise though.

John P.