camera testing

beddingfield · Jan 11, 2020

I had the luck of winning a box of cameras on ebay last year. Had them cleaned and serviced, canon ftbs. shutters retimed and everything checked as good.

Have been using Pro Photo as it IS the cheapest place to get color film and even black and white film processed.

I have been having odd issues with the developed film I get back from them. Ill have sections of film that are perfectly developed, and then sections that are clear and have tiny streaks of image in them.

I have thought it might be the light meter causing me to do the shutter speed wrong, so I went to using sunny 16 and using the film speed as shutter speed. Received 14 rolls back in the mail, some shot with sunny 16 rules and some shot using the cameras light meter. Still have the same issues with the film but when I looked at the film by processing number I noticed that

when the same type of film, say GC 200 was used for roll #1 and 2, they only have 1 or 2 frames that are "dead". But when roll # 3 is Pro Image 100, roll #3 will have 30-40% of frames have no image in them.

And I think they have a chemistry issue because one roll ive scanned so far was shot after a foot of snow fell, and I took a series of photos of a piliated wood pecker on a stump. The pilliated wood pecker has RED on its head. In the developed film the red was a strange ORANGE color.

Is there any home developer who uses genuine KODAK chemicals, who would let me send a few carefully taken test rolls?

webestang64 · Jan 11, 2020

beddingfield said:
Is there any home developer who uses genuine KODAK chemicals, who would let me send a few carefully taken test rolls?

I do not do C-41 at home but at my job we use a controlled strip monitored Noritsu V50 C-41 processor with Kodak chemicals. We charge $7.00 for dev only or dev and a CD for $10.95. www.schillers.com

Derrel · Jan 11, 2020

The cheapest place might not be the best place to have your film developed. I learned this back in the 1980s as a college student. Without seeing your results it would be difficult to ascertain what the problem is with any degree of certainty. Blank frames are often a camera or photographer issue, such as a malfunctioning shutter, or accidentally tripping off frames with wildly incorrect camera settings or with the lens cap on.

beddingfield · Jan 11, 2020

The things I DO know are:

If you open a camera with film on the uptake spool, any film outside of the film cartridge is rendered fried.
If you take a lens off, and fire the shutter, any film outside of the spool is killed.

But when you shoot 20 photos using f/8 shutter speed 1/250 and use Gold Color 200 set as 200 on the camera. You shouldn't have random frames that have absolutely nothing in them.

vintagesnaps · Jan 11, 2020

You might need to try sending film out to another lab. (There'n not a camera store near me anymore so I send out.)

If you're using more than one of those cameras, even if they were all serviced there could be one or more that aren't functioning properly (maybe the shutter). If you aren't already, keep track of what camera you used.

You're right, if the back of the camera is opened, any film exposed to light is well, already exposed and so much for those pictures. You can slam the back of the camera closed and will likely lose a few frames but most of the roll should be fine. I've gotten frames with partial images and lots of flare, etc. so all is not lost.

You can't assume that f8 and 1/250 is going to give you a proper exposure, and depending on light conditions it could be possible in low light that you wouldn't be getting enough light to get a picture. Start keeping notes on what you do when you're out shooting and then you can look back at your notes to try to figure out what worked and where things are going wrong.

Designer · Jan 11, 2020

beddingfield said:
But when you shoot 20 photos using f/8 shutter speed 1/250 and use Gold Color 200 set as 200 on the camera. You shouldn't have random frames that have absolutely nothing in them.

Possibilities:

camera shutter malfunctioning
bad film
bad developing (technique &/or chemistry)
combination of all three

Get a new roll of film (B&W will be o.k.), perform your own test of the shutter and aperture mechanisms, and develop your own film at home. At some point in the test you should be able to see more clues about what is going on.

beddingfield · Jan 11, 2020

vintagesnaps said:
You might need to try sending film out to another lab. (There'n not a camera store near me anymore so I send out.)

If you're using more than one of those cameras, even if they were all serviced there could be one or more that aren't functioning properly (maybe the shutter). If you aren't already, keep track of what camera you used.

You're right, if the back of the camera is opened, any film exposed to light is well, already exposed and so much for those pictures. You can slam the back of the camera closed and will likely lose a few frames but most of the roll should be fine. I've gotten frames with partial images and lots of flare, etc. so all is not lost.

You can't assume that f8 and 1/250 is going to give you a proper exposure, and depending on light conditions it could be possible in low light that you wouldn't be getting enough light to get a picture. Start keeping notes on what you do when you're out shooting and then you can look back at your notes to try to figure out what worked and where things are going wrong.

I was using the Kodak box instructions.

vintagesnaps · Jan 11, 2020

I'm not sure what you mean... it's necessary to meter a scene/subject to determine if you're getting the amount of light for a proper exposure.

Derrel · Jan 11, 2020

If I were to take a photo at F / 8 + 1/250 of a second with 200 ISO color print film where I am at right now I would have a pretty much black frame

JBPhotog · Jan 11, 2020

Have you checked the light seals on these old cameras? After many years the foam strips that are supposed to seal light from entering around the film loading back can break down, get compressed and simply fall apart. If any of this happens you can and most likely will get light leaks onto the film drawn out of the film canister.

You can inspect them closely but a good way to test this is to load a short roll of film, lens attached with a front lens cap on, f16 or f22, the faster shutter speed and stand out in the blazing sun. Shoot and advance the film without taking the lens cap off, as far as you would like but leave some spare in the film canister as a control. If you really want to torture test it, let the camera back get full sun for a few minutes. Then wind it all back in the canister and process it.

If the film on the takeup spool was exposed to a light leak, you will see exposure, if not then you have other issues to resolve. If the unexposed(film in the canister) has these funny streaks, then the culprit is the processor.

beddingfield · Jan 11, 2020

everything on these cameras got taken care of. shutter retime, seals, everything.

here a scan that I just got back. taken outside of course, Kodak gold color 200, shot at iso 200, f/8 and 1/250

it is a more extreme example but its shows the issue.

Designer · Jan 11, 2020

beddingfield said:
it is a more extreme example but its shows the issue.

What this looks like is the film advance lever is not advancing properly.

beddingfield · Jan 11, 2020

Designer said:
beddingfield said:

it is a more extreme example but its shows the issue.

Click to expand...

What this looks like is the film advance lever is not advancing properly.[/QUOTE

the shutter cannot fire if the film is not properly advanced.

JBPhotog · Jan 11, 2020

beddingfield said:
everything on these cameras got taken care of. shutter retime, seals, everything.

here a scan that I just got back. taken outside of course, Kodak gold color 200, shot at iso 200, f/8 and 1/250

it is a more extreme example but its shows the issue.

We need more info on this example. Like what frame is this from the roll? If it is the first frame then the white area is over exposed and could be the leader of the roll which will be clear when processed. Try exposure #10 and let us know. BTW, if you have examples that look like they weren’t an accidental shutter release, they would be helpful too.