Author Topic: Permanent light seal solution!  (Read 869 times)

Francois

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Permanent light seal solution!
« on: April 29, 2018, 03:06:41 PM »
I was looking through youtube and got this suggested to me.
It looks like a great super cheap and permanent solution to deteriorating light seals.

! No longer available
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.

MrclSchprs

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2018, 09:36:01 PM »
Francois, I see a 'no longer available' message and nothing else.

cs1

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2018, 09:50:34 PM »
Marcel: that's a Javascript problem. Simply click on the "No longer available" link and it should land you on the Youtube page with the video (at least it worked for me).

François: interesting video. I've seen people do it a few times. However, I'm not 100% convinced that this is the way to go for the following reason: felt as well as wool tends to shed fibres. I'm sure that in the long term those fibres will collect somewhere, probably on the lens or in the shutter mechanism. There's other very durable material e. g. "cell caoutchouc" (that's the German term directly translated; it doesn't translate very well. It's used as a sealant for windows and comes on rolls of 1mm to 3mm thickness with an adhesive on one side) which doesn't dissolve or disintegrate easily. Yes, you might have to replace it after a decade but I still think that it should work really well and it should be more durable than the original light seals. This "felt and wool" method is still "new" in a way. It still needs to prove that it actually lasts more than a decade. :)

EDIT: the stuff I was trying to translate sometimes goes under the name "foam tape" and also under the name "neoprene foam tape".
« Last Edit: April 29, 2018, 09:53:30 PM by cs1 »

Francois

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2018, 10:00:53 PM »
Neoprene foam is used in many insulation products.
I probably will try his technique to see how it goes. But I will do one thing that he didn't do and that made me cringe a bit: cover that shutter with some paper and painter's masking tape.
I would just hate it to damage the shutter with some foam mush...

His use of cotton yarn (which isn't fuzzy by nature) reminds me of the age old technique of using rope to seal in between the planks on a boat (minus the tar used to seal it up).
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.

Bryan

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2018, 11:23:06 PM »
I have seen this done before to repair light seals, not sure how it worked out in the long run.  Some of my Bolex movie cameras have what looks like a yarn type seal that is original to the camera.  The older Bolex cameras don’t have it but the newer ones do so they decided the camera needed it at some point.  The older ones don’t have a problem with light leaks, maybe it was just to keep dust out. 

Francois

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2018, 03:10:03 PM »
They probably have deeper channels than the new ones.
One thing I have always wondered about is why so many makers decided to use seals instead of making proper baffles?
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.

tkmedia

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2018, 05:17:46 PM »
ive been using yarn for over 20 years!
tk

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cs1

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Re: Permanent light seal solution!
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2018, 05:35:11 PM »
What type do you usually use? Cotton or wool or synthetic?