Fuji Quickloads with light leaks??

[Tom Mangan]

I just got into the world of 4x5 as of today. I have a Toyo 45AX and a schneider 150mm f5.6 lens. I shoot mostly landscapes. I shot four shots of the flatirons here in boulder, co this morning with fuji velvia quickloads. Here is my questio n. There appears to be some sort of light leak on the negatives. I have what see ms like two lines(like ghosting) that run vertical up and down the negative and end about half way up. the are on the end of the quickload farthest from the met al strip at the bottom and nearest to the where the envelope stops when pulled o ut for exposure. The negatives that where shot closed down(f45) appear worse tha n the negatives shot open(f16). Any suggestions as to what may be causing this w ould be appreciated. I know the fuji quikloads have a great reputation therefore i am sure 99.9% that it is something i am doing. Thanks, Tom Mangan.

[fw]

I shoot a lot of Quickload with one of the original Toyo metal fields. What you have described could well be a light leak from the camera back which hits the film as the envelope is pulled away. You should check that the film holder is sitting true in the camera back, and that the camera back is not warped and preventing a full light tight seal between the holder and the back. Also check that you are not inadvertently moving the back, and thereby introducing a light leak, as you pull out the Quickload envelope.

[Ray Dunn]

I agree with the above. I had this exact problem when I first started using 4x5 with a Polaroid holder. I was pulling the holder away from the camera body ever so slightly and causing fogging. By the way, I've had problems with the Polaroid holder not re-engaging the clip when the jacket is closed. I've since go to a Quickload holder made by Fuji. The Fuji holder is first rate and I've never had a failure of any kind with it. Highly recommended!

[Paul Schilliger]

I agree with the two previous comments. It is advisable to hold the back firmly with the camera in one hand when maneuvering the envelope. Also I would recommend that the back opening never points to a bright light source. Instead, turn it the other way. I found that the QuickLoad is much more light proof than conventional film holders, but light can come in from the QuickLoad to came ra joining.

[Les Moore]

I had a similar problem with a few of my very first quickload shots. I sacrificed one quickload envelope to use for practice, and used it to fine tune my techniques for pulling and replacing the darkslide and for removing the envelope. After practicing with it for a while and seeing how it worked, I never had another problem with the system due to technique. However, I have on a few occasions been over zealous when removing an unused envelope from the box (usually when I am excited and rushing in quickly changing light) and the metal clip came part way off. In these cases, I sometimes got a good shot and sometimes got fogging, but it was on the side of the film next to the clip, not on the side that you have seen fogging.

[Stpephen Willlard]

Here are some things to consider:

1) Your observation that it is worse at f/45 then f/16 is predictable. Smaller f-stops means longer exposures and if there are light leaks (which are independent of the lens openning) you can expect they will be more pronounced.

2) If you have a standard film holder try it and see if the leak still presists. If it does not then there is something wrong with the film holder. If it does then it is either how the film holder mates to the camera body or the camera body itself.

3) To test for proper seating to the camera body insert the Fuji film holder and then with light tight tape, tape all seams of the film holder to the body. Now shoot a sheet of film and see if there are still leaks. There are two possiblities:

3.a) If so then the leak is in the camera body or maybe in the film holder itself. Now tape all camera seams that are applicable for the nature of the light leaks and do a test shoot. If the leak still is present then it is the film holder. If not then it is in the camea body. Remove tape from one seam at a time on the camera body followed by a test shoot until you identify the seam that is causing the problem.

3.b) If there is no leak then the leak is ocurring at one of the seams of the film holder. Remove tape from one seam at a time followed by a test shoot until you identify the seam that is causing the problem.

If the light leak is found to be a seam from the camera body or the film holder what you can do about it depends on the nature of the beast. If it is in the film holder then in total darkness use a small flash light with the film holder loader with scrap film and the slide pulled back. Shine the light from different directions until you can locate what seam in the film holder that is causing the leak.

Hope this helps. By the way I live just up the street from you in Fort Collins, CO