any idea what these marks are and how to fix?

[sirius]

Hello,

I keep getting this stuff near the edge of my film. Is it washing, old chemicals, dust? Any suggestions?

tri-x, 20C, ISO 200, 6.5 min, agitated every 30 sec for 5 seconds, TMAX RS developer

thanks all!

 

[sirius]

finger prints?

 

[charjohncarter]

Both edges? I like the fingerprint possibility, but if it is one both edges and along the complete length then maybe not. Are there particles in either your developer or the other chemicals, this would probably only be on one edge though?

 

[JohnL]

Do you filter your water?

 

[leif e]

I´ve had similar in the past - more than once. I´ve thought the reason could have been that I´ve been too keen sponging off excess water, having rubbed dust or something similar into the film ...
leif e

 

[xayraa33]

drying film where dust might be flying around can cause this.
some films like APX 100 are more notorious for this when I finish them off with Kodak photo flo.

 

[drewbarb]

If you watch your next roll, I suspect you will find that these marks are appearing on the edge of the film that is to the bottom in the tank. It looks to me like mineral deposits from hard water, which will settle very slowly toward the bottom of your tanks after your agitation and adhere to the film slowly over the course of your development routine. See if you can find a cheap water testing kit and see what's in your water. You might look into filtering your water- not your chemistry- and/or see if there is a way to fix it chemically. Good luck!

 

[colyn]

I agree with Drew.. You should always use distilled water to mix your chemicals to avoid this..

 

[eric rose]

are you scanning or printing your negs? in addition to the fine comments above I would check your scanner for dust under the glass if these were scanned.

 

[foto_fool]

I had a similar problem once that I traced to crystaline precipitate in old fixer. But the deposit was spread pretty uniformly across the film. If these are only along one edge - fingerprints (as mentioned)? Dirty tank reels?

 

[sirius]

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone. I appreciate your help.

I didn't use filtered water for mixing my chemicals or developing, so that is a strong possibility. I am getting near the bottom of my chemicals and it may be precipitate. I load the reels with my hands gripping the edges of the film and maybe that is transferring some oil onto the rolls. I don't think it is dust, it looks too crystalline and is not uniform. It mostly occurs on the photos on the outermost part of the reel. I think it might be the bottom part that is in the tank.

 

[kipkeston]

Looks most like skin cells from gripping to close from the edge. But everyone has a theory!

 

[dazedgonebye]

I've actually seen some of that come out of the mini lab I use.

 

[MartinP]

A bit of cotton-wool pushed down the spout of a funnel is ideal for filtering home-mixed chemicals and would, at least, remove that possibility. Seeing as you mentioned that you use liquid-concentrate based chems then the possibility of something in the liquids goes to the wash water. You can use a household water filter jug to clean your rinse water very successfully.

I did always wonder though, how solid particles could possibly stick firmly to film, instead of just swishing past in the rinse . . .