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An
Unusual Light Leakage Source
Normally shutter curtains DO provide a very lightproof seal when closed
but sometimes this is not always the case.
It's not well known , but in the Kiev60 light can sneak around the
curtains and find its way onto the negative when the user has taken a
pic and is now winding onto the next frame.
This is shown by the test in the pictures below.
My sample Kiev60 is shown here set up in the following way , back open
,
lens cap off , and the aperture is set at wide open.
With a strong light source placed in front of the lens the film advance
lever was wound on slowly while observing the shutter curtain.
At about 1/2 frame travel of the curtain , from the right hand side to
the left , light can be seen coming from between the two curtains.
It can easily be imagined that this unwanted light will get onto the
negative and spoil your image.
This can present itself as either vertical over-exposed bars , general
fogging and/or loss of contrast across partial or the whole image.
Because there are so many ways this leak can present itself it can be
one of the most misdiagnosed sources of light leakage.
A very frustrating situation indeed.
So what can we do about it ??? ...
Well , at present there are not too many choices.
Perhaps some light baffling within the body is the way to go (I will
investigate this later) but the most sure fire way to prevent this
problem is through a self enforced and regimented shooting process.
Get into the habit of replacing the lens cap IMMEDIATELY after taking
your shot BEFORE winding onto the next frame.
After the frame is wound on the shutter is light tight again and the
cap can once again be removed.
A good idea is to get one of those lens cap elastic strings.
They are darned annoying with the way they swing the cap around and
this will provide an ¨in your face¨ reminder to get that cap on
as quickly as possible.
Another benefit of replacing the cap is there is less chance of burning
a hole in the shutter and of course front element damage.
The ¨Sima CK-2¨ will do the trick at under $2 each.
So there are benefits all around for replacing that lens cap as soon as
its practical to do so and it is no cost way to getting even better
pictures from your Kiev60.
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