What causes a white ring around negatives from an Olympus Superzoom 800S?
Asked 7/17/2019
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I used a used Olympus Superzoom 800S for the first time and most of the developed negatives show a pale/white ring around the image. Some frames also show a bright bar along the left side. What is the likely cause, and is there anything I can do to fix or prevent it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
5
Do you have photographs made in quick succession? This looks like light leaking into the camera, possibly unrelated to taking actual photographs. If indeed unrelated, photographs in the middle of a sequence would be comparatively unaffected, and having the camera in the dark (case, night) would also help. It would be one explanation for your flash photographs being fine. Another would be a light leak in the lens which would require the shutter to be open for the problem. If flash photographs turn out fine, it might just be that there is no significant amount of direct light from the flash pointed towards the light leak.
The first photograph also has a light bar on the left side of the photograph. That can point to stuttering shutter action. So does the second. The third appears to have that bar along the bottom (so likely there was a change between portrait and landscape orientation). Flash photographs show shutter problems different from normal photographs.
The circles, however, are not a shutter problem. If you are lucky, it's just that the lens is improperly mounted and taking it off and on and properly locking it is enough to fix that problem.
Originally by user85850. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user85850
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The most likely cause is a light leak somewhere in the camera. If some frames are worse than others, especially depending on how the camera was stored or how quickly shots were taken, stray light may be entering the film chamber. The fact that flash photos may look better does not rule this out.
The bright bar on the left side of some frames could also indicate shutter trouble, such as uneven or stuttering shutter movement. So you may have a light leak, shutter issue, or both.
What to do:
- Test another roll and note whether middle frames are less affected than the first/last frames.
- Keep the camera in a bag/case or away from strong light between shots to see if it changes.
- Inspect door seals and the film door for gaps or deteriorated light seals.
- If the issue persists, the camera likely needs service; on an older compact film camera, replacement may be more practical than repair.
Unfortunately, affected negatives usually can’t be fully fixed after exposure, so the solution is diagnosing and repairing or replacing the camera.
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