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Problem with Ilford HP5


oxskumxo

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Hey all, I?ve been shooting for a while and just recently have come

across an issue with HP5, I shot a bunch of rolls for an assignment

and after i processed them I noticed a line through the center of

almost all of my shots, it appears dark on the negatives and light on

the prints, so one would assume that light is hitting the negative

sometime before its processed, because it is not a chemical issue.

 

When I first saw this I figured it was my camera, so i took the roll

of film that was in the camera out I had shot 13 of 36 exposures and

processed it to see if it happened there also. after I processed the

film the line was there again in the exact same place on all of the

frames, and to my surprise it appears on shots above 13, all the way

to exposure 36, This lead me to believe that it wasn?t the camera at

all, so I processed a roll of film that i hadn?t shot, just took it

out of the box and developed it, and yes the line is there also, brand

new roll of film has this line through all of the frames above 10 the

line goes horizontally through the frames in exactly the same place,

 

Seeing as that last roll showed it and it was not shot at all, it

cannot be my camera and must be the film, so I?m guessing I just

received a bad batch of film from Ilford? It only happens on the rolls

of 36 that I have not the rolls of 24, I will post a scan f one of

then in a few so you all can see it,

 

Now I?m wondering what I should do, I have 8 more rolls of HP5 that

I?m afraid to shoot, should I contact Ilford? And if so what do I tell

them?

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Tell them how much you like their film, especially the built in horizon line for panoramic prints. Then tell them how many rolls you bought and have had ruined and ask for your money back.

 

The little box should have the warrentee printed right on it. They are responsible for the film but nothing else.

 

tim in san jose

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the reason i dont beleive it is a processing issue is because i do

not use the same take and reel every time, i just grab one off of

the shels, also if it were a problim with the tanks teh other 14

peopel in my class woudl also have the same problim, which

they do not. I talked to a friend of mine who has done darkroom

for 30 years and he thought it coudl be a bressur mark of some

kind, but because of the regulairity of the mark he is doubtfull that

i coudl have coused it in teh pattern that it is,

 

I have taken 2 different rolls of film and lined them up to see if the

marks match, and THEY DO, matching the frame numbers lins

the marks up nearly exactly, the start and end in teh same places

but some are longer at places then others, the marks get darker

as the film number increase, it is barly noticable at fram 1 but

really defined at frame 36<div>007rE3-17328684.jpg.84e6963bf5a937b118a33e0bc30b6fd4.jpg</div>

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No question in my mnd. With what tests you've done and the evidence you presented, bad film. No tank hole would give you the consistancy of those marks and the sharpness of pattern.

 

Next take a roll of FP4 or APX100 or something and develop that the same way.

 

 

tim in san jose

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LOL!

 

"It sounds like a camera problem. I would double check to make sure it's not a camera problem. Of course, I _could_ have read your post carefully and seen that you already disproved the camera problem theory, but I think instead I'll continue harping away that you should check your camera. I like to hear myself talk."

 

Adam, I agree 100% with Tim that these scratches/marks/whatever on the film originated at the factory. You've proven that there is no fault on your part or on the part of your equipment or processing. Write or call Ilford customer service and tell them about the issues you've been having, as well as your attempts to localize the origin of the problem. Insist that they replace ALL the ruined rolls, plus all your test rolls and any others from the same batch that you feel might be damaged. Hopefully they won't give you too much of a hassle about it, but you never know. You may have to send back the film to be tested in their facility before they will admit any defect on their part. Best of luck!

 

-John

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<i>It seems doubtful that any manufacturing problem would leave marks that correspond so neatly to frame lengths.</i><p>

 

Why not, Ladislav? At least one process at the factory, that of exposing the frame markings, is synchronized to the frame spacing; as well, the frame spacing and sprocket holes are synchronized (eight holes per frame, isn't it?), so anything connecting with a sprocket anywhere in the process would tend to leave marks that correspond to frame spacing. In fact, that's my best guess for a cause here -- the marks are coming two to the frame, about, and aren't absolutely consistent; they look to me like what you'd get if a film sliver were wrapped around a sprocketed film roller, perhaps in the machine that rolls the film onto the spools before they're sealed into the cassettes. As the darkroom expert said, it looks like a pressure mark -- and if it's on film that's never been in a camera, it's got to be from the handling machinery at the Ilford plant.

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I dont think that you have mentioned the camera body you were using.

Some Canon EOS cameras have a prewind facility that unwinds the film from the canister prior to shooting and then wind back into the canister as the shot is taken...this could explain why unexposed film would be marked.

 

Hope this helps

Andrew

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<<if you haven't anything worthwile to say, do us all a favour and say nothing >>

 

The problem is you didn't read all of the replies. Adam clearly stated that the scanned negative was NEVER run through a camera. This is NOT a camera issue. Rather than knee-jerking a reply, it's rather important to read all of the previous responses first and /then/ post.

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A manufacturing error is extremely unlikely, especially if the rolls are from different lots (have you checked into that?).

 

I'd first examine every step of my processing procedure, start to finish.

 

First, I'd be very careful opening the film cartridge. Eliminate the cartridge, means of opening and handling it as factors.

 

Second, I'd cut off a clip, 6 inches or so long, and develop it in a tank without loading it onto a reel in order to eliminate the reel as a factor.

 

Check for burrs, etc., on your equipment. Make sure your fingernails are trimmed and without burrs. Some folks have pretty rough hands, nails and cuticles.

 

It should take only one roll of film to rule out processing errors and handling problems, using a series of clip tests.

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