Processed 3rd black and white film - dissapointing results

<p>I'm fairly new to developing my own film. The first two films were ISO 100 medium format and they came out reasonably ok.</p>

<p>The third film that I developed this evening was a 35mm ISO 400 Ilford Delta film.</p>

<p>When the film came out of the fixer it was very dark across the bottom 70%. Not completely opaque, but too dark to show an image. The the top 30% of the film looked normal for a developed film. I haven't scanned the film yet but I think that the pictures are ruined.</p>

<p>I know that I made a mistake in that the developer tank wasn't properly sealed for the first agitations and I lost some developer. (The tank was still light-tight). That might explain the dark stripe (if most of the film was completely in the developer) with the light 30% being mostly out of the developer.</p>

<p>I followed the instructions on the Ilford Ilfosol 3 developer. 5min30 at 24 degrees with agitations 10 secs every minute. I agitated a bit more to try and make up for the missing developer that had escaped when the tank lid wasn't sealed properly. I also noticed that my developer temperature had dropped a bit (to 23 deg C) by the time I got the film on the spool so I left it in for another 25 seconds after the time ran out.</p>

<p>I used water as a stop bath. I poured the water in - shook the tank vigourously for about 1 minute and then poured it out again. Would this have been sufficient to stop the development? I then used Ilford fixer and left it in the tank for about 3 minutes.</p>

<p>Is the dark almost obliterated image a common effect caused by the film being in the developer for too long?</p>

<p>Could it also be because I didn't fix the film for long enough - Can I put it back in the fix to clear it?</p>

<p>Is ISO 400 more sensitive to changes in the development process than ISO 100?</p>

<p>Could it be that there was nothing wrong with the development - and this was actually caused by light-leaks in the camera? Is this what you'd expect to see as a result of light leaks?</p>

<p>I'm a bit disappointed to lose the whole film and I'd be very grateful for some advice on what to do differently next time.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Is the dark region one solid horizontal "dark" stripe across the length of the film, or is there a pattern to it?</p>

<p>Its exactly as you describe - a solid horizontal dark stripe along the length of the film.</p>

<p>That sounds like a light leak during development, to be honest. Light leaks in the camera tend to show as a distinct pattern on each frame. What kind of tank are you using?</p>

<p>Could be a leak in the film canister too. Are you bulk loading your own film, and might you have a bad cassette? What kind of camera?</p>

<p>I'm with Jordan on this one. Sounds like light leaking into the tank. Do you use a Paterson(type) tank? And does it have a central column (the tube that goes through the middle of the reel)? Did you remember to put it in? And was it the right way round (flange at the bottom)?</p>

<p>Michael. The camera is a Holga. There's a window on the back so that you can see the film numbers on roll of 120 film. I covered this up with tape when I loaded the 35mm film.</p>

<p>I've been examining it after I originally posted and noticed that when I held a torch right up to the taped up window I could see a faint light on the inside. I think that's probably the problem.</p>

<p>Jordan, Chris. Its a Paterson tank and I did put the central column in the right way round.</p>

<p>I've got an old Fujica SLR which I can use instead of the Holga - I'll try shooting a roll with that and see it it comes out better.</p>

<p>Thanks for your suggestions.</p>

<p>Mark,<br>

I'd recommend using a regular acid stop bath. Your development times are pretty short at 5 minutes, so there's not much room for error. The acid should counteract the alkaline developer more quickly and evenly than simple water. Also, I fix for a minimum of 5-6 minutes with agitation every 30 seconds (just like my developer).<br>

Scott</p>

<p>When using 35mm in a Holga, I don't think tape over the window is enough to block light (especially with 400iso film). Since you don't need to see through the window with 35mm, I'd put something truly opaque on the inside. If you have a piece of backing from 120 film, that should work, too. </p>