Scratches on the negatives

Hello!

 

I develop my own b+w film and I've been having problems recently

with scratches on the negative. I'm not sure how they get there - I

don't squeegee so it doesn't come from there - but that's not the

issue.

 

I've now got some negatives with scratches on. I can remove them

fine in photoshop, but can't do this in the darkroom. So, (finally

getting to the point), i'm wondering if there's any way of removing

the scratches on the negs so i can print them in the darkroom. any

tips? oh, the scratches seem to be on the shiny side of the neg.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Paul

If the scratches are on the base (shiny) side, there's a product called Edwal's No-scratch that will make them disappear. It's an index matched liquid you paint on the neg. Problem is, the cure is as bad as the disease because you then have to clean it off after printing. Another index matching fluid that works well for many people is nose grease. Have to clean that off too.

Conrad is completely correct with no scratch and nose grease.If the scratches are on the shiny side you might check the felt traps on your film canisters,they some times get grit in them.If they are on the emulison side,(they print as dark lines) I would check the back of your camera film guides for anything sharp or gritty. The Back pressure plate on some film cameras was dimpled,(N90 and 8008 both nikons)there may be others, which can get a small ammount of dust or sand in one of the dimples,this will scratch the film on the shiny,(non emulsion side)from end to end. Clean the Pressure plate and see if this helps.

As Michael says check the internals of the camera. I clean mine out now and again with compressed air, though be very careful doing this. With time camera bodies will get little bits of grit in them and often these can cause scratches. Just think of all the areas where grit might get in the process and eliminate them. Everybody gets the odd scracted roll now and again but you shouldn't get it on a regular basis.

Nose grease does indeed work, it's amazing, downside though is the nose grease seems to attract dust, but a little patience and you should get a good print. Remember to clean the neg before you store it away.

You should have the camera cleaned by a professional. How often depends on the conditions it endures. If you try it yourself, be very careful.

I've got the same problem and am looking at scratches on Kodak BW400CN Film (35mm), which i realize is a color process B&W film, and cannot tell which side is base, which is emulsion. Is there an easy way to tell?

 

Also, if something inside the camera is scratching the film, would it be consistent (i.e. scratching the whole roll)?

 

Chris