Weird speckles - what caused this?

[GregB]

Hi everyone.
Just developed the first roll from a wedding I went to on Friday. All the shots look fine zoomed out, but at 100% they have these strange white speckles. It's PanF in Ilfosol S 1+9 scanned with a Coolscan V. Any idea what might cause this so I can prevent it happening again?
Cheers,
Greg

 

[Silva Lining]

Interesting Greg, it looks like noise from the scanner to me, have you had a look at the negs with a Loupe or magnifying glass for corresponding black speckles?

 

[Ronald M]

You have debris in the solutions or wash water or dirty air.

Start looking at the bottom of storage bottles, glass is best, and get new ones. air filtres, water filters, and a clean darkroom help.

My first guess is silver precipitate from used fix.

I have one rule that I learned from Fred Picker of Zone VI. Never pour anything back into a bottle. All this stuff goes away and it is earier than trying to find all the sources.

 

[John Robertson]

My first guess would be noise, but you will have to look at the negs through a powerful magnifier, if there are black marks there, then Ronalds answer would apply. Has to be a process of elimination I'm afraid!!

 

[jano]

I used to get this all the time. Try washing longer or use a clearing agent like hypoclear or whatever it is called. Also try changing out your fixer, maybe mix it with distilled or purified water. I did all the above at once, so couldn't pinpoint which one of these fixed the problem, however, it still does show up on occasion.

Jano

 

[aad]

I guess you get to pick-but I lean towards the dirt answer. I hven't seen noise like that. I can't say I've seen it from sharpening either.

 

[GregB]

Thanks for all your answers everyone!
I've managed to eliminate the scanner as the source. I scanned the image again and every white speck shows up in the same place as the original scan. Must be dirt in one or more of the solutions. I think I'll go with Ronald's answer and just use fresh chemicals every time. I'll keep you all posted!
Greg

 

[daveozzz]

Yeah I used to get this too. Not noise or sharpening - you're thinking along the right lines with the fresh chemicals. Distillled water and photoflo helps hugely too.