Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Glad you got there in the end and that we were able to through some light on it (sorry for the pun!) Gerry David Young wrote: > Further to the "red streaking" on photos from my R8... > > I picked up three rolls of film a half hour ago. The test roll, all shot > this morning, was perfectly fine! A roll from the SL is fine. > > But the roll shot over the last week was smeared (streaked?) on 3 > frames. And, one of those frames was the middle one of a set of 3 shots > taken over 90 seconds! So obviously, time does not have a lot to do with > it. And, on this roll, for the first time, the streaking has extended > into > the sprocket area, though only about 1/4 of a sprocket length. This > rules > out the film gate blocking light from the mirror box theory. > > So, finally the penny has dropped! > > The smearing has to be coming from the foam light seal around the film > window... as many of you had suggested. The portion of the frame waiting > to be transported into the film gate is about 1/3 out of the cannister... > and the smearing turns up 1/3 in from the furthest edge! As many > suggested, the straight edge in the streak is the film cannister's edge. > > BUT.. > > It's not that simple! Replacing the foam, is not the cure. This I am sure > of! The foam is fine and not compressed with age, which is what usually > causes the problem. (Remember, the camera is but a year old.) > > Some of you may recall that when my R8 was less than a week old, a third > party strap failed and my nice, shiny new R8 hit the sidewalk top side > down, latch end first! > > Lisle-Kelco, then the Canadian Leica people, repaired the camera under > their "Passport-style" warranty. But when the camera was returned to > me, I > had noticed that the back, at the latch-end, was a bit looser than > before. > I assumed, that since it was just back from repair, this was obviously > OK. > And, at the time, it was. > > However, close examination of the camera shows that it is now looser > still... indicating a latch problem! I surmise that if the latch is > allowing the back to open a bit more than it should, the edge of the foam > will no longer press against the cannister, and let light in! > > The problem then, is not one of time or of whether the window is covered > with a thumb, but of how the camera is held - specifically how and where > its back is pressed! > > I will shoot more rolls of film over the next week or two, leaving the > gaffers tape over the film window. If all is fine, then I can send it in > for repair, at my leisure. If it is not, I'll be back, with further > conundrums! > > Thanks to you all, for your aid and assistance! > > David. > ---------- > > David Young, | Libertè, egalitè, > Victoria, CANADA | fraternitè, et beaujolais. > > Website at: www.horizon.bc.ca/~dnr > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- Gerry Walden LRPS www.gwpics.com +44 23 8046 3076 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html