Anybody know what these are?

[janet cull]

I took a roll of film to a camera shop to be processed. When I

printed the negs today, a few of the images came out with what looks

like very small dark holes or specks. I can't see anything on the

negatives themselves, but to show up as small as they did on the

prints they would have to be microscopic on the negatives. I wonder

if the film was bad or if it happened in the processing? Looks like

tiny holes in the negative that let light bleed or something???

 

I tried calling the camera shop, but no answers there. I'll post one

that shows the specks - pardon the quality overall...not bothering to

fix this!

[stephen hazelton]

I recall seeing this problem years ago on 620 film. I suspect it is just a problem with crud in the paper chemicals (maybe undisolved chemicals?). They should be able (and willing!) to reprint it, if it's not on the negative.

[m0002a]

If you have read this forum much, you probably have seen numerous complaints about conventional B&W film developed at a lab. There is absolutely no limit to how a lab can screw it up. There is no good option other than to develop the film yourself.

 

Obviously, if you are using a C-41 B&W film (like Ilford XP-2), a lab is the best way to go because they use fairly sophisticated machines for the processing. But if the lab that you used ruined the film with pinholes (or other defects), then try another lab.

[m_bailey]

Janet,

 

Without knowing how the lab processed (small tank, machine, etc) it's almost impossible to know what caused these thinner spots on the negatives, other than to say it most likely WAS the lab. If you're going to shoot traditional B&W, take the time and learn to process on your own in the bathtub. You'll get MUCH better results and be spending less than $1.00 a roll.

 

Best of luck.

[m0002a]

In the bathtub? I guess I have doing it wrong all these years.

[curt wiler]

If these are truly in the negative, and this was conventional b&w film, then I would say that I have seen the same sort of pin holes when the stop bath was to strong; the reaction produced very small bubbles in the emulsion. After the film is dry most of the evidence is gone, but you can see clear spots when you look at the emulsion and shine a light on the same side. It may even be possible to feel little bumps.

[stephen_benskin]

It's hard to say what they are from such a small reproduction, but they look something like splatter. It's caused by stray water hitting the film sometime in the drying process. This can easily happen even if you do your own film. For the amount of film a good lab does, the damage rate is usually extremely low. The difference is when you make a mistake, you tend to forgive yourself much more readily.

[doug_bennett]

I'll second some of the other posts: process your own film! The stuff needed to do it is quite inexpensive, it's easy to do, and fun to do. My problems ceased when I started doing it my self.

 

Your negatives are literally priceless. Once damaged, that's it. So, process your own, and keep them in good quality sleeves. Chris Waller said it so well a year ago: "The answer is, in my experience, to handle negs like the bones of the saints, i.e. rarely and with great reverence".

[j.w.]

Janet;

 

The small spots in your scanned print appear a bit out of focus to me; that is, they don't have sharp edges. I don't know if this is due to the quality of the scan, but if the prints you've done show the 'soft' holes, you should carefully examine the negatives under a magnifyer or loupe. Its not that hard to see such holes in negatives, if you back-light them, using a light table or other similar method.

 

If they were caused by dust on the film in the camera, they would block exposure onto areas of film which would develop normally as dark, hence the marks in the film would look lighter, which would print then as dark marks. However, pinholes in the emulsion during the developing process can also look similar - causing the emulsion to be clear, thus printing as dark marks.

 

I don't think these spots would be caused by your darkroom printing process. Any blockage of light through the enlarger, caused by dust, would print as light spots, not dark.

 

Its either the lab's fault, or dust in your camera.

[wickedmartini]

They look as if they may be differential drying marks. This happens when the emulsion dries at an uneven rate and creates very small circular marks on the film. The emulsion in that area dries down to be slightly thinner than the surrounding emulsion and therefore will transmit light more efficiently during printing. This produces the higher density that you are seeing. A 30 minute bath in a slightly warm solution of water and photo-flo may do the trick.

 

I hope that helps...

 

Michael D. D'Avignon

[danny_liao]

Sometimes old or bad or even poorly mixed developer crystalize causing the

developing liquid to have small chuncks or flakes of undesolved developer.

These chunks often stick to the emulsion causing hot spots on your negs.

This might be the problem.