"Tis a puzzlement - help!

[Dave]

I loaded a roll of Fuji Superia ISO 400 print film into my trusty Minolta SRT 101. I took about nine photos. Then I received a new (to me) Canon 7. I carefully rewound the film leaving the tongue out. I then re-loaded the same film in the Canon. I set the Canon at 1000, f22, lens cap on, and went into a dark room and snapped off 14 or so photos so that I would be well beyond the photos on the roll from the Minolta. I then took a series of test photos with the Canon.

When I had the roll developed, I had a series of wavy lines, horizontal (running lengthiwise throgh the roll) through most of the Minolta photos and some, but not all of the Canon photos. The lines are whitish, but not solid, about 2mm in width, resembling a sine wave. The lines are faint, but in the unexposed portion of the film as well as the exposed portion and also are in the spaces between the frames. On the other hand, at least a few of the photos from both the Canon and the Minolta do not have any lines.

I checked with the processor. She uses a Fuji processor. She says that she has never seen anything like this and that the rolls of film which she processed both before and after are fine.

I know what a light leak looks like. This is not it. If one or the other of the cameras were defective, I would expect the problem to show on one, but not both. If the film were defective, I would expect the problem to show on all of the photos, not on some.

Any ideas?

Dave

[kiev4a]

Dave:

I think before I did anything else I would eliminate some variables and shoot a roll of film with the Minorta and another roll of the same subjects with similar lighting with the Canon. have both developed and determine which camera is causing the problem.

[mickeyobe]

Dave,

That is sage advice from Wayne.

The only possibility I can think of is some grit, possibly a piece of film, in the Canon, not the Minolta. As the lines are "whitish" they must have been scratched through the emulsion. Their intermittent nature would be consistent with a small, flexible piece of film probably on the film plane rather than the pressure plate side of the camera.

Mickey

[herron]

I think Mickey's right. Sounds like something foreign rubbing slightly across the film, very much like a tiny bit of film broken off a previous roll (doesn't have to be much). Also sounds like it was there in the Minolta first, and perhaps moved out of the way after the film was reinserted in the Canon (were the affected frames shot in the Canon at the beginning of that portion, at the end, or scattered throughout?).

Wayne has the best idea. Run a small test roll (12-shot?) through each. But first, check them both for tiny particles (even a grain of sand) in the film box area.

[John Parry]

I have a Praktica BX20 that consistently scores the film if I don't rewind it very slowly. But those are straight lines. The sine-wave effect you are describing can only come from the wind-on function. A 2mm line on a 35mm film is pretty bad. I should e-mail Canon, and ask if they've ever come across it before.

Regards - John

[Dave]

Thanks for all of the answers. As you have pointed out it seems to me that if there were a defect in the cannister felt scratching the emulsion, or a burr or the like on the pressure plate or some other contact point in the camera bodies, the line would be straight. It is not. I have inspected the film again. I cannot see any scratches in the emulsion, but I can see the lines. I did find some minor, very fine lines on the non-emulsion side of the film, but they do not correspond in any way with the wavy lines on the negatives.

Sooooo . . . . . I think the best idea is to run a roll apiece through both cameras to see what happens.

Again, thanks for all of the help. Dave

[Dave]

I should have added that I carefully inspected the insides of both cameras and could find nothing that might be "floating" around to form sine wave scratches. In any case, a floating particle which would cause 2mm wide gently winding sine like curves sounds pretty unlikely to me. Dave

[Dave]

Just to "close the loop," today I shot a roll of Kodak in the Canon 7 and had it developed, same processor. No wavy lines, everything looks good. I should also say that I e-mailed Fuji Film with the problem and received an almost immediate answer -- Fuji is sending a postage paid mailer so that I can send the film to them for analysis. That's customer service!!. Dave

[herron]

Dave:
Would really like to know what they say. Please keep us posted!

[kiev4a]

One other possibility--static electricity--except that usually happens when it's very cold and dry.

[Dave]

Wayne -- In Bakersfield, California, the temperature was probably plus or minus 60 degrees F. I don't think that approaches the static situation. Thanks for the idea though. Dave