Weird vertical green markings on Leica MP

[ss94]

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I recently dropped off around 15 color rolls all shot during the same time on my Leica MP.  All of the rolls came back perfectly fine, free of any leaks or markings except for one roll.

Any idea what it could be? It's quite odd that out of 15 rolls only one came back like this. I loaded and rewinded the roll the same way as the others. It's on almost every frame on that roll except for the first 3. 

 

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[Doc Henry]

You scan yourself ? do you have this line on the negative ?

 

[jaapv]

If it is only one roll out of 15 the fault is most likely with the lab. 

[ss94]

I didn't scan myself, went to a reputable place in NYC. Photo of the negative below with the leaks. 

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[Doc Henry]

.... bad luck... defect at development time.  If you love film , develop yourself like me  

 

[ss94]

I might have to now..  what could have caused such straight markings like this in the development process?

[jaapv]

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It is strange that the lines are not visible at the perforated edges. That speaks against a development error  or light leak and would point at a shutter issue. However, one film in fifteen??

[Doc Henry]

48 minutes ago, ss94 said:

I might have to now..  what could have caused such straight markings like this in the development process?

...  there was an obstacle (what?) during development with the developer at these levels..... the edges are not affected is due to the fact that the silver layers are present only at the level of the exposed parts of the film. Color development is easier than B&W just work at 38 deg C or 30 deg C during few minutes.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Doc Henry

[Doc Henry]

..... you will notice that this is the beginning of the roll of film , this leader being on the outside, something got stuck on it during development.

[ss94]

The first four frames are the only clean frames on the roll... the rest all the way to 36 have the marks. 

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[250swb]

I wonder if it's some contamination on the rollers as the film goes through the machine? Given we don't know which end of the film was fed into the machine first if the lines got gradually weaker until they disappear at frame 4 the rollers may be an explanation, if the lines stay the same throughout it would go against that idea.

Edited May 12, 2022 by 250swb

[adan]

On 5/12/2022 at 4:43 AM, 250swb said:

I wonder if it's some contamination on the rollers as the film goes through the machine?

Bingo! Just what I was about to mention.

Does s94 know what "mechanism" the lab uses for processing (Noritsu/Fuji type continuous-motion machine, dip-and-dunk baskets, spools in cylindrical tanks)? And what the lab's volume is (rolls processed per day)?

In the continuous-motion machines, the film snakes up and down over numerous rollers as it wends its way through the chemical tanks step by step. And pops back up into the air between tanks.

Perfectly possible for the "top roller" between developer and bleach tanks to acquire a stripe or ridge of dried (and thus concentrated) developer crystals across the width of the roller (and thus film), which will offset or "print" onto the film at regular intervals (every time the roller goes around once). And add extra development in those spots, as it is absorbed by the wet film.

Something like the rough schematic below. The "first four frames" plus the film leader may be the time it takes for the dried developer to get damp enough to start imprinting.

Would also explain Jaap's point about the lines only occuring in the image areas - the unexposed borders won't be affected by extra development.

Low overall volume would allow the developer to bead and dry between jobs. And might result in "undermaintenance" for the particular number of rolls per day/week.

Or - the one roll out of 15 was perhaps the first roll through the machine on that day. The dried developer contamination occurred overnight from the previous day, and by the time rolls 2-15 followed through the machine, it had all been dissolved by roll 1.

Of course, if the film is not processed in a continuous machine, or the machine is running a roll every 5-10 minutes 24/7 (not enough time for developer to dry on the roller) that blows that theory out of the developer.....

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Edited May 14, 2022 by adan

[ss94]

I just found out the place uses a dip n dunk process..  so does that narrow it down to the camera? 

[250swb]

1 hour ago, ss94 said:

I just found out the place uses a dip n dunk process..  so does that narrow it down to the camera? 

What do you understand by what they've told you about their 'dip'n'dunk' process? But ambiguous terminology does match what @adan  post #12 described by the machine dipping the film into one chemical and then dunking it in another.