Mystery line on negatives

[rdeloe]

Another "what the heck is this on my negative" post...

I'm using Linhoff film holders, the thin kind that are similar in size and functionality to Fidelity/Lisco. They have a neat feature that imprints a number on the negative during the exposure. Other than that they're pretty standards.

Regardles of which one I use, there's a mystery line that appears on all my negatives. It appears with all scenes, and all film stocks. In other words, it's not a film problem.



In the above sample I'm showing crops from scans of two different negatives. The line (inside the yellow oval) tapers off and disappears at about the half-way mark. You can ignore the other things I flagged that are normal from the scanning process (edge of the film, bubbles from fluid mounting the negative).

My guess: This is a light leak from the holder not being mounted properly. It does seem snug and tight when mounted, and it's happening with every holder (so it's not like there's a defect in just one).

I do not own any other brands of holders so (sadly) I'm not currently in a position to test my light leak guess with another one.

Thoughts?

[jp]

Is it visible on the negative prior to scanning?
If it only shows up in the scans, it could be scanner light reflecting off something parallel to the edge of the film.

[rdeloe]

I forgot to mention that I am camera scanning, so it's not stray light from the scanner. And yes, it is definitely on the negative.

Interestingly, I tested my bellows for light leaks last month and had a film holder in position. I can't remember a light leak around the edge of the film holder when I was doing that, but to be fair I did not check specifically. I may have to check again, this time looking for a leak around the edges. But I'm hoping that there's another reason because fixing that would be difficult.

[Graham Patterson]

It might be a reflection from the edge of the holder or the back close to the holder. It's a fairly well defined line, and if it is repeated on all holders in most frames like that I think it would be directional.

[rdeloe]

It might be a reflection from the edge of the holder or the back close to the holder. It's a fairly well defined line, and if it is repeated on all holders in most frames like that I think it would be directional.

Bingo Graham! That's exactly what it is.

This is a reflection from the shiny edge of the holder. Here you can see it extending on both sides of the holder. I studied some more negatives and realized it's not just on the one side (like I said above).



Here's the holder in the camera, and there are my lines.



What the Hey Linhof! What's with the crappy design. I never experienced this with the Fidelity and Lisco holders I used to use.

So next question: how can this be prevented? It's a very skinny area so while I could probably get some telescope flocking material on there, it's guaranteed to come off after a while and make a mess. A flat black paint that sticks to plastic might work, but that too is sure to flake off and end up on the negative after a while.

I can simply write that part of the negative off, in other words, always plan to crop it off. But that is not something I want to have to do.

And finally I could just get some other film holders -- but these Linhof holders were a long way from inexpensive, and I do value the clever numbering device.

So... any ideas?
Thanks, Rob

[Audii-Dudii]

So... any ideas?

Rough-up the surface of the offending plastic with some mildly coarse (say, 80-100 grit) sandpaper until it's no longer shiny and reflective?

[nbagno]

It does occur on other holders including Fidelity, I’ve experienced this same line.


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[rdeloe]

Rough-up the surface of the offending plastic with some mildly coarse (say, 80-100 grit) sandpaper until it's no longer shiny and reflective?

Bingo again!

I was just scouring the forum with different keywords now that I'm narrowing it down, and I found another thread where someone had this problem and suggested roughening the edge. I had a close look at the holders. In those pictures I posted in #5 there's a gap in the line -- on every frame that has gone through these holders. I inspected those edges very carefully and sure enough there's a short section on each holder that is dull. It's bizarre. Why just there? Anyway, that's obviously doing the trick because the gap in the line matches the spot where the holder edge is dull. The only thing I can think of is the previous owner's camera had a surface there that made regular contact with the film holder at that spot, and wore off the shiny coating.

Anyway, looks like problem solved. I'll carefully rough up the edges on all the holders.

Thanks for the help.

[rdeloe]

Just did one. Works like a charm.