light leak?

kumate_champ07

just got a roll of b&w film back, alot of the frames are missing the bottom half, its totally washed out. Im not sure how the light would be getting in or if its a problem with the shutter curtains.

whats the best way of finding out? Im thinking of taking some test shots at different shutter speeds and making a note of them

the camera is a richo xr-1, its a pentax k mount camera

Ghost Train

Would imagine that a sticky shutter would have that effect, its a vertically moving shutter and would give the horizontal band. Can you look at the shutter while taking a few shots at different speeds and see if its sticking

Fajitas!

Pop open the camera with no film in, and run it at different speeds, if it's sticky, you should see it.

If not, run some cheap film through. Even if it's the free film, and dev it with B&W chems, just as a test.

CabanSail

You could try a few frames of that film with the lens cap on. That would take the shutter out of play. If there is exposure on those frames then it is a light leak. If the frames are blank then it's probably a shutter problem.

kumate_champ07

thanks for the suggestions, I did notice a slight dent on one of the shutter curtains a while ago and i rubbed what seemed to be oil away with a cotton bud. ill wait till the current roll is finished before i do a test roll after checking out the shutter. it would prob be cheaper to buy another camera rather that repairing it i think. its prob the nicest camera ive used tho