fingerprints on undeveloped negatives?

[scott_flathouse]

I just finished developing several rolls of black & white film for the first time, with a lot of help from information off this forum (thanks a bunch everyone!). However, I was wondering if there were any adverse effects of getting fingerprints all over the undeveloped film in the changing bag during loading onto the reels. I'm guessing that any oils are washed off during developing, and I can't see any evidence on the finished negatives, but I thought I would ask.

[shawn_stupidpost]

Wash and dry your hands very well before you load, and you should be

fine, as long as you are not a sweaty MacDonald's grease-producing

factory. And try to hold the negs by the edges; when handling them, as

may be inevitable during certain stages of loading, apply as little

pressure as possible and they should be fine (I've never found a need

to 'sandwich' my negs between finger-and-thumb).

 

<p>

 

That said, you should be fine. It's fingerprints <i>after</i> they're

processed which drives me nuts, and with 67, this really seems to

cause problems...be extra careful after they're processed.

[thomas_wollstein]

I wonder if the grease is indeed washed away. Some of it may be

hydrolysed through the alkalinity of the developer, but I would think

that it will at least leave a mark, if the fingerprint is on the

emulsion side. It's grease, and grease repels water. Make a

fingerprint in a glass and pour in some developer for a while. Then

empty the glass and see if the print is gone. I guess it will at least

delay the action of the water-based developer until it has been

hydrolysed.

 

<p>

 

I don't think there is much to worry at this stage about finger prints

on the back of the film.

 

<p>

 

If you find it necessary to "sandwich" the film between finger and

thumb (as Shawn so neatly put it) there might be something wrong with

your tank/reels, or at least with your technique. The film should be

eased into the reels, being guided at the edges. Avoid holding the

film too tight as sharp bends may lead to blackening of the emulsion

and to opaque spots in the film base.

[scott_flathouse]

Thanks for the responses. I tried to be careful, and with 35mm it's

not such a big deal. But with 120, I was having a bit of a hard time

unrolling it without touching the film. And I guess I'll have to

postpone the Big Mac & fries until post-development...

[bill_zelinski]

Not to be too obvious here but most film supply houses sell cheap

white cotton gloves, no fingerprints ever.

[thomas_wollstein]

No fingerprints with the cotton gloves, but not much feeling for what

you are doing, either. I use them when mounting glossy prints, but to

get film spooled into the reels?

[bill_zelinski]

Sure, the gloves are fairly thin (don't try this with mittens) and it

works for me.

[jim_vanson2]

Scott..I've developed thousands (really) of rolls of 35mm film and

more recently hundreds of rolls of 120/220, all on Paterson reels,

with never a finger print UNTIL I get nosey and start peeking at wet

negs.

JUST A HUGE HINT: if your using Paterson reels with 35mm

film...leave the film leader out of the cartridge or pull it out 3

inches using a Kodak Leader retriever. With the lights ON you can

thread the extended leader into the slots of the Paterson reel, over

the tiny ball bearings that grip the sprocket holes. Once both edges

of the film are gripped by the bearings turn off the lights. Then

pull 18 inches or so of film out of the cartridge and ratchet it onto

the reel. Repeat until all the film is on the reel. Cut the film

allowing the cartridge to drop away.

The only things that can go wrong with this technique are 1)

Allowing the film to jump out of the reels starter slots because you

didn't hold your thumbs over them as you ratchet. 2) Jerking the

film out of a dirty cartridges felt light trap (because this method

is so easy that you wanted to see if you could ratchet the film on in

5 seconds, I takes me 30 seconds or so).

Anyone who has used the Paterson reels quickly learns to hold

their thumbs over those starter slot tabs. And all you have to do in

the second scene is keep the cassettes clean and in there cans. If

they get dirty once the light is out pry off the end of the cartridge

and slip the film that is already attached to the reel out of the

cartridge.

All this is all very easy to do. I could have probably

threaded 20 rolls onto reels, with a 100 percent success rate, in the

time it took me to write this...jim