Serious flair or lab fault

[jim_panzee]

I recently got some B/W photos back from the lab, I took these with my Leica 111f using Ilford HP 5, a couple of them where returned with what I can only describe as serious Flair around the whole of the outside of the print. The prints where also very grainy. This was only on three or four of the prints, the rest were OK, was it me or the Lab.

I have included one with this post, absolutely untouched direct from the scanner.



JimP.

Ps. I must point out that no flash was used.

[castledude]

Total guesses but in order of my suspicion..

1) The lab was trying to help you out by getting as much as they can out of a badly exposed picture.

2) Screw up at the lab. Compare it to the negative to see what you are getting.

3) Screw up at the lab. Your film stuck as it was going through processing and was exposed to extra light.

4) Exposure to XRays (airport scanner,etc)

5) Light leak in the camera. Load up a fresh roll and manually shoot your flash at the seams of your camera. Including the lens interface. If you get a leak then repeat the test but do one frame per seam to figure it out.

6) Light leak during loading/unloading of the camera.

7) Bad roll of film (light leak in the can).

8) Bad roll of film (too cold/too hot) film sticks together in the can.

9) Shutter sticking.


-----------------------------

Shoot a few more rolls (use one picture for the light test) and see if it still gives you similar problems, if not chalk it up to the lab. If it does then you might want to suspect the camera. Make sure to use a different batch of film just to make sure.

[jim_panzee]

castledude

All your suggestions apart from the first two are not valid, as It was a new roll of film shot within a week of loading, the bad prints were dispersed throughout the roll, and as 90% of the roll was fine, I can only suggest it was pos. my own fault (looking at the negs, a bit over exposed) but I also think the lab pushed it a bit too much. Here's the same photograph scanned from the neg, and altered slightly in PS.





JimP.

[jim_panzee]

Actualy there is one other thing I just thought of, when I took the shots I had been sitting in the pub myself for quite sometime.

JimP.

[jim_panzee]

So. I think I've cracked it.
I went back to the location, (just for scientific purposes of course, ), I sat at the same place and looked around, up on the low ceiling over the table where the men where sitting, are four small but very bright halogen lights which I didn't notice when I made the shot. If you notice, most of the flair is at the bottom of the photograph, I took a light meter reading pointing the meter at an angle toward the lights, and it went up by four stops. Having no lens hood fitted at the time, I'm sure this is where the fault lies.

JimP.

Ps. I think I will take up fishing instead.