Mold (?) on Tri-X negatives

Just scanned a couple strips of old 35mm Tri-X negs (about 10 frames) and I'm pretty sure the spots the images show are mold.

 

Is there a way to clean the negs at this point? Is it best to toss them out?

 

The two strips were shot 20-30 years ago and stored by themselves without sleeves curled up in a small cardboard box. I'm pretty sure the issue is confined just to these negs. I haven't encountered it before.

 

1st image posted here is the worst one of the bunch. A couple negs show only 5 or 6 spots.

 

Thanks for any input

Here's the 2nd one…

Probably sounds silly but…… I'm guessing my Nikon V ED scanner I scanned these with won't be affected, right?

Film cleaner or Pec-Pads . . . Which side of the film are they on?

Once upon a time Kodak was working on a method to process C-41 in a mini-lab using a process that generated zero chemical waste. This task was undertaken by little known subsidiary of Kodak called Advanced Science Fiction. This started in Austin TX., production was moved to San Diego. A special film developing machine misted the film with a thin wetting of color developer. The dampened film was then scanned using an amazing scanner that illumined the film with visual and infrared. The scan was a combination or reflected and transmitted light. Software determined how the image would have formed if properly developed. The film was trashed; the images were converted to a digital file. The machine and process was demonstrated behind closed doors to select photofinishers. This so-called dry process never came to market.

 

The scanner however and its software was licensed to several companies. The most popular software was Digital ICE and there was another called Digital Cube. Some scanners and or the software likely continue. This scanner has the remarkable ability to restore damaged film. You should Google to find a photo lab still using Digital ICE.

Here is an answer that was posted by Kodak on the Kodak Site in 2011:

 

Remove mold/fungus from negatives or slides

Published 02/18/2011 03:05 PM | Updated 02/18/2011 03:05 PM | Answer ID 33120

How can I remove mold and fungus from negatives or slides?

 

The following should remove mold and fungus from negatives or slide film if the fungus growth has not etched or distorted the film emulsion.

 

Note:

 

Wear cotton gloves to avoid getting fingerprints on the film.

Remove the slides from their cardboard/glass mounts before cleaning.

You will need the following items:

 

A KODAK Photo Chamois, or a soft, plush pad, or some absorbent cotton.

Isopropyl alcohol in a concentration of 98% or greater.

Note: If you have difficulty locating the isopropyl alcohol, check with gas stations and auto parts stores. It is sold as "dry gas" for your car. Check the label to be sure you have a 98% solution with no other additives.

 

Procedure:

 

Moisten the photo chamois/pad/cotton with the isopropyl alcohol, and gently wipe the film until it is clean.

Remount the slides in clean glass mounts or new cardboard mounts.

 

Do not use the following:

 

Water, or solutions that contain water. Fungus usually makes the emulsion water soluble.

Ordinary rubbing alcohol (it contains too much water).

Kodak used to make a product called Kodak Film Cleaner. It came in little brown bottles and emitted a strong chemical smell. It worked on some things, but I doubt it would completely remove mold from old film. I've seen this kind of mold, and it's embedded in the emulsion. It actually seems to feed on the emulsion.

 

Digital ICE can work wonders, but the first example posted here is marred with so much mold that it would drive Digital ICE crazy. I've seen weird artifacts when using Digital ICE on badly damaged negatives or slides.

 

The dry-process minilab that Alan Marcus describes actually did come to market for a limited time in a few places. One of my local camera shops had one in late 2002. (The Kodak subsidiary was called Applied Science Fiction, not Advanced Science Fiction.) The minilab was self-serve and about the size of an airport check-in kiosk. I tried it once, just for fun. It repeatedly scanned the film during development to extract more detail from the emerging images. As Alan says, the process was destructive. The machine made color prints and a CD-ROM with digitized files but destroyed the film. The prints and files were OK. I still have them.

Thanks everyone. Wasn't aware there were responses here since I hadn't gotten any email notifications.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe digital ICE doesn't work on Tri-X. It's worked well for me though with color transparencies. I've used Kodak film cleaner before and that stuff is nasty. Since it sounds like these aren't cleanable, and since I've got the scans and don't want moldy film sitting around, I'll probably just toss them now.

 

There are a couple of the other scans that are quite useable with a bit of cloning.

Digital ICE isn't designed for a project like this. It's not that it's Tri-X, it's that these are "spots" in the sense of dust specks. Digital ICE also has problems with grainy films, like Tri-X (processed with a non-staining developer) because it can't tell the difference between grain and dust.

 

Who said that these were not cleanable? It seems to me that you have several suggestions here on how to go about it.

Once upon a time Kodak was working on a method to process C-41 in a mini-lab using a process that generated zero chemical waste.

(snip)

 

Reminds me of a Kodak documented process, where you develop a color negative in black and white chemistry, and scan it to generate a black and white scan.

 

Then bleach to convert back to silver halide, and develop with a color developer, to get a color image.

 

Two chances instead of one, to get results.

 

There are labs now that return scans and discard the negatives. I presume they don't use the system mentioned, but then how would we know?

I don't think that bleach converts the silver back to halide . . . That would "undevelop" the film. Bleach is used in B&W reversal processes and many toning processes.

I don't think that bleach converts the silver back to halide . . . That would "undevelop" the film. Bleach is used in B&W reversal processes and many toning processes.

 

The usual description is that it converts back to halide, and the fixer dissolves that.

In the case of normal color processing, the exact form it converts to isn't so important,

as long as the fixer can dissolve it.

 

There is an actual Kodak document, though, that says that it can convert

to developable halide. It doesn't have to be a nice crystal form like the

original form, though.

Interesting . . . Not what I was taught but that doesn't mean much . . .

It might be that it works both ways. If the bleach has KBr in it, I believe that it generates AgBr.

 

If it doesn't, I am not so sure what it makes.

 

It might also depend on separate or combined bleach-fix steps.