Suspected light leak with my 11x14

[Kirk Gittings]

Sidney, Be careful still. You still may have a problem that needs to be addressed. For instance a faster film may fog with the slide drawn only a short time or direct sunlight at just the right angle may produce visable fog. I would be very uncomfortable proceeding with real shooting without determining the exact cause. I've that mistake a couple of times in my long career and had the same problem come back on me at the most inopportune times. Usually on commercial jobs we see the problem on the Polaroid, but we don't proceed until we are absolutely sure that we have found the exact problem. That may involve 40 polaroids, the flashlight trick etc. etc. The view camera that I use for commercial work has been in my service for twenty years, through three bellows and three polaroid backs. We carry an extra bellows and polaroid back just in case, because once in Telluride we had a light leak that we figured was in the polaroid back and continued only to find out when we got the film back that we had a bellows leak that only showed up when the lens standard was raised all the way up! We had to return and reshoot about half the job. Embarrassing and expensive! All of the potential problems mentioned by the contributers above are all good points. Find the problem or it will haunt you. Best of luck!

[sanking]

As Michael suggests we have had some problems with out 11X14 hiolders that resulted in a design change in the baffle. Therefore I do not discount the possibility that one or more of your holders has a light leak, and if so I will be happy to correct the problem even if your period of warranty has expired.

Others have pointed out that it is good field practice to pull the slides for the shortest time possible and to keept a dark cloth over the camera and holder at all time when working in bright light. I agree completely.

But, there may be a probelm. The three most common reasons for fogging are,

1. Light leak in the bellows, not likely in this case since your camera is relatively new.

2. Light leak in from the light baffle of the holder.

3. The holder does not fit correctly in the camera, i.e. the rib-lock on the holder does not fall into the groove in the camera back.

Check for #1 by putting a flash light inside your camera and in the dark inspect the camera from all angles. Put a film holder in the camera and check again, especially at the side where you insert the holders.

To check #2, remove the dark slides from your holders and with your eye at the flap end look back up through the baffles with a stroing light in the back. You will need to adjust the position of the holder to eliminate flare. If there is a leak in the baffle system you will see it with this action.

To check #3 insert your holder into the camera and make sure that the rib-lock falls into the groove on the camera back. If it does not you will definitely get a serioius light leak at this point.

Good luck, but as Kirk advises, please resolve this problem before wasteing a lot of negatives in the field. Nothing is more frustrating than a light leak on an otherwise perfect negative. Been there and done that and it ain't pretty!!

[Ed Burlew]

Last fall I drove three hours to a lakeside jetty to get a cloudy sunrise. I was so beat and had a new type of camera . I managed to put one film holder in from the wrong side. So I got a lot of lightleak. I realised that when I went to put in the second holder. I did the second and third holders correctly and I had all 6 negs developed. Maybe, just maybe, you fell prey to this type of simple error.

[jonathan smith]

You know, I've been having the same problem every time I use my Nikon 450 f/9, but wanted to play with it more before I put up a question. I got thin negs with very low contrast, and some look fogged as well. At first I thought I wasn't compensating the exposure enough for the bellows draw, so last time I overexposed and the negs look thick, but still low contrast. Like the shadow areas are gray rather than clear. I haven't printed them yet so will see how they look. But I get excellent results with all my other lenses. I wonder if the shutter speeds are off. Glad to hear everyone's experiences with that lens are good.

But my real point is to mention a light leak problem I had a while back. Most shots would be fine but every once in a while, a uniform fogging. You could still see the image but with color film there was a brown cast. The guy at the lab said I was putting the film in backwards! Not the case. Anyway, I got a battery powered stick-on flourescent light at the hardware store and put it inside. Everything was fine but a slight leak at the bail due to a warped film holder; and only one side of one film holder. So I got rid of that one, and as a precaution now I take a small bungee cord with me. I hook this to the back of the film holder and to somewhere on the camera, and this pulls the film holder forward so it fits tightly against the frame. After that, no problems. It occurs to me this might be an issue when the film holders are so large. If they are even slightly warped, they would create a light leak.