Light leak on my LX?

[ChrisR]

I'm worried about a light leak on my LX:



The negatives (devved by Filmdev) look like this:



The seals don't look bad to me (though they're hard to photograph):





The camera was serviced this year by Miles, for a shutter problem. I didn't specifically ask for seals to be checked, but as well as the shutter issue, I did ask about a service/calibrate. Quote was £75 plus p&p.

I do have a Jon Goodman seals kit; the instructions start with a LOT of alarming stuff about mirror dampers that's rather frightened me off. Should I just ignore the mirror stuff and renew the seals anyway?

EDIT: PS another film in a different batch suffered similar issues.

 

[StephenM]

Do you have a second LX body to compare it with?

 

[ChrisR]

No that would be a good idea. Other bodies are the MX and ME... quick look would suggest the LX seals look better than the ME!

 

[Nod]

A bit of insulating tape over the possible leak would be the proof of the pudding.

 

[dmb]

As you have images of sprocket holes then that points to the leak being in the take-up spool area. To work out if at top or bottom need to look at a landscape shot. I do recall one camera I had developed a light leak through the little area where the film counter reset button pokes through the gap in the light seal, the gap was a little larger than it needed to be.

 

[ChrisR]

As you have images of sprocket holes then that points to the leak being in the take-up spool area. To work out if at top or bottom need to look at a landscape shot. I do recall one camera I had developed a light leak through the little area where the film counter reset button pokes through the gap in the light seal, the gap was a little larger than it needed to be.

I did wonder about those odd sprocket hole images. I'm not sure I follow the logic about the take-up spool area from that, though... could you explain a bit more, please?

As for top or bottom... it's "and" I'm afraid:



It's a bit late, and I'll know more when I look in better light tomorrow, but it does rather look as if the seal under the door hinge might not be as good as the rest... so you might have identified my culprit, David. Thanks!

 

[dmb]

You only get sprocket hole images when light leak goes through the film wound onto the take-up spool, seen most often when back opened by accident. The hole images only seem to be on one margin so that would seem to suggest the leak on that side. So whichever margin says Kodak, that you could tell from the landscape shot, remembering picture would be inverted of course.

 

[excalibur2]

h'mm well Nod had a VG suggestion that you should try i.e. put some insulating tape over the possible leak.
Although in doing above I had a camera once that had an intermittent light leak and even tried using the camera at all different angles to the sun, never solved the problem and dismantled the camera for spare screws.
Good luck

 

[Nod]

h'mm well Nod had a VG suggestion

I'd better get a brane scan then!!!

 

[ChrisR]

So today I changed the seals! Nice little half hour job, right? Hmm. Nigh on 2 hours for me. And I didn't even start on the mirror dampers...

Partly Jon Goodman apparently forgot to include the bamboo tool he describes in his notes. I had to make do with a combination of bamboo toothpicks and a micro screwdriver from a Christmas cracker! Secondly, I'm right handed, but my right hand doesn't work very well, so I was alternating between being able to precisely direct a tool I couldn't grip properly, and gripping a tool I couldn't really direct properly!

It all seemed to go in reasonably well in the end, except there didn't seem to be a seal for the latch end of the door. I had to use the two bits cut off the top and bottom seals. Anyway, I'll pop a film in and give it a whirl.

 

[NickT]

..., except there didn't seem to be a seal for the latch end of the door. I had to use the two bits cut off the top and bottom seals.

Like many people, you and I both use Jon's seal kits. I still have some left from when he used to sell strips of different thickness foam and seal strips. It came with a guide printed in 2004, in which he says that some cameras do have a seal at the latch end, whilst some don't. Certainly my Canon A1s don't have any, whereas my Olympus and Yashica rangefinders do. Jon used to have a website on kyphoto.com, which had a guide to replacing seals on lots of different models and has now disappeared; I wonder if it's been moved and updated to cover the LX?

 

[Nomad Z]

Like many people, you and I both use Jon's seal kits. I still have some left from when he used to sell strips of different thickness foam and seal strips. It came with a guide printed in 2004, in which he says that some cameras do have a seal at the latch end, whilst some don't. Certainly my Canon A1s don't have any, whereas my Olympus and Yashica rangefinders do. Jon used to have a website on kyphoto.com, which had a guide to replacing seals on lots of different models and has now disappeared; I wonder if it's been moved and updated to cover the LX?

I don't know about articles, but the Classic Camera Repair forum is archived on RFF...

Topics - The Classic Camera Repair Forum

Might be worth a trawl?

 

[ChrisR]

Jon Goodman replied:

"Hi Chris,
Thanks for the message. I don't blame you about [not doing] the mirror damper. That chore is not easy. As for the latch end seal, Pentax was well-known for not including those in their designs, and none of their 35mm cameras used them. My guess is some prior owner or service person along the way added one to your camera, but I can't imagine why. Those are only dust seals. Not to say dust seals aren't important, but the Pentax designers decided the design of their film doors made that one unnecessary.

"About the bamboo tool...Once upon a time I could include those with an extra postage charge, but those days are gone. The new USPS mail sorters choke and stop working if anything like the bamboo tool is run through them. So, it has been made illegal to send items like that now...and my retirement scheme doesn't include bail and defense monies. A bamboo skewer or anything like it will work fine."

So that's interesting. I've asked if he could update his notes about the bamboo tool. I did worry that the latch end seal would make the door hard to close... well the test film went in easily, and the door closed, so I'm hopeful!