Can anyone explain these stains?

Can someone explain to me what these stains/blotches are?

Thanks in advance!

They're drying marks, caused by letting water droplets dry slowly on the film surface. Usually made worse by using hard tap water for the final rinse.

 

They can be eliminated by using distilled water and a 'wetting agent' as a final bath. A wetting agent can be a purpose-made product like Photo-flo, or it can just be a tiny amount of liquid detergent - washing-up liquid.

 

BTW, that's some grain! What film did you use?

rodeo_Joe is spot on: Film consists of a gelatin binder (glue) that holds the light sensitive salts of silver on to the transparent film base. Then the film is submerged in the developer, which is mainly water, the gelatin swell much like a dry sponge when plopped into water. This action opens up the structure of the gelatin allowing fluids to percolate in and out. The gelatin remains swollen throughout the process. As the film dries, the gelatin shrinks back to size. If water droplets are allowed to stand on the film during drying, they retard the shrinking action. The result is a film surface that takes on a texture like a relief map. If dissolved minerals are contained in the final rinse, a residue of minerals will remain. Most likely the damage is permanent however do try re-washing and a final soak in a wetting agent like PhotoFlow or in a pinch, add a drop of Dawn detergent to the final rinse.

As far as I know, when drops without minerals dry, the emulsion goes back to the right shape.

 

I know I have seen dots on partly dry film that go away when it dries.

 

That is for ones without minerals.

 

In the case of dried-on minerals, I believe that they aren't soluble enough to easily wash off.

 

There might be some chemicals that would increase the solubility.

They're drying marks, caused by letting water droplets dry slowly on the film surface. Usually made worse by using hard tap water for the final rinse.

 

They can be eliminated by using distilled water and a 'wetting agent' as a final bath. A wetting agent can be a purpose-made product like Photo-flo, or it can just be a tiny amount of liquid detergent - washing-up liquid.

 

BTW, that's some grain! What film did you use?

Thanks rodeo_joe .. I did the final 10 minute rinse in Southern California tap water, which is hard water ..

I then added a few drops of Photoflo, agitated for about 15 seconds, then hung the roll up to dry ..

Should I use distilled water to mix the Photoflo into?

ps - The film is Neopan Acros 100

Should I use distilled water to mix the Photoflo into?

 

- Yes. But I don't think 15 seconds is long enough to ensure removal of the hard water minerals. I'd recommend a soak in plain distilled water for at least 2 to 3 minutes, followed by the photoflo+distilled water. Try not to get a foam on the photoflo solution, because this can cause drying marks too.

 

That grain looks far too obvious for any 100 ISO film. Was the film stale or badly stored? Did you keep all the processing solutions at the right temperature? Did you 'shock' the film by plunging it from warm to cold water or vice-versa?

 

Because something seems to have gone amiss apart from the drying marks.

- Yes. But I don't think 15 seconds is long enough to ensure removal of the hard water minerals. I'd recommend a soak in plain distilled water for at least 2 to 3 minutes, followed by the photoflo+distilled water. Try not to get a foam on the photoflo solution, because this can cause drying marks too.

 

That grain looks far too obvious for any 100 ISO film. Was the film stale or badly stored? Did you keep all the processing solutions at the right temperature? Did you 'shock' the film by plunging it from warm to cold water or vice-versa?

 

Because something seems to have gone amiss apart from the drying marks.

I agree, the grain doesn't look right ..

Yes, to the solutions being 20 degrees C ..

But, I did a presoak in the cool tap water which was probably too cold ..

No need for a presoak unless you're using a rotary processor, and the whole point of a presoak otherwise is to bring the film and tank up to the right temperature.

I've been using a Jobo rotary without any presoak in my life and kept the normal developping times for normal contrasty results.

 

The photoflow is agitate 1 minute with the Jobo, then hanged up in a drying machine, 30 minutes, speed 2.

That grain does not look like Acros to me. For most films, I can focus 35mm and 120 under the enlarger without a grain magnifier. Not so with Acros. I need my Peak to even find the grain in Acros.

As to using hard water, I have well water that's barely softer than a rock. I do several rinses with distilled water before doing one with photo-flo. When I develop 35mm or 120, I do all the washing by the Ilford method for saving water and using distilled. (knock on wood) No drying marks since starting to use distilled water.

Deionized water should be cheaper, and works just as well.

 

Water softeners replace ions like calcium and magnesium with sodium, which causes less problems.

Yes...use distilled water. It can make all the difference in the world to how well your film dries. With distilled water, there should be no need to even squeegee your film which is nice to avoid micro scratches.I swear by it and it's all we use...to the point we actually bought a water distiller so it's always readily at hand.

 

Greg Miller

Film Rescue International