Photos come out part black

[KillerKimmy 0]

Hey, I have an old camera My dad got from Vietnam in 1970. Its a Mamiya/sekor 1000DTL (whatever that is). It is not a helmet mounted one. But my pics come out part black, sometimes. And when you look closely you can see lines in the pics. Almost as if the edges were black and went through some rollers to wipe off the black and it smeared and thinned out over the rest of the pic. I'll try to upload some examples. It seems to happen for no reason in the middle of the roll, then stop just as quickly. You can see the black most easily against the blue. See the lines?

The problem on this particular roll started at pic # 7 and stopped at 14. I hope I can get some help:)

[BoobieCootie 0]

Call me crazy, but I think the curtain didn't fully open before shutting back.

[johnny1488 1]

Sounds like you have something there. I'll check that idea out, maybe ask the guys at the local camera shop. Thanks for throwing that out there:)

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[Craig 0]

I am thinking it is the opposite. There is light leaking through the shutter on one side, thus the film is getting overexposed on that side. If the shutter was not opeining all the way it would be a lighter, if not white side to the pic. Sorry, can't explain why it is not happening to the whole roll.

[quade 4]

Uh, so you think light makes film darker?

Think about it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Craig 0]

hey, it's been a long day....just talking to Phree and had to look to see if the first Sat. in May was on a weekend?

[Gadget 0]

I think after 33 years your in need for a new camera.I assume this is negative film.If so what happens is that the second shuttercurtain isn't beginnin at the starting position but is partly on the way befor the first curtain is al the way home.That leaves the right part of the photo unexposed.

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
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[KillerKimmy 0]

Woah! That sounds right on! Yeah it is time for a new camera, but this is all I have, and I'm not into photography enough to get a new one. . . . okay okay, I'm too cheap:)

[newshooter12 0]

***in reference to the other pictures***
I'd like to see some examples of the other pix, but it sounds like it could be light leak for the "smearing." If they are streaks the may be scratched negs. It could be in the processing though. I've had a few rolls ruined by processing and ruined a few myself.
Either way whatever the problem may be. Before you spend some big $$ getting it repaired, and if you haven't yet, pick up a can of compressed air take your lens off and open the film door and blow all the dust out to get any dust, gunk, grime out that may have built up over the decades. Then run a roll through it to see if it helped at all. Just my 2 cents. Try going somewhere else for film processing eventually too if they scratch your negs regularly.
matt
P.S. I hope I cleared up what I was trying to say... I haven't ever had a shutter stick personally, but have had scratches and light leaks from a few different sources. (Cam Door, re-loaded film canisters, etc...)

[rfarris 2]

I'm not familiar with that camera, but it's not a light leak. A light leak would burn the film, meaning overexsposure. The overexposed portion of the film would be lighter, not darker.

The more light that hits the film, the lighter the picture. Less light, and the picture will be darker.

I think your problem has something to do with the shutter not fully opening during exposure.

Have you tried visiting one of the many photography websites on the web? you'll find your answer there.

Rod