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Strange blotches on negative


sgoetzin

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Because these blotches occur in coincidence with the sprockets, it has to be a development or fixing problem.

 

How many films did you process in this tank? Was this one the uppermost in the tank?

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Off topic and probably isnt the right venue to ask but I sometimes wondered whether this sort of thing is sometimes associated with a presoak and a period before dumping developer in, whether you get softer regions on the neg that developor fix differently, or when not using stop bath and only water stop and there is still activity from running developer before fix gets hold?

 

I can understand surge marks radiating from sprocket holes but somewehre along the line the lines across negs must be related to some sort of draining effect when the tank is upright?

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I've had very similar blotches on the edge of 120 Tri-X so there goes the sprocket hole theory. This also should eliminate a bad batch of film theory.

 

You can get streaks like that even without sprocket holes.

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Insufficient agitation and / or you are pouring thru a stainless tank top and getting a flow pattern as the developer runs over the edge of the film.

 

Agiate 2 per five sec for the first 30 sec, the 5/7 inversions in 5 sec every 30 sec. Right off the Kodak website.

 

 

#2 cure is drop the loaded reel into a full tank of developer in the dark which is "best practice" anyway.

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Thanks for all your input.

 

I once didn't fill enough developper in the Jobo tank (6 x 120 films) and the film on the top was ruined, as the film was not sufficiently in contact with the developper. I know how this looks like. Concerning the blothes on the TRI-X , I run all the tests (see previous replies) to isolate the problem. And the only alternative to me is a bad set of films.

I don't have any problems with ACROS, FP4+, or Superpan 200, only the TRI-X causes these problems.

 

I also send a mail to the Leica dealer who sold me the M6. He told me that I can send it back and he will check the camera. That's really good news for me.

 

Again, thanks for your interest, I really appreciate you guys here in the LFI.

 

Serge

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If the streaks appear at the top or bottom of the frame but never both at the same time, with care, it should be possible to determine if it's a film or processing problem. If you're bulk loading make sure the film is always wound on the film spool from the bulk reel in the same way. ie you need to know/identify which is the "top" or "bottom" of the film.

 

Expose both films in the camera. You now have a choice. When developing each film separately, load one film in the spiral leader first and the other film spool end first, making sure you always keep the spiral in the same orientation from loading to dropping it in the tank. An alternative is to load both films onto the spiral, leader first but to invert the spiral when putting it in the tank for the second film.

 

If after processing the streaks on both films are always along an edge with the same markings (KODAK 400 TX for example) then you have a film problem. If the streaks are on different edges (KODAK 400 TX and 1 1A 2 2A 3 3A etc.) you have a processing problem.

 

It might be possible to shorten the procedure by loading one 18 exposure half film on the spiral leader end first, followed by the other half of the film spool end first. Develop the two halves together.

 

You could rule out a camera problem by "flashing" a length of film out of the camera under the enlarger or a uniform weak light source and processing it.

 

Bob.

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