Whats happening with these?

[Curt]

These are from a roll I had sent out for processing, it has happened with a number of different rolls and to only few exposures per roll and from different bodies. Had not seen this since began developing my own, and now suddenly have tho not to the degree as these but still obviously the same issue.

Can someone tell whats likely causing this?

[picman]

You toss out the easy answers with different processing and different bodies.

Questions for more clues:
If you roll the film back onto the spool, do the effected frames overlap?
Do you load your own film?
Has the film been through airport x-ray screening?

[Photogdude]

are these all from sent out rolls?, and did you send them to the same place?

[Curt]

Questions for more clues:
If you roll the film back onto the spool, do the effected frames overlap?
Do you load your own film?
Has the film been through airport x-ray screening?

these are cut in four frame sections so hard to tell if would overlap... it almost always occurs with consecutive frames as was with this roll #s 30, 31,32 on another roll from this same trip and processed at the same lab it occurred numerous times throughout the roll 3-5 frames at a time... other rolls came out fine.

yes i load my own

no x-ray - i gave to tsa for hand inspection.

I had replaced the seals in the body these are from when i first got it and ran a couple rolls thru with no hint of light leaks and since its random, assumed the issue was in processing. have not had any problems with the first 18 rolls I've developed now... will be developing more tomorrow so will see what happens.

[Curt]

are these all from sent out rolls?, and did you send them to the same place?

yes sent out... till recently with one of my own. different labs.

[wclavey]

Since you are loading your own film, I am assuming it is B&W... stop me there if that is not true. I think you will need to dedicate a handful of rolls to finding it.

- Since you said you get it on your own developed images, chances are you can eliminate the lab, but shoot a roll just to be sure.
- If you are using re-loadable canisters, number each one and see if there is anything consistent there.
- While it appears on consecutive frames, does it generally appear in the same position in the roll, say, from frames 28-32? Does it ever appear multiple times in a roll, frames 5-10 and 28-32, for example?

Once you verify that you get it developing it on your own, then you have eliminated the lab as the source and you can do the tests either with the lab of at home. First, load a roll into a canister and don't even put it into the camera - - just develop it. This is to eliminate the loading process. If it is clear, then it is not the loading, which means that it can only be while it is in the camera. So you will have eliminated the lab and the loading. If it appears on the otherwise blank roll, then the problem is in the loading process or the loader. Are you locking the light trap each time you finish loading? ...those kinds of things...

If it is not the loading then my first inclination would be to check the seals again, but if it only appears in 1 spot on the roll, then seals are an unlikely source - - it would be all along the edges or in multiple places. To test that I would set up a test arrangement... pick a nice bright spot outside (in case it is a body leak) and put the body on a tripod and focus it on a subject, preferably something that includes a piece of paper with "1" on it. Fire off 36 exposures, rewind it and mark the roll as #1 (you can do some exposure testing if you want, or check out the lens, etc, but keep everything about the camera and its position constant). Develop it and do not cut the negatives - - even if you take it to a lab... tell them not to cut it. This should tell you if it is random in location, appears more than once on a roll, etc. If it is more than 1 place, I would definitely consider the seals.

I had a body at one time where the back cover was slightly warped and flexed a bit when it was closed, depending on how you held it and where you pressed on the back. I was able to ultimately fix it by adding more foam to the areas where a gap would open. If the #1 test is clear, then it must be something about the way you hold the camera or the position the camera is in (e.g., it only leaks held in the portrait orientation...). Replace the #1 sign with the #2 and shoot it in the same bright conditions, but changing the camera position (landscape, portrait) and when in portrait, sometimes left end up and sometimes right end up - - you should be able to tell from the negatives which will be which. Write down the general frame numbers and the orientation. Develop it. This was how I found the flexing problem in the leak I had - - it was only when the right end was up in the portrait position and I pressed my right thumb against the back that it flexed enough to leak. From there, a flashlight in a dark room with a dark cloth confirmed the exact location.

There might also be other places on the body where light may be leaking in around the top plate, the controls a missing screw, etc. Changing the orientation will help find them.

[Curt]

ok well I have to redact the comment that I load my own... not sure what I was thinking there. probably shouldn't be trying to think at all at 2 am. These are all 35mm, this particular roll was ilford pan f 50.

Think its safe to assume light leaks are the issue - just why random and why on both bodies has this occurred? but seems a flexing back is a likely consideration - will do the test.

[Harley4]

Curt,
Were these processed on the same processor by the same lab? If so, are these marks only on the LAST FEW FRAMES OF THE ROLLS and NOT on frames in the middle or the first few frames? Even if you get these with your processing (non-mechanical), then take a 10x lupe and look closely at the edges with defect... is the emulsion swollen and BUBBLED? Let me know. You've got a couple of problems here; the "FLARED" areas are defintely light leaks... from 2 different bodies? highly unlikely. The other is the undeveloped round areas on the film edge which is a developing problem, (see the top areas on frames), like bubbles on the film when you pour in developer too fast like pouring Coke into a glass. Flared areas are density increases from exposure, I would guess from bulk loader leak, if all film came from same loader; if not, was all film processed in same processor, then there's the culprit. If not, was film all prosessed in same tank on the same reel? (not reels)? This whole thing is a process of elimination, but since it's been almost a month since your last post, I guess you solved it. :)