Half moons on negatives

[marus_qua]

Hello all. I'm using an old Yashica microtec zoom 70 and Im having issues with white half moon spots appearing on both righ corners of my photos. The half moons come out on the exact same spot on every negative. I'm quite new to photography and I don't know if it's a problem caused by the lens or the processing... I was wondering if anyone has had the same problem in the past and knows how to resolve it. Thank you!

 

[Dustin McAmera]

That looks like light leaking into the camera somewhere. I don't know this camera. Does it have a transparent panel in the back, to let you see what film is loaded? If it does, I'd look on the inside of the back door, at the light sealing material around that window. Maybe it's a bit worn out, and you can replace it with felt, foam or velvet.

Since it looks curved, I wonder if it could be light getting down the side of the lens barrel. Again, I guess you can look inside, behind the lens, and see if it's possible to add some black stuff around the lens to block the leak. Clearly, it mustn't stick out beyond the edge of the lens itself, or interfere with the lens moving.

Good luck!

[ed_farmer]

Dustin has the right idea on the first place to look. Remember, the issue that you are showing us would be on the lower right side of the film gate.

 

However, if the image damage has the same brightness all of the time, the issue could be in front of the lens. Look for anything that might be blocking for interfering with top left side of the lens. A broken or bent lens shade? Damage to the glass?

 

Let us know what you find . . .

[marus_qua]

Hello, thank you very much for your answers.

I look on the inside around the transparent panel, but the foam seems to be in place and isn't worn out.

The brightness of the damage varies just a little bit.. Nothing seems to be wrong around the lens either.

I will try to cover the transparent panel with black tape or foam for the next film, hope it will help!

 

 

[Mark Z]

You are not the only one with this problem. Some of the photos here:

Random Photos, with Yashica Microtec Zoom 70, Uploaded 25 June 2013

have an almost identical issue.

I suspect there is a design flaw in the lens that allows leakage or reflections, especially at certain focal lengths. You might try shooting a scene at different zoom settings, and then seeing if the light leaks appear at only some settings.

Dustin suggested finding a way to block any light that is coming through the side of the lens, and maybe that's possible to do. If not, and you still want to use the camera, you can either avoid zoom settings that produce the flaw, or crop out the flaws on prints in which they appear.

[steve_mareno1]

Try taping up the back and around the lens where it meets the lens mount with black electrical tape and see if the problem disappears.