What causes blue fogging/vignetting on dark film photos from a Canon AE-1?
Asked 11/21/2017
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I’m shooting a Canon AE-1 with Kodak Ultramax 400 and noticed blue fogging/vignetting along one side of a couple of handheld night shots made at 1/30s with the 50mm f/1.8. The camera’s back-door light seals are deteriorated. The issue seems to appear mainly on darker or underexposed frames, while brighter daytime shots look normal. I also tried some night exposures with other lenses at longer shutter speeds and didn’t see the same problem. Is this likely caused by the film, lens, ISO setting, or a camera light leak?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
6
Based on the following evidence:
- Both pictures are underexposed or simply have dark zones on it's borders (black zones are more sensitive to parasitic light inside the camera)
- Looking at the interframe, the affected zones of both images point to the same interframe.
- Looking at the interframe, the affected zone extends beyond the pictures, onto the film borders
- The only way to expose film borders, outside the curtain boundaries, is light leaks inside the camera.
The bad seals of the camera let the outside light affect the film. Looking at the shape of the stain, I think it is the hinge seal. Besides, is the one that is less protected in comparison of the rest of the back cover borders, which have a light trap.
Originally by user46959. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user46959
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is most likely a light leak from the camera, not a lens or ISO problem. The key clue is that the fogging extends beyond the image area onto the film border/interframe. Film outside the image frame can only be exposed by stray light entering the camera body, not by the lens.
Because the AE-1’s back-door seals are deteriorated, the leak is probably from the back cover area, especially near the hinge side. Dark or underexposed photos show it more clearly because stray light is more visible in shadow areas, while brighter daytime frames can mask it.
A film that is only one month expired is very unlikely to cause a localized blue vignette like this. The fact that it appeared on adjacent frames also supports a camera leak rather than a lens issue.
To prevent it, replace the camera’s light seals before shooting more film. After that, test with another roll to confirm the problem is gone.
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