Grayish lines and spots on my film

[Sophie F]

I am a high school student using a canon ftb film camera. I made my contact sheet in the darkroom and noticed afterward that there were some weird lines on most of the pictures. My teacher said that she had noticed the same type of problem on other kids film, so it wasn't a random mistake like getting exposed to light. We think it has to do with the developing process. Not really sure what to make of it, I didn't really notice the lines on the film, only on the contact sheet. The film was pretty dark after developing.

[Tony Parsons]

Long time since I did any wet darkroom work, but some possibilities occur to me : maybe the developer wasn't quite deep enough to cover the entire width of the film; maybe the agitation was insufficient to ensure even development; maybe the tank was at an angle, so some of the film was not submerged some of the time. Are any of these likely ?

 

Tony

[john_shriver]

See how much water it takes to completely submerge the reel in the tank. Pour it into a measuring device. Be sure to use that much developer, stop, and fixer. Also note that some types of plastic tanks require a special clip on the center column to prevent the reel of film from creeping up, out of the developer.

 

Also, agitation by rotation (swizzle stick) in plastic reels almost always produces uneven results. You need a tank that can agitate by inversion.

 

Also, choose developer concentration and temperature such that you are developing at least 5 minutes, otherwise uneven development is very likely. Also be sure to pour in the developer quickly, you may need to tilt the tank to optimize this.

[rodeo_joe1]

Or just use a digital camera. Film is a very poor medium to learn with. There's too much delay between taking the picture and seeing the result. It interrupts Kolb's learning cycle, and as you've seen, there are too many variables to go wrong.

 

If the point of the exercise is to learn chemical process-control; film's fine. If it's to learn composition, lighting and improve visual awareness; film's rubbish.

 

It's almost impossible to diagnose the fault from those scans of contact sheets. Could be insufficient developer, "cinching" from loading the film into the developing reels roughly, or drying marks. None of which will be a problem with a digital camera.

Edited March 10, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

[Ed_Ingold]

Low developer level would be evident on all frames, not just the strips in question. Offhand, it looks like the film was not loaded properly in the developing reel, causing it to buckle, possibly touching film in the next layer. The diagonal hash marks are clearly caused by buckling, which will cause dark marks due to stress on the emulsion.

 

You must practice loading the film reel, using old orr developed film, until you can do it smoothly without buckling. If you hear scraping or snapping, you are doing it wrong. Once buckled, it is very difficult to load the film correctly afterwards. I switched to using stainless steel reels early in my career. It takes a little time to learn, especially without using a loader (which scratches the film), but you are rewarded with fewer problems and better contact with the chemicals. Plastic reels are loaded from the outside in, so the leader must be pushed the full length of the coil. SS reels are loaded from the inside out.

 

SS reels are typically used in plastic or SS tanks with a sealed lid, and are agitated by inversion.

[bethe_fisher]

It looks to me like there was enough developer in the tank since the lines are on both edges (sometimes in the same frame, I think). Like Ed said, it might have been loaded on the reel so that it jumped the slot in areas - not enough to completely block , but enough to block it much of the time.

 

Also, did you have something on top of it while making the contact sheet? Was it in plastic sleeves?

[Sophie F]

Yes bethe_fisher it was in plastic sleeves.

[robert_hill11]

Or just use a digital camera. Film is a very poor medium to learn with. There's too much delay between taking the picture and seeing the result. It interrupts Kolb's learning cycle, and as you've seen, there are too many variables to go wrong.

 

If the point of the exercise is to learn chemical process-control; film's fine. If it's to learn composition, lighting and improve visual awareness; film's rubbish.

 

It's almost impossible to diagnose the fault from those scans of contact sheets. Could be insufficient developer, "cinching" from loading the film into the developing reels roughly, or drying marks. None of which will be a problem with a digital camera.

 

 

Really???? How so, if anything learning shutter/aperture and ISO/ASA settings from using film has made me a MUCH better photographer, because EACH SHOT COUNTS!! No chimping. Besides, digital cameras have issues as well, try to do looooong exposures on a digital without the sensor overheating and creating hot spots...and some film cameras, good ones I might add DO NOT NEED BATTERIES!!! And the first instruction most photographic instuctors tell you to do is put the camera on MANUAL....now why is that???

 

Please, don't be so one sided, Art is in the eye of the beholder...not the process..

[robert_hill11]

My 2 cents on the original question...do all of you students reload the film canisters? I have seen this from the light proofing strips on the canisters, when they get worn they can actually scratch the emulsion side of the film...looks too linear to be a agitation issue.

[bethe_fisher]

Yes bethe_fisher it was in plastic sleeves.

It's possible the sleeves didn't get pushed down well enough for the contact print. That could make wrinkles in the plastic show as more dense areas in the print. Do the negatives themselves have the lines? (if you see this, sorry for not checking back sooner)

[rodeo_joe1]

"Really???? How so."

- I explained exactly "how so" in my original post.

 

Any HALFWAY DECENT DIGITAL CAMERA CAN BE PUT ON MANUAL TOO! THERE'S NOTHING TO STOP EVERY DIGITAL SHOT COUNTING EITHER. And I'm not impressed by unnecessary use of capitals.

 

I have qualifications in education and photography, and almost a lifetime of photographic experience. More than half of that using film.

I think I know what I'm talking about when I say film is an awful medium to learn with.

 

Technique is easy to learn. The rudiments of aperture and shutter speed can be quickly taught, shown and seen using the instant feedback of a digital camera. With film, not so.

 

Besides, exposure control is a fairly low level skill - after all, a machine can do it! Training the eye to see a picture and cultivating the imagination to make a picture is far more important, and far more demanding of time and application.

 

In the end the medium is quite unimportant. It's the final image that counts.

[httpwww.photo.netmarku]

looks like those are not well developed by a developer.

[wogears]

Rodeo Joe: The original question was about film on a film forum. If you have no comment on the OP, just stay out of the thread. This is presumably about a class the poster is taking, and he may not have the option to use digital.