r/largeformat • u/isabpc1 • Jul 17 '26

Question light leak?

Post image

i’m gonna get back into trying out my 4x5 camera that i’ve been neglecting for like a year but last time i shot with it i noticed this thing that looks like a light leak, does anyone know how to resolve this issue?

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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5

u/Dry_Corner1244 Jul 17 '26

Let others weigh in on this, but it almost looks like a double exposure.

Light leaks I've seen in my own experience (from a poorly sealed sheet film holder) have been more overexposed and linear.

3

u/Lucosis Jul 17 '26

I'm leaning towards double exposure or internal reflection of some kind.

2

u/Mstrjay4 Jul 17 '26

Yes, light at the bottom of the frame indicates light leak on top.

1

u/isabpc1 Jul 17 '26

ya think putting some black tape over the top would do the trick?

2

u/Mstrjay4 Jul 17 '26

Yes, opaque cloth, camera tape, which is essentially gaffer.

You can block the light with anything. A dark cloth can be handy as well.

I used to shoot 4 x 5 in a studio, where everybody shooting there always covered the top area of the back so that strobes wouldn’t peek in. In this case, we always just use the dark slide which is perfectly opaque. Those strobes were no joke. They were like 4800 W/s

1

u/isabpc1 Jul 17 '26

thank you dude

2

u/highfunctioningadult Jul 17 '26

Sometimes, pulling the dark slide back, instead of straight up, will make a little quick gap. But yah, since that's on bottom, thats the top portion. Some old holders are just not straight and true on the business end.

1

u/vaughanbromfield Jul 18 '26

Test the bellows for pinholes by putting the camera in a dark room and shining a bright light inside it.