Is this Shutter Bounce?

[leicamshooter]

My Leica IIIF RD ST has developed an interesting problem. I get what appears to be overexposed areas on bottom right hand corner of some negatives. About 4-8 per roll. I've taken pictures of Negs on a light box for you. Please advise if you know what is happening. Is this a DIY fix?

I develop in HC 110, steel reels. I know the lines on the bottome are from the reels, but the opaque area that bleeds into the frame is a pain to photoshop.

Camera does have new curtains.

Thank you,
G Medina

[rogue_designer]

looks more like a light leak.

[dexdog]

I agree with rogue D- a light leak

[leicamshooter]

Hmmm... that makes sense. I wonder why only sometimes?

[sanmich]

Hmmm... that makes sense. I wonder why only sometimes?

You have to track what you do with the camera to understand the problem.
do you always rewind after shooting?
do you cover the lens between shots?
Do you use a half case?
etc.

If I was you I would sacrify a roll and deliberately try to reproduce the problem while noting what I do. You should nail the issue,,,

Good luck

[sanmich]

And BTW, that light leak is from the UPPER side of the camera...

[payasam]

Goes into the sprocket holes area, so has to be a light leak rather than the shutter or a lens. Top side of camera, as Michael said. One obscure cause is bad or missing light sealing near the slow speed dial.

[John Shriver]

It's on the upper left as you look at the camera. One of the screws on the back missing? One of the screws on the accessory shoe missing?

[leicamshooter]

keep looking, but no missing screws. could the light shield be loose?

[John Shriver]

Take the lens off, look into the shutter box, hold the camera against a bright light, and see if you can see any source of light in the upper right camera as you look at the front. Do this with the shutter open (B) and closed.

If the very last exposed frame doesn't have this fog, it could be happening in the vicinity of the sprocket wheel, after the film is wound on.

[ZorkiKat]

Check if ALL the screws are tight. A loose screw can let light in. The leaks you have are typical of leaks through screws. Light breaching can be faint, but it will still fog when exposure is long enough.

And why they don't appear all the time? When you wind the film quickly, there's no time for the 'leak' to fog the film areas in question. Or when taken indoors. Leaks from tiny breaches either need strong light or long exposures- they are apertures after all! :)

[Ronald M]

Sometimes reloadable cassettes have caps that can leak. I am 99% sure those are the dark lines in the rebate areas. A bad leak can encroach the image areas if the light is strong.

Buy a factory load and see what happens. Run the test with it as described above to rule out the camera.

Shutter bounce is normally a heavy exposure on the right side of the image area somewhere from 1 to 5 mm wide.

[Soeren]

Hmmm... that makes sense. I wonder why only sometimes?

Amount of time that particular frame is exposed to the lightleak X Average EV during that time :D

[MarkoKovacevic]

Sometimes reloadable cassettes have caps that can leak. I am 99% sure those are the dark lines in the rebate areas. A bad leak can encroach the image areas if the light is strong.

Buy a factory load and see what happens. Run the test with it as described above to rule out the camera.

Shutter bounce is normally a heavy exposure on the right side of the image area somewhere from 1 to 5 mm wide.

My Kodak Tmax 3200 also has those lines in the rebate after sitting on my desk for a few months.

[colyn]

I had a IIIc that did just what you are seeing. It turned out to be small missing pieces of felt on the inside of the light baffles.

Another area to look at is the felt on the inside of the Leica brass cassettes if you are using them..

As another poster points out it could also be loose screws fixing the top plate to the shell.. but since it is on the top and bottom of the film I don't see that being the problem..