Stray light on my 4x5s

[gwebster]

<p>Hi Everybody<br>

Thanks in no small part to the great advice I received on this forum, I took the plunge and invested in a Tachihara field camera. My first set of exposures however show a nicely exposed and detailed image at the end of the film farthest from the notch, which then gets progressively washed in out in a gradient of light that reaches a total white-out at the end of the film with the notch. The correctly exposed part of the film looks very nice, good exposure and nicely focused, but it looks like light is flooding in from the other end of the film.<br>

I'm using Fuji QuickLoad films and the Fuji QuickLoad holder, both of which seem to work together flawlessly and intuitively. The film snaps into place in the holder with a nice click, the envelope slides out smoothly revealing the markings, smoothly in again after the exposure and by using the release button, I am able to easily retract the entire thing from the holder at the end. Where I feel I might have a problem is in the way that I'm loading the holder into the back of my camera underneath the sprung plate. Is there a special trick to this using the Fuji QuickLoad holder with the Tachihara? There does seem to be a little "jiggle" which makes me wonder if I'm positioning it correctly.<br>

I made 4 exposures and the problem is <em>exactly</em> the same on every one of them.<br>

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.<br>

Gordon</p>

<p> </p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Gordon, the holder should sort of loosely snap into place. It is also possible the holder is not light tight on that end. If the back is correctly positioned, it should not go any further into the spring back area. It should just stop. I'm not sure how to even tell you to test the holder. Can you use another holder or borrow one from someone?</p>

[gwebster]

<p>So when I look at each frame, holding them in front of me so that they're correctly oriented with the "FUJIFILM" brand mark just right of center at the top, there is a strong black border about a quarter inch thick around the exposed frame that gradually disappears towards the left hand end of the frame where the light is coming from.</p>

[gwebster]

<p>CORRECTION - I meant the OTHER "left"!<br /> So when I look at each frame, holding them in front of me so that they're correctly oriented with the "FUJIFILM" brand mark just LEFT of center at the top, there is a strong black border about a quarter inch thick around the exposed frame that gradually disappears towards the RIGHT hand end of the frame where the light is coming from (the end with the notch).<br>

I seem to be directionally challenged tonight.</p>

[gwebster]

<p>Aha .... I just spent some time playing my Tachihara and the film back and I think I realize what my blunder was. I was pushing the film holder <em><strong>too far</strong> </em> into the camera back. The Fuji QuickLoad holder has a kind of bulge on the end where the film goes in and viewing it from the rear and slightly above, it seems at first glance, like the natural "stop" when you insert the film holder. When I examine it carefully from the front however, it clearly isn't sitting tight against the camera body. There are a couple of fine plastic lips a little further to the left of the bulge and when I insert the film holder up to that point, it sits very nicely against the back of the camera. If I had examined the holder more closely from the front as I was practicing inserting it, I would have seen this for myself.<br>

Anyway, it looks to me like this was entirely my blunder and if posting it on this forum saves somebody the few bucks worth of film and processing that I lost learning my lesson the hard way, then something good has come of it.<br>

Having apparently got the actual focusing and exposure right however, I am now very encouraged and more eager than ever to get out there and take the next steps in my LF adventure!<br>

Gordon</p>