Uneven development issue

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>How long between the pour out of the developer and pour in of the stop bath?</p>

<p>The developer should have been thoroughly mixed so I doubt it is the cause.</p>

[vania_plemiannikov]

<p>Pretty fast since it was a one reel tank. Maximum 10 sec to pour out the dev and start the rinse. I don't use a stop bath since my times are always quite long (more than 12 minutes). I change the water 6-7 times in a minute.</p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>I notice 3 very straight lines down the right side of the posted picture which I assume is from the scanner.</p>

<p>The uneven line you have question about is probably caused by developer running down the frame a second or two before the rest of the film. If this continues then I would switch to a two reel tank to process a single roll and have the roll on bottom with an empty reel on top.</p>

<p>What dilution of HC110 did you use? Are you using the US or European concentrate?</p>

[john carter]

<p>Another thought from left field. My scanner has some of your problems when I use curved (the long way) film. But get a glass and check the negatives to be sure, this is really in response to Charles first suggestion.</p>

[vania_plemiannikov]

<p>Yes I should invest in some newton glass thing for the scan to keep the negs flat and even but as I don't use the scanner for anything else than contact print replacement, I can't justify the spending yet...<br /> So it's not the syrup as it just happend with PMK also but only on 3 frames (out of 12) and for the first time. The only thing I did differently was using a pre-soak. I usually don't do it with PMK but I guess was in automatic mode and mindlessly poured water in the tank. It seems strange to me that a pre-soak could do that as it is suppose to help getting even developments.<br />On the other hand I got a clean even development with HC-110 and the only thing I did differently to the ones that gave me the white stipe was using a 2% acetic acid stop bath instead of plain water. Development time was 12 min for 1:66 dilution. Long enough so an acid stop bath was not needed, so there again it is quite surprising...<br />Does it make sense to anyone that either a pre-soak or water stop bath (I used water with PMK also) could result in that over-exposed white stripe ?<br />Thanks.<br />V.</p>

[vania_plemiannikov]

<p>Charles,<br>

I fear you are right and using only one film for 2 reels could solve some problems, but it is such a waste of time to develop only one roll at a time and it makes it hard to keep up with the working flow... Anyway I'm confident I should be able to get proper development using my equipment the way it was intended to be. Hope I'm not dreaming...</p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>I use pre wet and water stop bath and never have a problem. I have never used a single reel 35mm tank, those that did I knew did occasionally have development problems.</p>

[dana_bartholomew]

<p>Here's another approach, taught to me by a Brooks grad and news photog colleague in the biz 30 years. Instead of inversions, gently roll your canister the length of your counter (three or four feet) and back for 10 seconds at the top of each minute. Then give the canister a couple of vertical taps on the counter to shake loose the bubbles. I use stainless steel and D-76 1:1. Works for me.</p>