How did I fog this negative this way?

[dan_mccormack2]

I've recently started learning to develop my own film. I've done about

seven rolls of 120 and three sheets of 4x5 so far. At first they

turned out surprisingly well but lately I've started to have some

annoying problems. I've had some purple tint in my TMax rolls, which

based on searches here I've determined is probably due to the fact

that my fixer was exhausted (I reused the same batch of fixer for all

the above-mentioned film, which I've since learned is not a good

idea.<br /><br />

 

But I had another problem with my last roll that I don't think was due

to exhausted fixer. The roll was fogged all along the length of it,

and the fog is evident throughout most of the center of the roll,

leaving only the edges untouched (see below).<br /><br />

 

It's Ilford D3200 developed for 9:45 in Microdol-X 1+1 at 78°F

(room temperature here in Puerto Rico), stopped in Kodak Indicating

Stop Bath (diluted 1+19) for 1 minute, then fixed in the exhausted

Kodak fixer (mixed from powder) for five minutes with agitation every

30 seconds.<br /><br />

 

The camera was a Holga, which adds some variability to the equation,

but I haven't seen this type of light leak from the camera, so I

suspect it happened sometime during development.<br /><br />

 

Is it possible I contaminated the film while I wound it onto the

spool? It was the second roll I'd processed that night, although I was

careful to wash and dry the daylight tank and my hands carefully with

dish detergent before handling or processing the new roll. Also, since

I have one of the plastic spools with the ball bearings, I really

don't touch the film much as I wind it into the spool, so if it had

been contaminated I wouldn't expect the results to be evident along

the entire length of the roll. So I kind of doubt that's the problem

too. But I can't imagine what else it could be.<br /><br />

 

Any ideas? Does this kind of fogging look familiar to you guys? Thanks.<div></div>

[troyammons]

I am not careful at all about washing scrubbing etc. I just rinse my tanks out and let them dry.

 

That is probably light leak either from your camera, tank or more likely when you loaded the film on the spool.

 

How are you loading your film ??

 

Dark Room or a tent or a bag.

[hilander]

I'd have to agree with Troy that it's a light leak somewhere. D3200 fogs much easier than a

regular speed film. Have you shot this film in your Holga before? It could be a light leak in

your camera that you really don't notice on regular speed film but will for fog high speed

film.

[troyammons]

Could be the shutter.

 

Suspicious tha it is strong right in the center

[michael erlich]

Could it be a light leak from the red window in the Holga back?

[pnance]

Are you sure the film is fixed correctly, it looks like the film may not be cleared in the center.

[dan_mccormack2]

<i>"How are you loading your film ?? Dark Room or a tent or a bag."</i><br /><br />

 

I loaded the film into the camera indoors in dim light, but it wasn't a darkroom. Loading it onto the spool for processing was in a darkroom. Could it have gotten fogged when I loaded it in the camera?<br /><br />

 

<i>"I'd have to agree with Troy that it's a light leak somewhere. D3200 fogs much easier than a regular speed film. Have you shot this film in your Holga before? It could be a light leak in your camera that you really don't notice on regular speed film but will for fog high speed film."</i><br /><br />

 

Ah, that's a good point. This was my first time shooting 3200 speed film in the Holga (or ever, actually). Since the Holga is far from light-tight (I haven't taped it up or anything aside from adding velcro tabs to keep the back on when I drop it), I wouldn't be surprised if the fogging was just due to the sensitivity of the film revealing leaks which weren't apparent with the 400 speed film I normally shoot. I've got two more rolls of D3200 — I'll see if it happens with those as well. Thanks.

[nige_buddy]

<I>"The roll was fogged all along the length of it, and the fog is evident throughout most of the center of the roll, leaving only the edges untouched (see below)."</I>

<P>

Is it milky looking? If yes, then it's the fixer. A light leak, properly processed :), will be density (i.e. black on the neg). Easily to see the difference once you've seen both!

[martin_pistor]

Hi Dan,

you don't mention if it's 135 or 120.

Older sources mention the sensitivity of film to pressure. If it's only center of film and 120 film but not related to the frames, this might be the roll lying between heavy edgy stuff inside your bag or elsewhere.

I'm not sure if the white strip on your scan is part of the object or part of the fault. If the latter this could be sharp bending.

Still strange.

Good luck

 

Martin

[dan_mccormack2]

I'm intrigued by Troy's statement that he never washes out the tank between rolls. I'd been frustrated by that step, because it really makes the whole process much more arduous. I guess I'll have to do some searches here to be sure there really isn't any harm in doing that.<br /><br />

 

<i>"Is it milky looking? If yes, then it's the fixer. A light leak, properly processed :), will be density (i.e. black on the neg). Easily to see the difference once you've seen both!"</i><br /><br />

 

Ahh, good point. It is, in fact, whitish-looking, not black. I guess all my problems are due to my exhausted fixer then. That's good to know :)<br /><br />

 

So it sounds like fixer is the chemical you go through fastest, then? I usually use my developer (Microdol-X) diluted 1+3, so my first gallon has lasted quite a while. But if I'm supposed to use my fixer undiluted and discard it after the first use, I guess I'd better pick up several bags of it next time I'm at the photo lab. Thanks for all the help.

[nige_buddy]

Dan, fixer can be reused it's just you might have encountered the combination of somewhat exhausted fixer and TMax film which I think everyone agrees needs more fixing than other films, especially traditional ones (FP4, HP5, etc). I use Ilford Hypam and keep a record (on a whyteboard) of how many films I've processed with it. Once I've reached about 3/4 of the recommended capacity I turf it even if it's still working fine. Refix you negs, either in a tray or by refeeding onto a reel (the preferred option). Last time I did this with cut strips I dried by standing up on their edge but next time (hopefully I don't have to) I'll leave them on the reel to dry.

[de3euk]

I use the following method with my reused fixer. I take a piece of the exposed film, for 135 the lip I cut off before loading and for 120 the piece that remained at the backing paper after I cut it off. Now I time how long it takes for this piece of film to become clear in a little bowl of fixer. Nothing else is done to this piece of film. I will fix the whole film for twice the time it took the little piece to clear. Once this time gets above 5 minutes I dispose of the fixer and make a new batch. Some people also discard the batch once the time is twice as long as the time it took for the first roll to clear.

[dan_mccormack2]

Ah, good, a deterministic way to know how long to fix for. I haven't been cutting off the ends of my 120 rolls, I just rip the tape and leave it attached to the film (I tried peeling it off of the film but it's stuck pretty well and just creases the film when I try to remove it). I was concerned that leaving the tape on would affect the chemical reactions somehow, but it has seemed to work OK. Still, I'll start cutting it off so I can do the fixer test. What do people use when they develop sheet film? I guess I can sacrifice a sheet and cut it up into strips, and use one strip each time I develop film. Or is there a better way?

[michael_standing]

It appears from your post that you are using Kodak Fixer and not a rapid fixer. Kodak Fixer takes longer to do it's job, especially with T-Max films. Typically I will fix for 10 to 15 minutes with this fixer. You should get clear or nearly clear areas where there has not been any exposure. Usually with T-max I'll use only fresh fixer rather than re-using it time and again. I'll use the more exhausted fixer for other things that may not be so important. Another thought would be to do a double fix of your film. Use the used, but not exhausted fixer for the first 5 to 7 minutes of fixation then replace it with fresher fixer for the last 5 to 8 minutes. Once the first fixer bath tests exhausted, discard it and use the second fixer bath for the first and get new fixer for the second fixer step (I hope that makes sense). You can test the fixer bath with a HypoCheck solution (19% potasium iodide (aq)) rather than using the film technique described in a previous post. I find that the film technique works best when testing rapid fixers and the HypoCheck works well with standard fixers.

 

Good luck working this one through.

 

Mike