TMax 400 prone to scratching?

[pismo923]

I have recently started using TMax 400 and it seems to be more prone to scratches than either Arista Premium or HP5. Is this something that others have noticed and is there something I can do in the development process to minimize this? I am developing in DD-X and fixing for 5 minutes.

 

[icebear]

Scratching has nothing to do with the development process itself but rather with the manual handling of the film surface.

How you take it out of the film can, how you reel it onto your development reel and so on. In complete darkness you have to extra careful and take you sweet time rather than rush it.

Once the scratch is there information is lost. Be careful with your film.
Back in the time when I used film ... ages ago, I never had scratches once I got the hang of it. TM-Y was my standard choice of film, pushed it to 800.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

You can also add alum hardener to your fixer, which will help protect the emulsion once it dries. Icebear is correct that the emulsion of all films is very fragile while wet -- the emulsion is in a purified gelatin layer that absorbs water and becomes quite soft when wet. Try wearing nitrile gloves when developing/handling your wet film.

Also check your cameras: a burr at the film gate or pressure plate can scratch up a lot of film. Obviously it would show the same on all film run through that camera.

Another possible area for scratches is the felt light trap on film cassettes. If you are using reloadable cassettes, make sure that the felt light trap is clean and consider discarding a reloadable cassette after a certain number of uses (20? 100?). Also when you load your film onto reels, try to take the cassette apart rather than pulling the film past the light trap again.

Good luck.

Ben Marks

 

[marcr1230]

Here was my experience:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73872

 

[jawarden]

Here was my experience:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73872

I took a look at that thread and I'm surprised that nobody suggested a different negative storage product for you. I didn't like the slide-in storage systems either (many people use them with no issues but I figure why slide your negative on something when you don't have to).

To the OP - if you too find your scratches are coming from your negative sleeves do a google search for "Print File FF35 Foldflap 35mm 6-Frame Sleeves", which close around your negs with no sliding. No scratches whatsoever.

 

[John Bragg]

Also beware film squeegees. They can cause a lot of damage even in careful hands.

 

[pismo923]

Thanks for the suggestions and links. In general, I think I am reasonably careful with handling the film be it HP5 or Tmax or whatever, and did not have the issue before I started using TMax so perhaps it is something else that has changed. I don't think I have become less careful or more hurried. I have used all three films with the same camera/scanner so I don't think it's the camera. Basically I am scanning the film once it's dried and before the negatives go into storage. I am going to try a longer drying time i.e. 24 hrs as suggested as the next step. Thanks again for your helpful insights. Appreciate it!

 

[kdemas]

I had a little trouble with TMAX 400 scratching in a Watson bulk loader. Switched to a LLoyd's... problem solved.

Hope you find the issue, it's a great film!

Kent

 

[Noll]

I noticed that my last 2 rolls of tmax 400 in 120 had lots of fine, parallel scratches running along the length of the film. It's not from the TLR, as my color film doesn't show this - nor does my other 120 b&w film.

Haven't figured out why they are there, though my suspicions lie in the producer.