Streaks on Negative - Leica II

[Wayne]

That's pretty much what I was thinking too Jorn. I don't know much about focal plane shutters though, so I'll be interested to hear the outcome of this.

[Santiago Montenegro]

Jorn, I misspent hours and hours thinking about that, and never found an answer. As you know, my current anti-Leica stance forbids me for giving it any more thought  :cool:

But I do feel that "capping" is not the proper term here, and I use it for lack of a better one. Real capping would cause unexposed areas in the film. In my case, I first looked at grit or irregularities at the leading edge of the curtains-at no avail. And thinking about it, the streaks only appeared at higher speeds. What cured it was getting the shutter to work cleanly. Or plain good luck, you never know. 

[LarryD]

As you know, my current anti-Leica stance forbids me for giving it any more thought  cool

 I like that thought.

[jake]

Plus the more time the film is exposed to the light, the lighter the area on the film will be. So the dark streaks actually indicate a reduction in exposure to light in those areas, not an increase as would be the case in a light leak. What I might accept is if the light leaks in an erratic but speedy shutter somehow resulted in nearly proper exposure in the areas of the leaks  while the non-leaky areas of the shutter resulted in the typical dark areas associated with capping, albeit in streaks (sort of like dodging/burning a print with your hand while spreading your fingers.)

Still doesn't make a lot of sense though. If you have a repair done and it involves replacing the shutter curtains, it would be interesting to see what the old curtains look like.

Edit: It occurs to me that the streaks could occur when the two edges of the shutter curtain were very close to each other - too close as in touching or nearly touching each other (or nearly overlapping or whatever.) The streaks would then be where the two edges either touch or overlap, while the clear areas would be where space occurs. This would be caused by the leading curtain lagging and the following curtain catching up with it as they pass across the film gate. To continue with the hand analogy, this would be like holding two fingers together and having light pass between them due to the irregularity in the shape of your two fingers. Make sense?

[LarryD]

I think we are all over thinking this.... Let it get a good CLA and then after the photoiopsy / Autopsy we shall know. LOO

[Santiago Montenegro]

It occurs to me that the streaks could occur when the two edges of the shutter curtain were very close to each other - too close as in touching or nearly touching each other (or nearly overlapping or whatever.) The streaks would then be where the two edges either touch or overlap, while the clear areas would be where space occurs. This would be caused by the leading curtain lagging and the following curtain catching up with it as they pass across the film gate. To continue with the hand analogy, this would be like holding two fingers together and having light pass between them due to the irregularity in the shape of your two fingers. Make sense?

Makes perfect sense, and amounts to "partial capping" or "almost capping", if you will. What bothers me is the fact that the streaks are so thin... Nah, I am starting to see how they could be so thin: a kind of vibration when the second curtain catches up with the leading one, so contact is made only in tiny points and during milisecs... yeah, that could be it.

[joho35mm]

The camera is on its way to Youxin. I'll keep you all updated on the results.

[JRJacobs]

I don't understand this.

The indoor shots were taken at the same speed as the outdoor ones?

Then if it is "capping", shouldn't the streaks show up in all the photos?

[joho35mm]

Yes, the indoor photos were also taken at 1/500. Youxin tells me that the shutter "was not opening completely" at 1/500 and "running unevenly." He did not opt for a curtain replacement, however, and just CLA'd the shutter (and also cleaned out the rest of the camera and the RF/VF). I guess he knows better than I do. I'll be reshooting a test roll once the camera is back, so we'll see what how things turn out.

I do have to vouch for Youxin's friendliness and professionalism in this repair case. After a very amiable set of back and forth conversations, I sent the camera to him. He notified me as soon as it arrived, repaired it within two days, and mailed the camera back to me with an email kindly saying that I could pay him after I got the package! This really seems to confirm the extensive praise he gets on other photo sites. If the repair job fixes the problem, I'm completely sold.

[LarryD]

A true professional. So sure of his work that he did that and trusted you... or did he? LOL

[Mike Kovacs]

Don't worry, he's installed a remote self destruct inside the camera in case the person doesn't pay :p

[jake]

The indoor shots were taken at the same speed as the outdoor ones?

Yes, but the light may not arrive on the film from the same focused direction indoors. Equivalent but diffuse light levels indoors may not have shown the issue, while intense light at a particular angle from the sun did.

Let us know how it works out!

[Santiago Montenegro]

The indoor shots were taken at the same speed as the outdoor ones?

Yes, but the light may not arrive on the film from the same focused direction indoors. Equivalent but diffuse light levels indoors may not have shown the issue, while intense light at a particular angle from the sun did.

Let us know how it works out!

Exactly! Mine only did it at the beach.

[joho35mm]

I'm out of town at the moment, and won't be able to test the camera until next week, but it seems like Youxin even ran a test roll through it before he sent it back! He wrote in our most recent correspondence that "the stripes should gone.  I saw those clearly before CLA the camera and they were all gone after CLA."