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M6, light leak or bromide drag?


emilkarl

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I have this weird issue that I've only seen on HP5+ pushed to 800 and trying to figure out what the problem is. Some say it could be development and some people have said light leaks on the camera. Im a bit confused. Light leak would probably show on all films right?

  • Film: Ilford HP5+ pushed to 800.
  • Used HC-110 at dilution B (1:31) for 10 minutes. 300ml in a Patersson 2 reel tank with 1 reel in the bottom.
  • Agitated for the first 30 seconds
  • then 12-15 seconds every minute starting at 1:00, 3 invertions
  • Stop for 30 seconds
  • Fix for 3:30.

Negs come out with lines that I figure can be bromide drag but I'm unsure. The process is the same as I usually do without this effect but I have come up with this effect a couple of times now and not sure what the reason can be. I usually don't get it with Tri-x 400. Photos have been shot outside in quite moist weather if that has any effect on it?

Shooting with Leica M6 and Voigtländer lens.

 

Here is some pictures of the negatives + scans.

Here is some pictures on the actual camera, if that is of any help.

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Edited by emilkarl
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9 minutes ago, andybarton said:

Looks like a developing problem to me, with developer running from the sprocket holes.

How often does this happen?

Patterson tank and spools to develop?

Sorry, added some more info in the topic.

I have not seen it with Tri-X. HP5+ especially when pushed to 800. I have shot a new roll of HP5 where I will redo the process and see if I get the same issue tonight or if it was a temporary thing. But this is the third roll it happened to.

 

Quote
  • I've developed some HP5+ pushed to 800.
  • Used HC-110 at dilution B (1:31) for 10 minutes. 300ml in a Patersson 2 reel tank with 1 reel in the bottom.
  • Agitated for the first 30 seconds
  • then 12-15 seconds every minute starting at 1:00, 3 invertions
  • Stop for 30 seconds
  • Fix for 3:30.

 

Edited by emilkarl
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I reckon that you might have slightly too little developer in the tank, so that it doesn't fully cover the film. It then runs down the film from the sprockets, leaving some underdeveloped. 

 

It's not a light leak, as that would affect the film more evenly, and not in stripes.

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I might have said that it is uneven development, but one edge of the negatives appears to be black when it should be clear like the other edge. Is some light getting into the developing tank? Is the center plastic tube that the spiral slides onto the full length and have you got the plastic spring clip on above the spiral to stop it sliding up out of the developer?  But then if it did rise up out of the developer the top edge would not be black but underdeveloped. Are the film cassettes commercially filled or do you load your own cassettes?

300 ml in a Paterson tank is the same as I use, though I usually put a little more in. Agitation looks the same as I use. I have occasionally seen the same effect but not with black rebates to the film.

i think now that it is a light leak somewhere between the camera, cassette or tank. If it only happens with the HP5 I would look at what is different about those films.

Edited by Pyrogallol
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Definitely no bromide-drag. This would have turned out brighter and not darker. Hard to say from your images what we got here.

Could be not enough fix or/and to less agitation or time for fixing. 3.30 minutes is a bit short. Normally this should look kind of yellowish instead of black. But on a light box it could look black too, if illuminated from behind. This could be repaired if fixed and washed again.

If light gets in the tank or the camera (also possible) you can't do anything about it.

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vor 3 Stunden schrieb andybarton:

Looks like a developing problem to me, with developer running from the sprocket holes.

+1

I had this, when I put the reel into the tank and then poured the developer through the hole in the lid. Uneven development.

Today I put the developer into the tank and then in the dark set the reel into the tank fast and close the lid. This method is faster, the developer acts more even.

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I agree with Andy Barton, Particulaarly about light leaks - highly unlikely, either in the camera or tank.. I suspect that you do not have enough developer solution. The dilution is quite severe, and there is only marginal amounts of active developer. I think you should mix enough developer working solution to pretty much fill the tank. That would provide more active developing agent and remove any doubt about the solution covering the film edges.. Agitation might also be a culprit – gentle inversion is called for. |We are not bar tenders

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But that does not explain the black edge to one side of the film, as shown in the first negative shown in the first post, top left picture. I think that is the clue to the problem, light fogging from somewhere, that has spread between the sprocket holes in the film.

if it has only happened with HP5 it should not be the camera. Look at the film, how old is it, how has it been stored, is there any way light could have got into one edge of the film, does it go all along the film or is it just at the beginning?

As far as developer dilution is concerned I use Rodinal at 1 to 25 or 50 and Tanol at 1+1+100 which works correctly. I Don’t use HC-110 so don’t know what is normal but so long as it is a recommended dilution that would not be a problem.

Edited by Pyrogallol
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Thanks for all the replies and theories. It actually seems like it was a development issue somewhere and not the camera.

Yesterday I finished a new roll of HP5+ that I developed for 800. I followed the same recipe but was very careful with all of the steps. When rolling up the film on the reel. Made 100% sure that the reel was in the bottom of the tank, put the other reel on top.

By no means perfect but there is at least no sign of bromide drag or light leaks.

Edited by emilkarl
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HC110 in Dilution B won't be to blame for that, or the development regime. It looks to me like the camera has been opened before the film's been wound back but the film would be worse on some areas than others. If the tank had been leaking typically there would be a band to show where the reel had masked the light. On the basis that the image is projected in the camera upside down (so the sky is the area most affected) is it at all possible the camera base has been put on with the door on the outside? 

If there hadn't been enough developer in the tank the under developed area would have been clear after fixing, if there hadn't been enough fix in the tank the under fixed area would still show some pinky/grey emulsion.

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17 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

I might have said that it is uneven development, but one edge of the negatives appears to be black when it should be clear like the other edge.......I think now that it is a light leak...

Definitely some sort of light-leak. The sprocket-holes can be seen to have interrupted the passage of the spread of light which has otherwise travelled through the 'non sprocket-holed' parts of the film edges. Odd that the leakage is so slight not to have had a more drastic effect though.

Was the edge-fogging equal along the whole of the length of the film or was it more pronounced earlier / later on the roll?

What was your procedure for transferring the film from the cassette onto the spiral and into the dev. tank? Did you pop the lower ring of the film cassette in a dimly / partially lit area?

Philip.

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1 hour ago, emilkarl said:

Thanks for all the replies and theories. It actually seems like it was a development issue somewhere and not the camera.

Yesterday I finished a new roll of HP5+ that I developed for 800. I followed the same recipe but was very careful with all of the steps. When rolling up the film on the reel. Made 100% sure that the reel was in the bottom of the tank, put the other reel on top.

By no means perfect but there is at least no sign of bromide drag or light leaks.

Good that you haven't repeated the problem this time.  It's a light leak from somewhere in your handling method.

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Looks and sounds to me like a cassette light leak (loose cap or light-trap). Just one roll affected, heavy fogging (black) along one side, with leaks "out of" the sprocket holes on the other side.

Although a film-tank leak or camera leak is not out of the question.

It should be remembered that the transparent plastic film base can act as a light pipe, like a rudimentary fiber-optic. Light can travel through it by bouncing off the plastic/air interface, and then leak out at breaks in the plastic (e.g. the sprocket holes). Which can give a similar streaky appearance as developer (bromide) or fixer flow marks. And are often some distance from the actual point the light hits the film.

Also remember that light fogging is cumulative, and thus length of exposure to whatever is leaking (and the brightness of the leak) will vary from situation to situation. A roll in a leaky camera/cassette for a short time in dim light won't show the same effect as an identical roll sitting in the leak for more time in brighter light.

Edited by adan
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  • 2 weeks later...

I am about to create another thread but found this post. These were taken with M6 on double-x film. I am wondering if these are sign of light leak? I thought it was development issue, but it happened at similar location on most shots in this roll so I ruled that out. But I would image leak would make it lighter rather than darker? I developed this roll after I sent my camera for CLA. Hope to figure out whether this is camera issue so that it can be addressed. Thanks.

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There are processing or scanning problems to start with so rule those out first. The horizontal bands are either film processing or scanning related, and although you say the darker vertical bands are on every frame they wouldn't show as exactly the same if different shutter speeds were used and these do. As you say a leak would be indicated by a lighter tone. So how did you scan them, is it an uneven light source or reflection, keeping in mind when copying the negative maybe with a digital camera a reflection would be lighter until the image was inverted to a positive and then it would be darker.

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Horizontal lines can also be slight roughness on the ends of the shutter blinds effectively narrowing the exposure slit at high shutter speeds. This is quite common on old ltm bodies where the cloth wraps around the ends of the curtains, but could be bits of “stuff” stuck to the blinds.

Since both the lines and the uneven exposures would happen at highest shutter speeds, and the scenes look brightly lit, I’d guess shutter was 1/1000. Shots at moderate shutter speeds likely were OK.

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