Light Leaks

[rob_ruttan]

<p>I'm pretty sure I have light leaks in my beloved 500 C/M. I get pink streaks through prints from negs I have shot in bright sunlight, but not always. (This itself puzzles me...wouldn't light leaks cause a consistent mark? Years ago I had light leaks in a Zeiss Super Ikonta... I got black dots in the same place.) Anyway, some of the negs are affected but not others. I understand that these things can be very tricky to solve. Any suggestions where I should start?</p>

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>The leaks would only be guaranteed to occur consistently if you were shooting from a tripod and never shifted position. Even turning the camera a few degrees could cut off the direct bright light that may be causing your streaks as the entry point is likely very limited and would need to be directly aiming at the light source.</p>

<p>First thing to check would be to try to rock the film holder back and forth a bit on the camera. If it moves a bit, it could simply be a problem with fit which might be an easy fix. Much more likely would be either the baffles inside the slot where the dark slide goes, or the need for a complete set of seals inside the forward part of the back.</p>

<p>There is a guy on ebay who sells these seal kits for a very low price. I've used him once, did the fix myself in less than ten minutes and have never again had a problems with that back. The only tools needed was a set of small jeweler's or machinist's screwdrivers.<br>

I have seen others counsel against using anything but a Hasselblad repair service. My opinion is to suit yourself.</p>

<p>The only other source for these streaks that I can think of would be if they are actually flare from light entering the lens without a proper shade. If you were shooting directly at and very close to a light source, that may be your culprit.</p>

[sheldonnalos]

<p>Probably a light leak in the darkslide on the film back, like Tim said. I had the same issues on my 500CM and like Tim I did my own seal replacement with a kit that I got from a friend at a camera repair shop. It was easy and took 5 minutes.</p>

[russ_britt3]

<p>When my Hasseys has light leaks its always from the darkslide slot. And the amount of damage on the negative will depend on film speed and the amount of time between the exposures you shoot.<br /><br />If you either have fast film or pause a while between shots it will be worse, than if you are shooting slower film and shooting and winding the film advance more rapid. (its dependent on the amount of time the film lines up with this slot)<br /><br />The easy test is to just put black tape over the slide slot and shoot as normal, the film will be fine if the leak in from this slot. <br /><br />Changing the seals are very easy and you can buy the parts off ebay or from Hasselblad in New Jersey.<br />I have 7 backs and have changed the seals often over the past 35 years.</p>