Is my lens cracked?

eatingorsi · Nov 27, 2011

Hello. I recently found my dad's old Rollei 35 and after I shot a roll of film I noticed that there was a multicolored streak running straight on the upper fifth of the photo. Does this mean the lens is cracked? When I looked at the lens with my eye I couldn't make out and scratches or cracks, that's why I'm so confused. Attached is an example of a photo I took with the streak.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70884577@N07/6413438319/in/photostream

Rephargotohp · Nov 27, 2011

It looks more like something is scratching the negative in the film path. I would check inside where the film sits for any sharp edges or objects

fotoshooter · Nov 27, 2011

Is this the only frame with the streak? Or does it run the length of the film?

Look at the negatives to see if there is a scratch..

I suspect a processing error since it is not a light leak in the camera and no this does not mean the lens is cracked..

dxqcanada · Nov 27, 2011

Looks like something is scratching the film.

You should see this line going straight through your film.
This would be somewhere in the film transport area.

eatingorsi · Nov 27, 2011

Thanks everyone. I looked over the negatives again and it does not appear to be scratched. I must assume that it was then a processing error. I will go back to the photo lab tomorrow to ask for the photos to be re-printed and scanned.

fotoshooter · Nov 27, 2011

eatingorsi said:
Thanks everyone. I looked over the negatives again and it does not appear to be scratched. I must assume that it was then a processing error. I will go back to the photo lab tomorrow to ask for the photos to be re-printed and scanned.

I agree..

Dirt etc in the camera does not cause color lines when scratching the negative.. This will produce a dark line..

Do you see this line on the scanned images on the disk? If so it was most likely caused by the film scanner itself since the negative don't appear to be scratched..

mdruziak · Dec 23, 2011

Definitely a problem with the scanner

Josh66 · Dec 23, 2011

Is this an Epson scanner, by chance?

I love them, but they are infamous for the "green line".

Flickr: Discussing visible line green and red lines in Epson V600 Users

I have been seeing it occasionally on my V600 too. It seems, on color negative - it's a green line; on color positive, it's a red line; B&W, it's just a line.

They say the way to fix it is to clean the "calibration area", but I have never been able to get a good answer on exactly what that means.

I don't get it all the time, but I do get it sometimes. I keep my scanner very clean, so I don't think it's dirt or anything. When I do get it, I just clone it out. Not the best solution, but till I figure something else out that's all I can do...