Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
09-02-2009, 08:56 AM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Salem, MA / New York City, NY
Posts: 224
Mysterious blotches

Hey everyone,

So I just got some recent rolls of film developed, and I'm seeing some mysterious blotches appearing on photos taken with my 135mm prime. I'm guessing it's from unknowingly touching the glass at some point, and I'll clean the lens, but is there anything else that could be causing this? Blotches are always in the same place, a bit down and the the left of the center. Any way I can photoshop those out? Here's an example:


Last edited by jzietman; 12-16-2010 at 09:02 PM.
09-02-2009, 09:05 AM   #2
Ash
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
Ash's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 23,920
It's likely to be an obvious spot blemish on your lens - check to see that there is this spot on the lens, and clean the insides of the camera with a rocket blower each time you insert your film.
09-02-2009, 04:43 PM   #3
Moderator
Loyal Site Supporter
Wheatfield's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: The wheatfields of Canada
Posts: 15,903
There's no way that is on the lens.
How was the film processed? It almost looks like agitation marks on the edges of the frame. The dark mark looks like it could be an air bell, Lord only knows that the other one is. Are they both visible on the neg? I'm wondering if perhaps one was a bit of grot in the printer.
09-02-2009, 05:39 PM   #4
Veteran Member
mtroute's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 533
sensor dust....oh wait.

Looks like something on the lens to me, even looks like the darker one is the shadow of the lighter one...

09-02-2009, 05:57 PM   #5
Veteran Member
KungPOW's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,699
I'm interested to see where this ends up.

I am having trouble understanding what you could get on a lenes that would produce both a light and a dark spot.

Just to confirm what you are saying, does every frame shot with the 135 have two spots in the same place appearing on the negative? And shots that were taken with a different lens do not show any spots?

I would expect that dust on the lens could cause a dark spot. But I don't see how dust would cause a bright spot. The bright spot to me looks like an air bubble on the film during development. But then there would be multiple bright spots, usually near one edge of the film. But this looks like colour film. Did you develope it yourself, or was it done at a lab? Bubbles would also be random, on all frames, not just the 135 shots.

So, beats me what you have going on there.
09-03-2009, 09:25 AM   #6
Inactive Account




Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 11
Just a thought, may be way out in left field with this one though.
Could it be some sort of dust between the filter and lens if you have one? I have had this happen before where a piece of dust was reflecting off of the filter because it was on the lens. Not sure if it should show that large though...
09-04-2009, 04:21 PM   #7
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Salem, MA / New York City, NY
Posts: 224
Original Poster
Hey guys,

Sorry for the delayed response, I'm away from home at the moment. I've cleaned the lens and the attached filter pretty well, hopefully if that's the source of the problem then we're all set. The film used was UltraMax 400, processed at my local Walgreens (who, by the way, did an atrocious job, with low quality scans ans putting my negs in paper envelopes rather than in sleeves, so they got scratched and they dried bent. Grr). I need to look at all the other shots from that role to see if it's a problem with all the shots (i.e. bubbles in developing machine) or just with this lens, and if it's with all the shots of this lens (which I believe to be the case).

I'll report back soon. Thanks for the help so far!

09-04-2009, 06:25 PM   #8
Veteran Member




Join Date: Sep 2006
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 5,697
jzietman,
My guess is that it's something on the film scanner.
At least that's the first thing I'd look at, if you took the film to the lab I work in

Why not ask them to take a quick look. They might just re-do the order (I would)

If they won't, or it still doesn't eliminate the problem I can fix one or 2 photos for you.
Just send me a PM for my e-mail address, or get it through my links.
09-07-2009, 07:31 PM   #9
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Salem, MA / New York City, NY
Posts: 224
Original Poster
Hmm, so, on further inspection, it looks like the blotches show up on almost all the shots from that role, just never again quite so obviously. The same blotches show up consistently in another role with another lens, both light and dark blotches in the same place. And there are some other blotches of a similar sort (but only lighter and in different places) in some shots from another role.

Could it be a bad developing process? The rest of it was done so badly, I wouldn't put it past Walgreens. That doesn't explain the regularity of the blotches, though. Maybe there's something weird going on inside my camera? The thing is, the blotches are very visible in some photos, only slightly visible in others (even when they're over an almost solid black area) and not at all present on others.

Here's an example (a terrible shot, but the blotches are clear) using another lens (M 50/1.7, I think).

Last edited by jzietman; 12-16-2010 at 09:02 PM.
09-07-2009, 07:43 PM   #10
Veteran Member
KungPOW's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,699
So, the blotches show up with different lenses, and on different roles of film?

Were the different roles developed the same time? Can you see the blotches on the negatives?

Here's an idea I had. What type of camera is it? Does it have a cloth shutter curtain? Could it be a pinhole in the shutter? That might explain the light blotch. But I am still without ideas as to why there are two blotches.

Have you cleaned out the camera? Set the camera to Bulb, and see if there is anything hanging under the mirror?
09-07-2009, 08:16 PM   #11
Veteran Member
Steinback's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: GTA, ON, Canada
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,673
I would also guess that there is a scanning problem seeing as the spots are in the same place on both frames and you seem to have ruled out the lens. Taking a closer look at the negatives to make sure they're fine would confirm if the problem is with the camera or the scanning. It seems unlikely (but not completely impossible) that processing would leave the same marks at the same location on several frames.

As a side note you could probably salvage that night photo with a better scan and a bit of post processing. It looks like the lab's scanner was on automatic and badly misjudged the exposure (which isn't unusual for night scenes).
09-07-2009, 08:32 PM   #12
Veteran Member
Ratmagiclady's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: GA
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 13,563
Are the spots on the negatives or just the scans/prints?
09-07-2009, 10:00 PM   #13
Veteran Member




Join Date: Sep 2006
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 5,697
I'm suddenly wondering if you have some bare, shiny metal in the camera somewhere.
Although I've never experienced any myself, I've heard that Internal Reflections can cause problems with cameras.
09-07-2009, 11:38 PM   #14
Pentaxian
titrisol's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: In the most populated state... state of denial
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,848
That is a processing problem, check if the spots are on the film but I can bet they aren;t
It is probably dirt in the scanner/printer of your Walgrene

QuoteOriginally posted by jzietman Quote
Hey guys,

Sorry for the delayed response, I'm away from home at the moment. I've cleaned the lens and the attached filter pretty well, hopefully if that's the source of the problem then we're all set. The film used was UltraMax 400, processed at my local Walgreens (who, by the way, did an atrocious job, with low quality scans ans putting my negs in paper envelopes rather than in sleeves, so they got scratched and they dried bent. Grr). I need to look at all the other shots from that role to see if it's a problem with all the shots (i.e. bubbles in developing machine) or just with this lens, and if it's with all the shots of this lens (which I believe to be the case).

I'll report back soon. Thanks for the help so far!
09-22-2009, 07:19 PM   #15
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Salem, MA / New York City, NY
Posts: 224
Original Poster
So I finally got a chance to go back home from school and I remembered to take a look at my negatives. As was guessed by a few of you, the spots were not on the negatives for all I could see, so it was just a bad scan process, and that's not surprising, since they were all badly scanned. Now to get it redone at a place that knows what they're doing...

Thanks for all your help!
Jack
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
blotches
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Mysterious spots?! deb7 Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 2 08-02-2010 06:16 PM
Mysterious lense aliasant Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 14 02-05-2010 05:51 PM
Small but odd contrast blotches wshi Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 7 01-05-2010 03:39 PM
A broken MX w/ a mysterious lens ... frank Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 36 08-30-2009 06:46 PM
My adventure in a mysterious building dsport Post Your Photos! 10 11-25-2008 08:03 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:43 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top