Blooming or Haziness

[Alpha_7]

I just got back my 2nd roll of film through the Leica.. the first didnt advance and was a write off, a number of the images have a haziness, or milky section in the middle.

I think it's just to light hitting the lens and causing flaring, as it isn't evident in all the shots. I was hoping a few of the film guys could take a look at a few examples and comment if I'm right.

2 Examples of it happening




1 example of it being fine

[phillipb]

Definitely looks like lens flare to me Craig.
Also, with film cameras it pays to keep an eye on the rewind lever to see if it's moving when you advance the film to the next frame.

[Matt. K]

Leica lenses don't flare that easily.....it may have been poor film processing?

[Alpha_7]

Could it just be poor film ? It was cheap and nasty.
But it does seem to correlate with the very bright / sunny images.

[gstark]

Craig,

IS this happening at some common point in the film? Like maybe the first 10 frames, or perhaps the last 6? The numbers are arbitrary, but the point is as to where it's happening.

What about the camera itself? What is the fit of the film back? Are you fitting it back fully and correctly after loading the film?

While this looks like flare, it might be slight fogging of the film. As Matt suggests, flare on a Leica is not that Leica-ly

Also, if (as you say) the film is an unknown quantity, then address that too.

[Alpha_7]

Gary, it varies, it isn't in a certain sequence of shots.. some are fine, then the next has blooming, then the next few are fine.
The seal on the Leica seems very sound, and I actually had a guy at the store fit this film after I screwed the first. I've got a better quality ISO 200 film in now, so I'll see how I go over the next week or so.

The ones I have noticed it on where often taken where sunlight could be directly hitting the lens, that why I thought it might be flare.. but I'm only guessing.

[Alpha_7]

Two more examples if that helps. The full roll is posted here.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/innovat ... ica-images

[gstark]

Craig,

I'm seeing a couple of things in this image ... and in the link to all of the images, also look at the two that immediately follow this one.

This one clearly lacks contrast, and from the shadows, it can be seen that you are shooting basically towards the sun. Hence the issue of lens flare comes up as a possibility.

But (let's forget about the issue of poor film quality, because some of the images are very bright) this image is also seriously grainy.

But it looks like exposure is fine, doesn't it? What's going on?

The following image offers us some valuable clues: it too is very grainy, but there's no evidence of lens flare here. What gives?

The images posted come from the lab - from a CD they've given you, right? What do these negatives look like?

I'm going to guess that that these two, and the following one, are somewhat thin. Much thinner than those that seem to sparkle.

What's I think has happened is that these images show underexposure - I'm guessing two plus stops - but the lab's processing through to the CD (and also to prints) has compensated so it's a bit more difficult to assess.

Spend some time looking at the negs - look at each frame, and look for solid and consistent frame density. Take one of the good ones as an example: every other frame should have a similar density and opacity level. Thinness indicates underexposure, resulting in a darker and grainier image. The darkness can be (and has been) compensated for in the (automatic) processing, but the grain is telltale here. And the negative will tell all.

Overexposure is indicated by too much density in the negs, resulting in an image that's too bright. Again, this can and will be compensated for by the lab's automatic printing processes.

[Matt. K]

Gary

Leica-ly

Very sharp!

Craig...Who in their right mind shoots colour film in a Leica? [

[Alpha_7]

It was the cheapest I could get Matt.

Given I have no experience with film, I figured I'd be wasting my money on film until I got a feel for it.. especially metering wise. atleast.. focusing wise I seem to be ok.

[trotkiller]

Craig

I got 15 or so rolls of ERA 100 36 here, its B&W, from china about $2 a roll, poor mans FP4+ if you like, if you want some to play with just PM me and I will send you some. I can develop it for you as well.

Also have you been recording details of each shot you take, ie shutter speed, quality of light etc, so that you can go back and see if what you think is "sunny 16" is actually correct

[big pix]

........ when shooting in bright sunlight a lens hood will help reduce flare...... with film camers and digital cameras.......

....... a clean lens is also important, front and rear......