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Just had my first "home brew" failure


andybarton

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I must have processed a couple of hundred B&W rolls in the last few years, and this is the first time I have had a failure.

 

I'd forgotten to clip the retaining ring above the single roll in the tank and had that sinking feeling when opening the lid. Only half the roll has been developed properly, with the upper half showing streaks and under-development.

 

Pity, as I am sure that there were 36 keepers on that roll ;)

 

Just have to find an excuse to go back and shoot them all again...

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Commiserations Andy. My worst was many years ago after a trip to Highgate Cemetary before it was tidied up and I was free to roam around. I was using a bronica and couldn't wait to get home to develop the 4 Rolls I took. I used one of the multiple Patterson Tanks so I could develop them all at once. Came to the washing and I left the mixer tap running through the syphon tube with just the right temperature for the wash water. When I got back steam was coming from the top of the tank. The cold had failed and I was washing the film in boiling hot water - beautiful melted emulsion!!! I like digital:):):)

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I once came back from a race meeting with five rolls; went under the piled up duvets and loaded them into the tank (my darkroom was only 100% at night), did the dev and left them to wash; retreived the empty canisters from under the duvet- 4 rolls Tri-X, 1 roll Agfa slide film :o

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When I processed my roll from the 'one challenge' in London I used a new tank and forgot that it needed more developer than the old one. I had one third of roll under-developed by a couple of stops as there wasn't enough developer to cover all the film.

 

Commiserations.

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I must have processed a couple of hundred B&W rolls in the last few years, and this is the first time I have had a failure.

 

I'd forgotten to clip the retaining ring above the single roll in the tank and had that sinking feeling when opening the lid. Only half the roll has been developed properly, with the upper half showing streaks and under-development.

.

 

Andy,

 

You're lucky that this hasn't happenend before. It's happened to me about four times, one way or another.

 

The only way to be sure that it doesn't happen again is to abandon the retaining ring forever.

 

If it's a multi-reel tank, insert blank reels to fill the space up with empty reels or half reel so that the loaded reels can't move anywhere.

 

Secondly, use more developer and fixer than the minimum to ensure that the loaded reel is completely covered, but retain an air space so that the liquid has to drop when inverted. A full tank does not allow the necessary agitation.

 

I've recently reverted to processing films individually as I believe there is more consistancy doing it this way, but it can be a pain in the bum with too many films.

 

Remind me to tell you about my latest film processing disaster. :(

 

Rolo

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…something totally magical about removing the film from the reel and seeing those lovely shiny negatives for the first time though.

 

All I ever did was uncross my fingers and feel relief!

 

I'd agree that there's a magic about a print coming up in the developer. But my darkroom has been used twice since we moved 10 years ago.

 

If I was good at printing I might feel different.

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Sometimes accidents happen in dreams. I had a dream last night that I accidently exposed a roll of film by opening the camera back without rewinding the film. The terrible feeling I had was very real. I must be stressing over something.

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo

Benitez-Rivera Photography

 

Wilfredo

 

For some of us that dream (nightmare) has on at least one occasion become a reality!

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I had a dream last night that I accidently exposed a roll of film by opening the camera back without rewinding the film.

 

I did that before. You will loose about two frames if you're in a shade.

 

How about this...

I poured the Developer...

Time it and agitate...

Dumped the Developer...

Pour the Stop Bath...

Agitate...

Dump the Stop Bath...

Wash...

Open the tank lid to inspect.

Pulled the reel...

 

Then...

 

Argh!@#$$%^

 

NO FILM LOADED!!!

All I saw were two empty reels on a spool.

 

The film was in my other Paterson tank. :(

 

I use my tanks to store my reels.

 

Oh well...

 

-Ron

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A few year ago, while shooting with my M7, I didn't engage the film properly on the take-up spool. So I guess I can't blame the results on the lab.

 

I've also done the "fixer, developer, stop bath" sequence, but fortunately it was personal work and not a wedding.

 

Larry

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