Spiderwebs? Pickling? Wrinkling? or what?

[shawn_stupidpost]

I keep getting these fairly little "web-like" things of high density on my negatives. I have switched to 67, but that's the only difference from my 35mm gear; tanks, developers, etc., are all the same; and I never had this problem before. It's not the camera or lens, since both have been replaced in the last week (better condition body, and shorter focal length...).

 

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I've lost a few good shots because of them, on the one shot or so per roll on which they appear. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

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--not the temp. I developed at 68 last night (usually 75-80).

--not the fix, happens with F24 and Ilford Rapid.

 

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I use ONLY a water stopbath; could that be it?

 

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Thanks all.

 

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shawn

[nigel_smith]

"web like things of high density" sound like recirculation, but it

wouldn't be restricted to individual negs... it would affect the

whole roll I believe.

 

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Maybe a spider spins a web quickly between frames, and the shutter

cleans him and his home away... nuh, I don't belive that, just can't

think of anything sensible!

 

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Nige.

[shawn_stupidpost]

...spiders or gremlins, who knows...

 

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it's occasional individual little spider webs, which I guess actually

look more like little bomb blasts (?), of about 1/4" at the most. They

seem to follow no order, making them more like the droppings of a

dizzy pigeon than a bomb blast or a spider web...?

 

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but they have ruined some images whatever they are...

[Bill C]

Shawn, the description is a little vague, but sounds like it might

possibly be static electricity fog marks. Can you confirm or rule it

out from the appearance?

[peter_hughes2]

I agree with the static electricity theory. Are you photographing in

a particularly dry climate?

[shawn_stupidpost]

Ok. My lips are always dry at home (serious)...so probably yes.

 

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I have no idea what these 'static electricity' marks are, but it

sounds like they may fit the bill: the marks stem from a core and

shoot out in "licks" or "thin arms". The total circumference of them

for core-to-edge-of-lick is usually about 1/4" or less, with

occasionally longer licks which get up to an inch (plenty to ruin an

image if in a crucial place). Does this help?

[tony_brent]

I have to go with static too. What you are seeing, if this is indeed

what's happening, is a record of little lightning bursts across the

surface of your film. Dry conditions (winter weather, heated dry

rooms, etc) are the prime causes. You know how you get a spark off the

end of your finger when you touch the refrigerator door after

shuffling across the carpet? Same idea. You can see the spark clearly

in a dark room; so can the film.

[peter_hughes2]

Are you using a manual-advance camera or a motorized camera? If

manual-advance, wind slower. The friction of the film inside the

camera generating static discharges is probably what's causing those

marks.

[shawn_stupidpost]

Hum, winding could be the culprit. I've broken a few advances, jammed

them, from winding too quickly. Who ever said a P67 was slow?

 

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Could

the cloth on my shutter be generating it like a rug does (to allude to

Tony's response)?...

[Bill C]

"�cloth on my shutter�" as the static source; nah! If it IS static,

and assuming it's coming from the camera (as opposed to handling in

the darkroom), it almost certainly occurs right where the film starts

to separate from the roll. An alternate source might be darkroom

handling.

 

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To confirm static, you could try rapidly unspooling, rewind, unspool,

etc, etc in a dry darkroom and see if this produces lots of the marks.

If so, the best practice is to slow down camera advance and darkroom

unwinding; maybe to about half speed of what you've been doing.

[tim_brown]

I agree that it's probably static. It could also be happening when

you load the developing tank if the room is very dry (it is winter

time...) and you work too quickly.

[twmeyer]

I've seen sparks discharging when pulling the tape from the film

end/spool. It's usually a winter thing... t

[peter_hughes2]

One last thought: it has been proven that Heavy Metal music, played

very loudly, can cause the marks you describe. Might try switching to

Mozart. :)

[shawn_stupidpost]

With Vivaldi, the licks just dance a little more eloquently...And with

Leonard Cohen they get really stiff and religious (can't decide what

they are...).

[shawn_stupidpost]

I almost always see 'sparks', or SOMETHING, when I remove the roll

from the tape, so it is probably happening in the 'unloading' stage.

I'll consider that the culprit-time and see what happens; I'll start

unloading very slowly off the roll. Thanks all. shawn