Has Ilford fixed its film "Mottling" problem in 120 films?

[stevierose]

Back in 2020 and 2021 I ran into problems with Ilford MF film showing "mottling" of their emulsions that produced small irregular spots on the negatives. Ilford acknowledged the problem in a post on their site and I thought that they were trying to resolve it. This week I shot a couple of rolls of HP5+ 120 film that had expiration date of 10/22 and when these were developed they still showed this problem. So I tossed all of my film dated 2022. Before I go out and buy more film it would be great to know if they have fixed this. What has your experience been?

 

[Doug A]

I recently shot and developed a roll of 120 FP4+ with an expiration date of May 2023. It has what looks like the mottling others have described. I have also been shooting and developing 120 Kentmere 100 and 400 with 2024 expiration dates with no issues.

 

[Prest_400]

No reports as far as I have seen these last couple years. Have not put a thought into this, last Autumn I bought a couple bricks of Delta 400 and HP5, plus loose D100 and Kentmere all exp 2025. Out of caution I thought to refrigerate the film if possible; and of course, if this occurs due to time and after expiration, it is beyond their "guarantee".

I did have mottling in Delta 100 exp 2020 but shot 3 years after expiration, always kept at room temperature. Mottling which in 2021 was not there. Have shot some HP5 exp 22-23 a year after its respective expiration and had no problems. Have a single roll left of this batch that also has been Xrayed and I might use it as a torture test.

Acros II (made by Harman) did have reports about mottling as well.

 

[rodt16s]

I suffered badly with mottling from those affected years plus a some with later expiry
Really annoying, have had many ruined rolls of HP5+

 

[boojum]

I suffered badly with mottling from those affected years plus a some with later expiry
Really annoying, have had many ruined rolls of HP5+


View attachment 4841971

That's heartbreaking.

 

[Alpsman]

And while we mourn our damaged films - I am one of those affected - hordes of digital photographers are trying to create these errors or damages using software to get a real "film look". 🤣

 

[boojum]

And while we mourn our damaged films - I am one of those affected - hordes of digital photographers are trying to create these errors or damages using software to get a real "film look". 🤣

Yeah, right. Hordes.

 

[Sanug]

I have developed a FP4+ 120, Exp. Sep 2023, yesterday. I stored it in my quite wet basement at 15-20°C. No issues at all, it came out perfectly.

 

[css9450]

Well now! I just came across this thread and I realized that is EXACTLY what happened to the last roll of 120 Delta 100 that I processed - I got the same kind of spottiness that Rodt16s had in his photo above. I was convinced there was something on the lens or maybe a fungus growing in the camera because I developed three rolls at the same time - two 35mm and one 120 - and it was just the 120 roll that had the issue.

I think I will toss the remaining roll or two that I have left, rather than risk having it happen again.

 

[Godfrey]

Hmm. I have a used quite a few rolls of Ilford 120 film, a bunch of different emulsions, that all had expiration dates in the 2017 to 2021 range. I haven't seen any mottling at all. I've got five rolls left (expiration dates 2021) that I'll likely be shooting in the coming months; I'll keep an eye out for signs of uneven development.

I wonder if the issue has to do with processing methodology. I use daylight loading Rondinax 60 and Lab Box tanks for 120 film, which means I do continuous agitation through the entire development cycle. What sort of processing methodology are those seeing mottling doing?

G

 

[Alpsman]

I wonder if the issue has to do with processing methodology. I use daylight loading Rondinax 60 and Lab Box tanks for 120 film, which means I do continuous agitation through the entire development cycle. What sort of processing methodology are those seeing mottling doing?

As far as I can remember, I had this phenomenon on expired 120 Rollei Retro 400S. The film was developed with Ilfosol 3 in a Paterson can at 4 turns per minute. Just like all the other films.

 

[Freakscene]

Hmm. I have a used quite a few rolls of Ilford 120 film, a bunch of different emulsions, that all had expiration dates in the 2017 to 2021 range. I haven't seen any mottling at all. I've got five rolls left (expiration dates 2021) that I'll likely be shooting in the coming months; I'll keep an eye out for signs of uneven development.

I wonder if the issue has to do with processing methodology. I use daylight loading Rondinax 60 and Lab Box tanks for 120 film, which means I do continuous agitation through the entire development cycle. What sort of processing methodology are those seeing mottling doing?

G

Ilford acknowledged that it was a problem with backing paper. Humidity seemed to make it worse.

 

[Godfrey]

Interesting. Wonder what the chemistry is... 🙂
It's pretty dry around here, perhaps that's why I've not seen any problems.

G

 

[Freakscene]

Interesting. Wonder what the chemistry is... 🙂
It's pretty dry around here, perhaps that's why I've not seen any problems.

G

There are so many things that can happen it's hard to say. I haven't seen any actual data. It's inevitably a redox reaction involving organic accelerants, the silver itself, or antihalation agents. The specifications for things like backing paper used to be routine, but it's sufficiently specialist now that it is possible that the suppliers there are having problems too.

I miss the AGFA really slick, smooth feel of their backing paper and minty gummed tape on their 120 and 220 rolls.

 

[RJ-]

Back in 2020 and 2021 I ran into problems with Ilford MF film showing "mottling" of their emulsions that produced small irregular spots on the negatives...o I tossed all of my film dated 2022. Before I go out and buy more film it would be great to know if they have fixed this. What has your experience been?

Those were great years. I had a batch of 20 rolls of Ilford Pan F+ with the mottled wrecked emulsions. I discovered the hard way after 5 rolls. Determined, I ploughed through the rest of the 2 bricks/batch which had both been parasitised with mottled emulsion.

I was living in France at the time and near the rural farmlands, the local trees were being parasitised by Ivy clumps, slowly choking the life out of them.

I decided to use the batch for our next music album cover project - entitled "Parasite". It took several rolls for this shot. Lith printing, selenium toned onto Oriental Seagull FB paper.

Probably the most expensive album cover I've ever made with the outlay of Pan F+ film. The 2023/4 batches have been resolved thankfully (just developed the last batch from Spain this week).

 

[bucs]

Had this happen to a roll of short dated Delta 100. Stopped buying short dated Ilford since then.

For Ilford films I generally keep them in a cool dry place and use them up ahead of Kodak rolls which I store in the freezer.

 

[sebastel]

..., the local trees were being parasitised by Ivy clumps, slowly choking the life out of them.

that looks more like mistle.

(sorry, just had to tell)

 

[Muggins]

Interesting thread - I had something similar happen to a batch of Rerapan, expiry September 2017, that I kept past it's date - in fact, I can tell you the date because I still have one last roll! I suspect that may have been more storage than the film, though.

This is the backing paper:



And this is how it came out (better than I thought, actually!)

Rotary Engine by gray1720, on Flickr

 

[Vince Lupo]

The last update regarding this issue seems to have been in 2022 (link below). No idea whether their offer to replace these films is still valid, but it’s worth a try via their feedback page:

Updated 120 ROLL FILM STATEMENT

In March 2020 we issued a statement in relation to instances of spots / mottle affecting a small percentage of 120 roll film negatives.

www.ilfordphoto.com

I only had the issue with FP4 Plus. Pan F and Delta films were fine.

 

[RJ-]

that looks more like mistle.

(sorry, just had to tell)

Thanks that's it....mistletoe!