Problem with film. Light leak in camera?

[koushiro]

I'm pretty new to film so hopefully this will be an easy answer for somebody. My girlfriend recently finished a roll of film with her Olympus OM-10. It was just basic Fuji 400 that I bought on Amazon. We had the local camera shop develop the scans and they all came back with the same problem. Does anybody know what caused this? I just want to figure it out so we don't waste more film/money/time for photos that are all going to come out bad. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of light leak, incorrect film loading, or a problem with the film itself. I really just don't know anything about film, so any help would be much appreciated!

[Sciolist]

I'd take a guess that the door hinge light seal has seen better days.

If correct, as light seal kits are relatively cheap, and unless you've already replaced the rest, I'd do all the seals on the camera and the mirror bumpers. It's not as scary a job as you'd think.


Try and find a supplier who supplies two sets (usually for not much more than one set). The stress of getting it right first time is then removed. I have used a Japanese supplier who does exactly this, but his name escapes me at the moment. I'll try and dig it up for you.


Just one point to note as you mention the subject yourself. Even if you find it is not the light seal, replacing them should add value to the camera of at least the cost of purchase.


Good luck, and I hope the incident hasn't put you two off trying again.

[kansalliskalaCafe]

I think it is too sharp to be a light leak. More probably a shutter problem?

[koushiro]

Yeah, I did notice that the seals looked pretty terrible when I took that film out and loaded another roll. I bought some new seals for my dad's old Minolta X-700 on eBay (like $12 or something), though I never got around to replacing them because the mirror padding also needed replacing and the viewfinder needed cleaning and I didn't really have the time to devote to learning how to take apart/clean/replace/reassemble all that. But I'm sure I could find something similar for an Olympus OM-10.

But I also agree with the other comment that it seems too sharp/localized to be a general leak from the hinges. It's the same thing on every exposure, where the right half of the frame is basically fine. I don't think she's really used much of her new roll, so I could take it out and see if I see anything wrong with the shutter. Better that than to shoot the entire roll and spend $20 to develop it and end up with the same thing.

Either way, I'll look into new seals because it definitely couldn't hurt. The camera was her mom's so she's definitely keeping it around.

[koushiro]

Well she really wanted to keep shooting the roll she's on, so I tried to put tape on the outside to cover where the seals would be. I tried very hard to use as little as possible, and only over the hard plastic areas and not the leatherette. With any luck, the frames that hadn't yet been unspooled will look much better, if not perfect. And hopefully it won't be too hard to clean off the tape residue.

[visualopsins]