Film Troubleshooting

[7757524]

Hello,

I grew up shooting film (point and shoot) but only really started using a nice camera and experimenting in the digital age starting when I turned about 33 years old.

I've got the film bug and wanted to see how my newfound "skills" (ha!) would translate to film. I bought an AE-1 Program, an Elan, and a little 35mm rebel.

So far, I've only shot with the AE-1. There is some fungus in the lens and some of the foam surrounding the prism has disintegrated and is visible through the OVF but it is tolerable. Overall, the camera seems to be in decent condition, especially for the price paid.

However, some of my exposures have some light bleed on the left side. I've been considering what this is but cannot figure it out.

There is no light on the negatives between frames so I don't believe it's a general light leak. If there were a leak on the back plate, surely it would affect all film as it passes across the back of the camera, right? That leads me to believe that the extra light is coming through the shutter curtain with the rest of it. But it only affects a few frames on the roll.

I don't believe it's a film advancement issue as the frames next to the affected ones don't show any signs of overlap or double exposure.

I'd appreciate any input you might have!

The camera in question:


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What I consider to be decent results from my first roll of film in 15 years:




Examples of images with the problem:

 

[Ysarex]

That problem is the shutter. The camera has a horizontal traveling shutter. The increase in exposure at the far edge is the shutter curtain getting caught and/or dragging.

Joe

 

[7757524]

Thanks, Joe!

The shutter appears to be operating normally without film loaded, but as these exposures show, it is intermittent.

Can you recommend any troubleshooting steps I might take to rectify this problem?