Bright edges + thin squiggly line

Hello again! Sorry for all these questions but you have all been very helpful and I do feel like I'm making progress :)

 

My last roll of film seems to have brighter edges (top and top left corner). Is this due to light seals or could it be due to over or under-agitation or something else?

 

Also in the bottom third I can see a thin light streakly line. It's only on 1 or 2 pics. Any ideas? I'm guessing maybe uneven development.

 

Processed HP5+ in D76 stock for 7.5 mins. Agitated for 1st full min and then 10 secs at the end of each other minute. About 7 inversions each minute roughly I counted.....

 

Thanks all!

 

First, I think the thin pale lines (there are a couple of them) are just mild scratches; probably accidental contact with the film surface while loading the reel.

 

I have noticed one bright edge on some of my films. Not enough to make the pictures unusable (for my not-very-demanding purpose of sticking them on Flickr, at least). I had two thoughts about it.

 

In one case, I had developed the film with two others (a 127 roll and a 120) in my big steel tank. I used Rodinal (Adox APH09, which is equivalent) at high dilution, with not much agitation. The 35mm film was last into the tank, and I guessed the bright edge might reflect the volume of developer sitting above all the reels, letting the highest band of film develop more. Here's one of the pictures at Flickr; it's not ruined.

 

Other times, I have seen a similar thing when I developed a roll in my smallest tank, which holds just one 35mm roll. Here's an example, though I may have burned the top in a bit in Elements to reduce the effect. I can't say which way up the film was. It could be the same idea as above, but one of the things I know about this tank is that it takes a smaller volume to cover a film than with the bigger one. I wonder if the problem was to do with the shape of the tank.

 

So I haven't really got an answer; what I did about it was stop using the small tank. I haven't had the problem again with the big tank.

Agitated for 1st full min and then 10 secs at the end of each other minute. About 7 inversions each minute roughly I counted.....

 

- That's far too much agitation for a start. Two inversions of the tank per minute (once every 30 seconds) are plenty.

 

Read the instructions that came with the developer!

 

The dark corners look like lens vignetting, and nothing to do with the processing. However, this can be exaggerated by underexposure or by using a wide aperture (small aperture number)

 

The brightness at the top of the frame just looks like a lighting effect.

 

As Dustin says, the small squiggly white line is a scratch on the negative. Most likely on the shiny back of the film.

 

Welcome to the accident prone world of using film. Good luck! Because that's what will mainly govern your results.

Edited November 15, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

The thin lines are scratches. Film is light sensitive and pressure sensitive. Check the rollers inside the camera. At the hardware store, buy some dry-lube and thinly apply to the ends of the rollers of the transport system. However, first check them for smooth movement; they might not need any lubrication. This camera likely has a pressure plate. The idea is to keep the film as flat a possible during the exposure. I think the pressure plate is not applying even pressure at the top. This will cause the film to acquire a slight gape. In other words, the film is not setting flat at every point, against the film mask. If I am correct, some light-piping is occurring at these locations. Look at the negatives, are they darker then there surrounds at some points along the edge? I think you can correct by simply pushing on the pressure plate. It is likely spring loaded and flexing it a few times will likely lessen any stiffness. As to the vignette: All lenses vignette to some degree. This is a reduction in the exposing light at the boundaries of the film. If you were an insect looking back at the lens during the exposure you would see the aperture as a perfect circle, if you were at the center of the film gate. At the boundaries, you see an ellipse, not a circle and an ellipse has less surface area thus less light gets to the edges of the frame. Some lenses are worse than others in this department. Take heart, the enlarger lens also vignettes. In the negative/positive system the two vignettes are mitigated or better, canceled by the vignette of the enlarger lens. When making positives (slides) from negatives the two vignettes are additive.

- That's far too much agitation for a start. Two inversions of the tank per minute (once every 30 seconds) are plenty.

 

Read the instructions that came with the developer!

 

The dark corners look like lens vignetting, and nothing to do with the processing. However, this can be exaggerated by underexposure or by using a wide aperture (small aperture number)

 

The brightness at the top of the frame just looks like a lighting effect.

 

As Dustin says, the small squiggly white line is a scratch on the negative. Most likely on the shiny back of the film.

 

Welcome to the accident prone world of using film. Good luck! Because that's what will mainly govern your results.

Thanks! I'll cut down on the agitation for sure!

The thin lines are scratches. Film is light sensitive and pressure sensitive. Check the rollers inside the camera. At the hardware store, buy some dry-lube and thinly apply to the ends of the rollers of the transport system. However, first check them for smooth movement; they might not need any lubrication. This camera likely has a pressure plate. The idea is to keep the film as flat a possible during the exposure. I think the pressure plate is not applying even pressure at the top. This will cause the film to acquire a slight gape. In other words, the film is not setting flat at every point, against the film mask. If I am correct, some light-piping is occurring at these locations. Look at the negatives, are they darker then there surrounds at some points along the edge? I think you can correct by simply pushing on the pressure plate. It is likely spring loaded and flexing it a few times will likely lessen any stiffness. As to the vignette: All lenses vignette to some degree. This is a reduction in the exposing light at the boundaries of the film. If you were an insect looking back at the lens during the exposure you would see the aperture as a perfect circle, if you were at the center of the film gate. At the boundaries, you see an ellipse, not a circle and an ellipse has less surface area thus less light gets to the edges of the frame. Some lenses are worse than others in this department. Take heart, the enlarger lens also vignettes. In the negative/positive system the two vignettes are mitigated or better, canceled by the vignette of the enlarger lens. When making positives (slides) from negatives the two vignettes are additive.

Thanks for the reply! Yes the negs look a little darker at the top and left edges. So I had a look at the pressure plate and it seems to be sitting a little uneven, the right side is sitting slightly further out than the left. Tried pushing it a few times but it just springs to the same slight unevenness. I think this must be the metal frame thingy behind the pressure plate. Should I unscrew the plate and have a try and making the metal frame more even or just leave it and don't make matters worse lol?

Thanks for the reply! Yes the negs look a little darker at the top and left edges. So I had a look at the pressure plate and it seems to be sitting a little uneven, the right side is sitting slightly further out than the left. Tried pushing it a few times but it just springs to the same slight unevenness. I think this must be the metal frame thingy behind the pressure plate. Should I unscrew the plate and have a try and making the metal frame more even or just leave it and don't make matters worse lol?

I would dismantle and straighten and lube the springs with dry lube.

This camera likely has a pressure plate. The idea is to keep the film as flat a possible during the exposure. I think the pressure plate is not applying even pressure at the top. This will cause the film to acquire a slight gape.

 

- If that was the case there would be a loss of sharpness where the film pulled away from its guide rails. I see nothing to indicate that, since the netting is equally sharp, and dark, across the frame. And where would 'light-piping' pipe the extra light from? The back of the camera is a dark chamber.

 

It's almost impossible to diagnose a fault - if there is any fault - from this single example. The lightness at the top of the frame may simply be due to the sky being brighter in that area. Or it could be caused by insufficient quantity of fixer in the developing tank, an internal reflection in the camera, or half a dozen other causes. The least likely of which is a faulty pressure plate.

 

"Take heart, the enlarger lens also vignettes. In the negative/positive system the two vignettes are mitigated or better, canceled by the vignette of the enlarger lens."

 

- But a scanner does not vignette and cancel out the taking lens. I suspect these negatives have never been anywhere near an enlarger.

Edited November 17, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Sorry for all these questions but you have all been very helpful and I do feel like I'm making progress

 

Aside from those who post merely to get affirmation for their already fixed opinions, it is mostly fun to help people. So no apology is necessary to this lot.:)