Mamiya 645 Uneven exposure with line dividing negative

[snark]

I bought a Mamiya 645-1000S with three lenses, new-in-the-box condition except that the foam on the camera back had reduced itself to goo and I replaced it. I shot a couple test rolls with the 80mm lens to get accustomed to it. Yesterday after a photo session I developed three rolls I found areas on all of them that were fogged. The fog was in rectangular pattern with distinct edges, about the size of a 6x4.5 image, two or three areas to a roll. There was no fog on the test rolls and the only thing I did differently was change lenses several times, so I suspect that is behind it. It could be coincidental, though. Can anyone help me diagnose this? I had plans to use the camera again this week, and unless I get this resolved before then I guess I will have to stick with one lens or use a changing bag. Thanks.

 

[480sparky]

Post a sample. Otherwise, we're shooting in the dark.













Pun intended.

 

[snark]

I know my way around a darkroom, but I am a dunce when it comes to anything digital. I don't know how to post a sample of a film. I tried to post a scan of a photo once, but it would not "take". Please enlighten me, I mean seriously, and I will gleefully post a sample.

In the meantime, perhaps more in the way of description will help - the best I can do is that the fogged area looks like double exposure starting on the bottom half of one frame and ending on the top half of the next frame, but it is just fog, no image.

 

[Derrel]

Get a smallish JPEG or .PNG image on your computer, and simply hit REPLY to a post here in this thread, hit the box in the lower right that says UPLOAD A FILE in all-caps...then DRAG and DROP the image file into the post' reply and wait a few seconds.

 

[480sparky]

You'll need to digitize the negative. You can do it with either a scanner or a DSLR.

 

[snark]

OK, I'll get my son to help me with that. I tried it once and the little loading bar thingie went for about an hour and I finally gave up.

By the way Derrel, thanks again for your help on the meter problem. Turned out it was the battery; it showed to be good when I pressed the test button, but it was apparently borderline. A new one made all the difference. You saved me a lot of grief. And maybe a camera. I have been known to throw things that annoy me.

 

[cgw]

Yup, we need pix and/or negs for a ballpark diagnosis. That's an ancient camera. It's really necessary to replace all the foam and that's where your problems probably started. How did you do it and what, exactly, did you replace and with what. Guess that's why I shied away from the old "heavy metal" Mamiya 645 and opted for the later plastic bodied series--never saw one, however pristine, that didn't have gicky light seals. Could be a sleepy/sticky shutter?

 

[snark]

I don't have a flatbed scanner or a digital camera of any consequence, so next time I go downstairs I will make a contact print of it and run it thru my all in one scanner. It might be a few days before I can share it with you - gotta go to work in the AM, you know.

 

[snark]

CGW, yeah. All the older ones I have recently acquired needed new foam. I have a couple sheets of different thicknesses and have replaced it in several old 4x4 TLRs and 35mm SLRs. All work fine. I only replaced the foam on the film back, never have checked the mirror because it's not been an issue. I wonder if there is degraded foam that is keeping the mirror from seating properly? We're getting a little beyond the extent of my expertise here - I am not a camera technician by any stretch.

 

[snark]

OK, here is a photo my son made for me. See that half of the frame is fogged? And it's only a couple or three on a roll, not every frame

.

 

[tirediron]

Very difficult to tell in such a small image, but it doesn't look like a light leak to me, looks more like film not advancing correctly.

 

[snark]

By not advancing correctly, do you mean your diagnosis is that of a double exposure? I considered that, but there is no superimposed image, just what appears to be a fogged area. And the fog dissipates in about the same fashion in all instances, darker at one end, progressively lightening up until no longer visible, like it occurred when the film was rolled.

 

[tirediron]

A partial double-exposure. Looking at the lower image, I see what appears to be a straight, sharp line running horizontally across the image about 1/3 of the way down. Light leaks don't normally have sharp edges, but again, on such a small image, it's hard to tell.

 

[480sparky]

A double exposure through the shutter wouldn't fog the film edge to edge.

 

[Derrel]

Looks like a light leak to me. A slow light leak, not a really serious one. Tell you what...load the magazine and then tape up the back with gaffer tape, then go out to bright sun and shoot a roll, and if your film is fine, then you can isolate the leak.