The joys of a focal-lane shutter.

[john.margetts]

It took me a while to work out what was going on in this photograph. I took a photograph of two swans flying at Welney nature reserve but I have ended up with a series of ghostly swans flying in unison.

My only explanation is that the the swans were flying at the same angular speed as the shutter curtains were moving. Except that would give me two long, distorted swans, not a series. My next thought is that the shutter curtain was moving in a series of jerks - it is a Yashica 230AF camera from 1987 so 30 years old.

Would poor lubrication cause the shutter curtains to move like this? I can think of no other explanation.

 

[sk66]

I take it the Yashika has a horizontal traveling shutter...
FWIW, I can't really make sense of this image. If it was a stuttering shutter opening it should affect the entire image exposure in vertical stripes. But the exposure of the swans looks way off in relation to the rest of the image.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Check the BBC website, there have been ghost swan sightings

 

[FishyFish]

I've no idea of the cause, but the fact it happened purely by chance in-camera is a wonderful thing.

 

[Woodsy]

Looks as though the Yashica 230 AF has a vertically travelling shutter. That sticking at multiple places along the travel would likely not give this effect. My guess is that, given that the swans in each instance are sharp, it's as if the shutter has fired five times and about 1/5th of the correct exposure time each time. How exactly that'd be possible, I'm not sure!

 

[john.margetts]

I take it the Yashika has a horizontal traveling shutter...
FWIW, I can't really make sense of this image. If it was a stuttering shutter opening it should affect the entire image exposure in vertical stripes. But the exposure of the swans looks way off in relation to the rest of the image.

I have been assuming that the shutter was a horizontal shutter, but no. It is a vertical metal shutter which makes my tentative explanation above entirely wrong. Bestbeloved offered the explanation that the swans might be a reflection from the clouds which I poo-pooed but I am now having a rethink.

 

[john.margetts]

Looks as though the Yashica 230 AF has a vertically travelling shutter. That sticking at multiple places along the travel would likely not give this effect. My guess is that, given that the swans in each instance are sharp, it's as if the shutter has fired five times and about 1/5th of the correct exposure time each time. How exactly that'd be possible, I'm not sure!

If that is possible, it would explain it. Also explain why the landscape is exposed ok but the swans are very light.

The camera is old and unlikely to ever have been serviced, so I would not rule out any mechanical explanation. As this is an entirely electronic camera, it could be an electronic fault repeatedly firing the shutter - or just dirt on a circuit board.

 

[Woodsy]

A good test to try would be to take another photo using the same settings and rotate the camera while firing the frame. *IF* the problem repeats itself, then you'd likely get 5 copies of the scene in front of you, offset from each other laterally. If the issue does not repeat itself, you'll get a smooth blurring instead.

I'm not at all saying my previous post is correct, or even likely, but it's at least inside the realms of possibility!

 

[excalibur2]

The swans look like different shots as they are not identical........if on a tripod, a very last odd resort of an answer would be the shutter bounced up and down 5 times.

 

[john.margetts]

Not on a tripod, Excalibur. I was carrying two cameras - this one was a test film through a new-to-me old camera. I had another camera with a 500mm lens on the tripod.

 

[Woodsy]

If you can resolve enough detail, zoom in on one of the distant pylons and see if there are 5 distinct images of each one. I'm thinking that no camera is ever perfectly still, especially hand held, so knowing whether the effect is present throughout would be interesting

 

[sk66]

I have been assuming that the shutter was a horizontal shutter, but no. It is a vertical metal shutter which makes my tentative explanation above entirely wrong. Bestbeloved offered the explanation that the swans might be a reflection from the clouds which I poo-pooed but I am now having a rethink.

It makes even less sense then. The most likely cause of multiple exposures is a messed up film advance... we used to do that intentionally. But I can't see that being the case here. I'm stumped, but I don't think it's cloud reflections. I have seen where internal reflections between the front element and filters have caused "duplication"/reflections, but this example would be *very* odd... I'm inclined to discount that as well.

 

[Mr Badger]

I can't see properly on the attached photo, but aren't those images of the two swans all the same? The wing positions look the same or very similar, and I imagine if they'd crossed the frame from left to right and been captured 5 separate times during this, then the progression movement of their flapping wings would have been captured; it's not as though their wings were in 'gliding' position either. The plot thickens! A real 'Twilight Zone' photo in more ways than one!

 

[stevelmx5]

Is that the only shot on the roll that has the issue? I initially thought about possible double exposure with the swans over the sky but again, you wouldn't have 5 exact copies of the swans with a double exposure? I take it they're visible on the negative too so it's not a problem at the scanning stage?

 

[Mr Badger]

If you can resolve enough detail, zoom in on one of the distant pylons and see if there are 5 distinct images of each one. I'm thinking that no camera is ever perfectly still, especially hand held, so knowing whether the effect is present throughout would be interesting

Perhaps John could compare this image with any other photos of the nature reserve he has and see if the spacing of the towers (pylons) looks right or wrong? I don't know the focal length of the lens you used, so can't gauge distance or perspective on that photo!

 

[skysh4rk]

I take it they're visible on the negative too so it's not a problem at the scanning stage?

I'm wondering about this.

Are these swans definitely on the negatives? I'm wondering if this is some sort of weird cloning effect that has resulted from the ICE/de-dust settings on the scanner.

 

[john.margetts]

I need to sort out the negatives - I'm not entirely sure where I've put them. i didn't scan the negatives myself - Snappy Snaps did - I hadn't thought of a scanning issue but I am now thinking that is most likely.