Re: Infamous Realist Light Leak

[P3D Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dalia observes:

>>Also, Realist dealers and resellers, do you consider the light leak a
>>valid reason for returning the camera?
>
>Absolutely! That's one thing that's impossible to test for until a roll of
>film is put through and I just can't put a roll of film through every camera
>I sell.  

You don't need to put a roll of film through.  All you need to do is put
a small omnidirectional light source *inside* the camera (the brighter,
the better), and take it into a dark room.  If you can see the light
through the seams, you've got a leak.

Taping the leads from a small bulb to a small battery ought to do it.
You might have to do it twice, once with the bulb in the film cartridge
side and once at the takeup spool side.

If you could find a way to seal a lightsource to the lens openings,
you could get an even brighter lightsource shining into the camera
(say, a xenon source) with the shutters open.

Just a thought.

        -Greg W.


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