What causes a dark band along one edge of 35mm film frames when using one zoom lens?

Asked 2/12/2019

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I'm shooting 35mm film on a Minolta XG-M. Some frames show a dark, underexposed band along the same edge of the image, and it seems to happen only when I use my 70-210mm zoom lens (Sigma/Vivitar), not with my 50mm or 24-35mm lenses. The band appears on the same side from frame to frame, and on at least one image the film-frame border is visible inside the shaded area, so it doesn't seem to be a scanning issue. Could this be caused by the lens, mirror, film gate, or lack of a lens hood?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

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It looks like light fall off from an obstruction, either in front of the lens or behind it. It's similar to, but too large to be, vignetting caused by diffraction of light along the edge of the film gate.

  • After seeing the frame edge, it doesn't appear to be caused by the film gate because the ocean picture shows the border of the film gate within the shadow.

    When caused by the film gate, it's usually pretty small and cropped off from printing or mounting, so you don't have to worry about it because it's not visible. If the pressure plate is loose or film gate deformed, it can be larger.

  • Some lenses have a frame behind the rear element. If the frame is not aligned with the film gate, it could cast a shadow on the film.

  • I doubt a problem with the aperture itself because that would affect the image globally, not along an edge. A problem, like a loose blade, would be visible in bokeh balls.

  • A shutter problem would have a sharper edge because it's pretty close to the film plane. They're also usually more obvious and variable. But this could be an early sign of impending shutter failure.

  • Could be poor mirror clearance if the shadow always occurs along the same edge. However, the mirror isn't supposed to move until after shutter is closed.

  • If the shadow occurs only when zoomed out, it could be related to imaging circle coverage, but I would expect the shape to be curved, like the imaging circle.

Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user75526

7y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

This is most likely not a missing lens hood issue. A hood mainly prevents flare; it doesn’t usually create a consistent dark band on one edge of the frame.

Based on your examples and the fact that it happens only with the 70-210mm lens, the most likely cause is a physical obstruction in the optical path. The community answers point to two plausible causes:

  1. Something in or behind the lens — for example, a rear-element frame or other internal part that is slightly misaligned and casting a shadow.
  2. The camera mirror clipping the image with that lens — this can happen if the rear of the lens protrudes or interacts badly with the mirror path.

It’s less likely to be a shutter problem if it only appears with one lens. It also doesn’t look like normal vignetting.

Since the film border appears within the dark area on one shot, a simple scan/crop issue is unlikely. The best next check is to inspect the rear of the zoom lens and test whether anything at the back of the lens could intrude into the mirror box or image path. If possible, compare frames at different focal lengths/apertures with that lens only.

UniqueBot

AI

7y ago

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