Tornado Problem in Negs

[Dana B.]

Please help. For awhile, I've experienced occasional tornado-like marks running through my MF negs. I've had them in my Fujifilm GF670 and Rolleicord Vb. At first, I thought they might be caused by airport X-rays. Then I thought the GF670 might be faulty, and sent it into the shop.

But I just developed some Tri-X shot through the Rollei -- and they're back. Lines run in direction of the negative. Tri-X souped in HC-110B, 68*, slow rolling pin agitation 10 secs. per minute. Are the tornadoes caused by the cameras, film, developing process, or something else? I hope someone here has a clue. Thanks.

Below are three pictures shot and developed in sequence:

1.

2.

3.

 

[sevo]

The one in #2 in particular looks as if the streak was (on negative) darker than the film, which suggests a light leak - processing is more likely to create underdevelopment streaks. Overdevelopment generally cannot occur isolated in some central area as the excess developer (or time) would somehow have to get there (which it hardly can without also affecting at least one edge).

Light leaks in two cameras are quite possible - the neoprene seals on just about every film camera are past their EOL. But first of all you should check whether your tank and darkroom/dark bag (or whatever you use to load it) aren't leaking light...

 

[Dana B.]

Sevo, Thanks. Could be a light leak, yes. I'll try a penlight inside the Rollei in the dark. Could try it in my Nikkor stainless two-reel tank as well. Other than that, I'm stumped. The dark lines have nuked a number of good negs.

 

[sevo]

One more thing - I've seen longitudinal streaks from surface silver deposits (visible as a rainbow-coloured reflection when looking at the negative in reflected light) all along the film when using D76 (and other developers with high sulfite content) in rotary processors. That issue is known and a result of over-agitating sulfite rich developers, so the use of HC110 makes that somewhat unlikely, as does a 10 out of 60 slow rolling agitation regime, but perhaps you overdo the latter, and HC110 has some similar agitation issue for another reason.

 

[Dwig]

It looks to me much more like a developing issue than an exposure issue.

Exposure, whether by light or mechanical stress, adds density to all portions of the film, whether highlight (dense on the neg) or shadow (thin to clear on the neg). Light leaks tend to be uneven as different portions of the roll are exposed to the light leak for varying amounts of time.

Developing issues, such as surge, will affect the various portions of the image proportionally. The denser portions of the neg will show a more pronounced effect than the thin and clear portions.

The OP should carefully examine the clear film between the images. Fogging or mechanical exposure should be evident there (except fogging through the film gate from the lens/bellows). Development flaws will not.

 

[Dana B.]

Sevo and Dwig: Thanks for the tips. I checked the negs tonight on a light box. There were no dark streaks in the clear zone between frames. So perhaps it's my agitation technique with HC110. May try the flip and twist technique, though rolling has worked well for me for years. Never had the problem with 135, only 120. I also got some photo tape to temporarily seal the camera. Will try less agitation first. Again, many thanks for the comments.

 

[Dana B.]

Could this be the infamous bromide drag? Perhaps I'm overfilling my tank; I can see developer in the fill hole before I cap it. Or not enough agitation. Whatever the case, your comments are very much appreciated.

 

[sevo]

Could this be the infamous bromide drag?

Well, it would have to be a inverted bromide drag phenomenon - bromide inhibits development. Not entirely impossible as a poorly designed tank or spiral might cause the developer mostly to flow in a small central area if the agitation is too low - but that is not that likely with currently available reputable tanks (which generally have been through half a century of improvements).