arhphotographic

On developing a roll of Fomapan 400 that I had put through the Nikon F301, you can imagine my constination as I was greeted by the sight below!

Each frame had a mark, of varying density, on the right hand side of the negative. When scanned by my Epson V370, this resulted in the curiously shaped mark as seen in the image below.

What made it even stranger, was that the first frame of the film had no such mark???

Could the problem be as a result of poor developing? Perhaps not enough chemical reaching the film? Had the film been mis-loaded onto the film reel? I don’t think so. The film was the bottom one of two in my Patterson developing tank and was loaded in the same way as the other film and that one was fine, no marks on it. So It has to be the camera and a possible light leak?????🤔

My Nikon F301 is fitted with the optional MF-19 back that adds some functionality to the camera. There seemed to be no obvious signs of anything untowards here!

Upon opening the film door the light seals seemed in good condition. However on further examination the door hinge seal looks slightly bowed and looked the likely source of the problem. This would be an easy fix, namely taping up the film door to make it completely light tight.

Hurrah! I congratulated myself at having apparently solved the little mystery. So putting a second roll of Fomapan in the camera and taping up the door with some black insulating tape, I confidently went out for a second time.

My confidence was shattered when a second roll of film exhibited exactly the same marks. Noooooo 😩

This time the first three frames were fine, with no mark on them. What could it be?

My thoughts then turned to the shutter, could that in some way be responsible.

No problem here. The mirror return and shutter operate as expected, revealing the full frame of the film to be exposed.

So what is the problem???????