I was super disappointed with the first two rolls of film I put through my second Mamiya 6 Six Automat (which I previously wrote about here). Each frame had a huge block of white across the top. This “defect” was uniform on each frame of the two rolls I put through the camera.

I knew it wasn’t a development issue, so it had to be a problem with the camera itself. At first I thought maybe there was a shutter blade that was sticking. But the more I thought about it and researched it, I came to believe there was a light leak somewhere. A big one! I posted my issue in online Facebook forum, and that was also the consensus from the experts who hang out there.

I took my camera to my workbench and opened up the back of the camera. I shined a bright flashlight into the camera body. This revealed a hole in a crease of the camera bellows. I closely examined the entire bellows system and this was the only compromised spot I could find.

To patch the hole, I bought some Liquid Electrical Tape. I applied this to the hole and let it dry overnight. Doing the flashlight test again revealed there was still a tiny pinhole of light in that same area, so I applied a second coat. After sufficient drying time, I checked it once again with a flashlight. It appeared to be fully sealed up. I manipulated the bellows open and closed multiple times and checked again to make sure the “patch” was holding. It appeared to be.

The Liquid Electrical Tape blended in nicely on the bellows and, cosmetically, looked very inconspicuous. Because the liquid tape is meant to be flexible, it hasn’t cracked or torn when opening and closing the bellows.

Of course the big test was to put a new roll of film through the camera and check to see if the repair corrected the issued. I shot Kentmere 100 and developed it with Diafaine. Success! Below are some photos I took after sealing the light leak. With any luck, I’ll get years of use out of this camera.