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  • Dmitri Apr 27, ‘24 edit

    I finally fixed a mysterious light leak on my Olympus PEN FV film camera.

    It’s been bugging me for months. Changing the light seals did not help. In fact, I’ve done it twice, even followed the instructions by the website that pre-cuts them (aki-asahi.com/store/html/p…). Unfortunately, the leaks persisted.

    So I tried something new. I loaded a donor (still good) roll of film and advanced it to frame 8. I then left my PEN in the bright sun for a day. Finally, I removed the strip of film that was wound up inside a dark bag, loaded it into a Paterson tank and developed.

    The leak was apparent, but it didn’t align with anything on the back. Instead, it appeared as if the light was coming through somewhere above the wound-up spool. You can see it in the video here: youtube.com/shorts/y66XWAm….

    I then remembered that I’d recently removed a loose screw from under the bottom plate. So I took the top plate off (thanks to this video, youtube.com/watch?v=9EX99e…) and found a hole where the missing strap lug screw opened up a gap for the light to get in.

    I then re-fitted the strap lug with the screw I found earlier, which had fixed an issue that perplexed me for all this time. Finally, a leak-free PEN FV!

    #repair #video

    YouTube logo YouTube Video
  • Dmitri Aug 20, ‘23

    An update to my insane light leak fixing story. I’ve tested the camera in full sun and none of the frames had any issues!

    I’ve also lubricated film transport and shutter winder gear, cleaned up the focusing screen, and dusted the whole thing on the inside. My sixty-year-old film camera feels like new!

    (This is the camera: analog.cafe/r/my-olympus-p…).

    My favourite photo from the roll after fixing the camera is this portrait from the Pride parade in New Westminster (BC, Canada) on August 19th, 2023. Many thanks to the incredibly-detailed gimp costume-wearer, who was very nice to pause their conversation to pose.

    Shot on Aerocolor IV/SantaColor 100 (analog.cafe/r/santacolor-1…).