Possible Lens Flare Issue...

[macmaster77]

Hello all!

I have been shooting LF for about six months now. I ran into an issue yesterday that is new to me. Part of the negative was a tad lighter than the other side. After much input, (checking the bellows, lens mount, film holder, etc. for light leaks) I can confirm that the camera and holders are light tight. The only thing that I can come up with is that it's lens flare issue. I was shooting the subject at 12:00 position and I was at 6:00 position. The sun was located at 11:00. When I used to shoot digital, I used to always use a lens hood. I have a Nikon W 300mm f/5.6 mounted in a Copal 3 shutter (Zone VI 8x10). I was considering getting a screw in rubber lens hood (95mm). I was wondering if anyone has tried these. Someone mentioned the other types of hoods (name escapes me right now) but they were like $600-$800 which is a bit out of my price range right now. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance!

[Jac@stafford.net]

Your description is good, however an image would help. Oh, a lens shade is always a good idea. One is a shade on a flexible stalk to move to the critical position. I will try to find an example.

[macmaster77]

Here is the photo...

163034

[Tobias Key]

If you can get one for your camera, a compendium hood is what you want. They have a bellows that can be moved in and out shifted up or sideways and will swing out of the way so you can access the shutter. I have one for my Toyo monorail, listed at $658 new, I bought mine for £35 used from a reputable dealer in the UK. They are one of those things that have a real minority market, so if you find one they will be priced well below their actual value or utility to you. They can make a huge difference to the final quality of an image, particularly if you like single coated or uncoated lenses.

[macmaster77]

That's the other item I was trying to think of. Are these lens dependent or film size dependent? Thanks!

[Nodda Duma]

I shade the front of the lens with my hand so sunlight doesn't enter the front of the barrel . That's really all that needs to be done.

[macmaster77]

I shade the front of the lens with my hand so sunlight doesn't enter the front of the barrel . That's really all that needs to be done.

I have done that with the dark slide in the past. Much cheaper than a bellows or hood! Thanks.

[B.S.Kumar]

Using a hand or a dark slide works most of the time. But flare can be caused by bright light reflecting from below the camera and/or the sides as well - snow or white sand for example. Then you need 3 or 4 hands :)

A compendium hood is really an easy fix for this problem. They are usually attached to the front standard with clips or screws. The Toyo and Sinar hoods are well-designed, and can be adjusted easily. The Sinar hood is the regular bellows held in place with adjustable rods. The Sinar roller-blind style mask is the absolute best for combating flare, but is quite pricey even now.

Kumar

[jim10219]

Those screw in collapsible rubber lens hoods work pretty well so long as your lens has filter threads and it's not too wide of an angle for them. You can usually push them back a bit to a mid position for wider angle lenses, but on really wide lenses, they can still vignette your negatives. Each lens and format is different so you'll have to test them out to see if it's an issue. They're also pretty cheap, and sometimes the rubber doesn't stick to the metal filter thread. If so, some silicone gasket glue from an auto parts store will fix that. I tend to use them more for smaller formats however. For large format, I generally just use my hand or a hat. Since the process is so slow and the camera is up on a tripod, finding a free hand isn't really an issue like it can be for the little cameras.

[Doremus Scudder]

Are you sure you didn't pull the camera back away from the body when pulling/inserting the dark slide? That's the most common cause of what you have.

Doremus

[chassis]

I'm with Doremus. Looks a little like a light leak to me.

[Jim Jones]

The circular screw-in lens hoods are better at protecting lenses than preventing flare. Rectangular hood and filter systems like the Ambico may work somewhat better if one is available in a large enough size.

[macmaster77]

Are you sure you didn't pull the camera back away from the body when pulling/inserting the dark slide? That's the most common cause of what you have.

Doremus

That could have been a possibility too. I was backed into some other mangroves trying to get the photo. I'm looking forward to trying it again to see what happens. Thanks!

[Jim Jones]

After digging an Ambico and a Lindalh lens hood out of storage, they and the old Sailwind brand appear to be too small for the Nikkor W 300/5.6 lens. Too bad -- the Lindahl system https://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/Product_Resources/SourceBookProPhoto/Section05ProAccys.pdf pages 247-253 was comprehensive. The largest filter thread adaptor was 82mm, and the hood would likely vignette on the Nikkor.

[macmaster77]

After digging an Ambico and a Lindalh lens hood out of storage, they and the old Sailwind brand appear to be too small for the Nikkor W 300/5.6 lens. Too bad -- the Lindahl system https://www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/Product_Resources/SourceBookProPhoto/Section05ProAccys.pdf pages 247-253 was comprehensive. The largest filter thread adaptor was 82mm, and the hood would likely vignette on the Nikkor.

I appreciate you looking into this for me. I took another photo in the same area today. I'll be developing it tomorrow to see how it goes. Thanks!