[Taikonaut]

This is the picture I got from the ME Super I recently bought. In the 36 exposures, there are 6 like this.They are all vertical shots, and taken outdoors. What could be wrong? Thanks for your comments.

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Last edited by Taikonaut; 09-10-2009 at 04:19 PM.

[Fixcinater]

I'm getting an "Image is currently Unavailable" from flickr.

I doubt that's your camera though...

[stevebrot]

This is the picture I got from the ME Super I recently bought. In the 36 exposures, there are 6 like this.They are all vertical shots, and taken outdoors. What could be wrong? Thanks for your comments.

I am getting the same (image currently unavailable). Would love to help out, but...

Steve

[Taikonaut]

Sorry, guys. I updated the image. Thanks.

[KungPOW]

Do the negatives show the streaks and the black-out on the side?

If so, I'll guess that the second shutter (following shutter) is traveling too fast and is closing the frame prematurly.

This would be most noticable on outdoor shots as I would expect you would be using higher shutter speeds. On lower shutter speeds (like 125 or below) it might not be a problem.

Getting the camera CLA'd will fix this.

If it is not showing on the negative, then it is a problem with the scanning process.

[Taikonaut]

Yes, it's also on the negatives. How much to do CLA? Thanks.

[geauxpez]

Less than $100 including shipping if you send it here. Eric does excellent work. He has done 3 of mine.

[stevebrot]

Out of curiosity, is the example image the full frame or is it a crop?

My first thought was that I was looking at the camera strap dangling in front of the lens and part of the photographer's sleeve on the right margin. Assuming that is not the case , it is probably some sort of mechanical issue.

As noted above, I also suspect an issue with the shutter, though it is hard to say which curtain is at fault without knowing the orientation of the camera (top-right vs. top-left). Either way, one of the two curtains (probably the follower) appears to be "stuttering". It also appears that one of the curtains is partially jammed at the start/end of its travel.

Issues with a vertical metal shutter are not something that you want to fiddle with yourself. They are robust in use, but have a delicate mechanism that may be easily damaged. A good repair technician should be consulted.

Steve

[Taikonaut]

It is scanned with full frame. The camera was in top left position when the picture was taken. Looks like I'd just return it.

[Sluggo]

I'm not so sure it can be a shutter problem, because the dark stripe is so irregular in thickness across the frame.

Last time I saw something like this it was on an old SLR (maybe Mamiya) that somebody brought into my office because "you play with old cameras, right?" I opened the back and released the shutter in bulb mode so I could look all the way through the camera. There was a piece of velvet cloth from a wall of the light box that had come loose and was sometimes protruding into the frame. Easy fix!

The Pentax doesn't have a lined light box like that, but something else might be simply loose in there. So if you haven't already returned the camera, make sure you have a simple look through the shutter, front and back.

I don't have an ME Super in front of me, but maybe it has a piece of dark cloth attached to the top edge of the mirror, which flexes as the mirror flips up and forms part of the light seal to the viewfinder? Those do sometimes come unstuck.

[Nesster]

To me this sample looks like an under exposed negative compensated by the scanner - the lines are scanner noise, as is the heightened graininess. The under exposure could be caused by the shutter, or it may be caused by the metering sytem... perhaps brighter light gets into the viewfinder from the rear when you shot verticals.

Apart from carefully watching the shutter do its thing at various speeds and in three orientations - horizontal and both verticals - I'd also analyze how I was holding the camera when taking verticals.

I know that place - do you also work in Newport? Last time I took a photo walk by just that location a security guard came pulled over and asked me all sorts of questions about the camera, where I worked and so on.

[Taikonaut]

Sluggo: I also tend to believe it's not a shutter problem because of the irregularity of the dark part. Notice that there are another dark region on the middle top of the picture. I opened the back, and looked at the shutter with Bulb mode, it looked all ok.
Actually, I am kinda suspect the lens I used. It's a M50/1.4, and its diaphragm doesn't shrink beyond certain aperture like (f/11). I wonder if that could be the cause. So I am trying it with another lens.

Nesster: I actually live in Newport.

Thanks for all your suggestions.