Neutronarmy
Member
I've been developing black and white on my own for maybe six months now, and it has mostly been successful. The last two rolls I developed, however, showcased one recurring issue and a few interesting new ones.
First of all, the sample is located here; I had originally planned to attach the image but thought a full scan may help clarify things.
The issue circled in red is entirely new and appears heavily in shots with open sky (from looking at the emulsion it seems to exist on most shots, but is very noticable in the sky); I had a vaguely similar issue once that I deduced through another message board down to developer frothing and I am curious if perhaps that is happening again. I always thorougly rinse my tanks, but I think I may start using a different container for a wetting agent to avoid any contamination.
The issue circled in yellow is also entirely new to me. It appears almost as a pinhole and I don't even know exactly where to start with that one. This is the only shot where it is really apparent, but I haven't combed all of the negatives yet.
The blue issue is obviously dust or dirt of some kind - and it is everywhere. However, even after liberal film cleaning (with a generic anti-static film cleaner at my workplace), it does not want to be removed. It appears to be well embedded in the emulsion of the film - another new issue.
If I am to expect any guidance I should explain my process; I'll try to be as detailed as possible.
I use plastic reels of this variety and a plastic tank (ocassionally an Omega and ocassionally another older style that came thrown in with my enlarging equipment). Last night I presoaked my film for a minute in roughly 20 degree water. I then developed two rolls of Tri-X rated at 400 and used D76 1+1 at 20 degrees for 9.75 minutes. I agitated for the first 30 seconds and then for 5 seconds every 30 seconds following.
After the developer I used a water stop consisting of two sets of ten agitations (emptying between sets). I followed with Kodafix diluted 1+4 that I had used for perhaps four other rolls of film. I followed the same agitation technique for 6 minutes (however, I forgot to cool the fixer and it was probably about 28 degreees). I don't know if I care for Kodafix: I just switched to it to save money over Ilford Rapid Fix and it doesn't always clear the very edges of the film. Perhaps it is my fault and not the fixer's.
I then used the Ilford-style wash, filling and emptying the tank for a series of 10-20-30 agitations. I followed with a distilled water rinse with three drops of Edwal LFN Wetting agent for one minute (with constnat slow agitation).
After I removed the two reels I loaded them into my film dryer built on plans from Shutterbug. I use a low heat for 8 minutes, flipping the reels after 4. I do question this choice of technique and am curious if it may be leading to any potential issues. After the film dryer I left for an hour or two with the film still on clips and then returned later in the evening.
I then cut the negatives into strips of four and sleeved them. I had originally used the film cutter available at my workplace (a photo lab), but was concerned that it was scratching my negatives (it is old and not of the greatest quality - a strike against one hour labs; I also thought that the storage between darkroom and workplace in film canisters may have been an issue): I have had a relatively consistent problem with small lengthwise scratches on most of my negatives; they aren't that noticable when scanning, but stick out prominently when wet printing. Even after cutting by hand, these last two rolls still exhibit similar scratching. I am curious if perhaps my choice of reels - which I find easier to load - may be leading to said scratches. The ratcheting mechanism extends over the entire length of the film instead of merely near the sprockets and perhaps an imperfection/debris is scratching the film while loading. This is just an idea, one I plan to test with my next roll (I have some other plastic reels with a more standard loading mechanism that I used when I first started).
Well, I hope I explained everything well and I greatly appreciate any help that you kind folks may send my direction. RFF has been an invaluable resource for someone just getting into rangefinder photography and darkroom processing. Thanks again in advance.
-Chris
First of all, the sample is located here; I had originally planned to attach the image but thought a full scan may help clarify things.
The issue circled in red is entirely new and appears heavily in shots with open sky (from looking at the emulsion it seems to exist on most shots, but is very noticable in the sky); I had a vaguely similar issue once that I deduced through another message board down to developer frothing and I am curious if perhaps that is happening again. I always thorougly rinse my tanks, but I think I may start using a different container for a wetting agent to avoid any contamination.
The issue circled in yellow is also entirely new to me. It appears almost as a pinhole and I don't even know exactly where to start with that one. This is the only shot where it is really apparent, but I haven't combed all of the negatives yet.
The blue issue is obviously dust or dirt of some kind - and it is everywhere. However, even after liberal film cleaning (with a generic anti-static film cleaner at my workplace), it does not want to be removed. It appears to be well embedded in the emulsion of the film - another new issue.
If I am to expect any guidance I should explain my process; I'll try to be as detailed as possible.
I use plastic reels of this variety and a plastic tank (ocassionally an Omega and ocassionally another older style that came thrown in with my enlarging equipment). Last night I presoaked my film for a minute in roughly 20 degree water. I then developed two rolls of Tri-X rated at 400 and used D76 1+1 at 20 degrees for 9.75 minutes. I agitated for the first 30 seconds and then for 5 seconds every 30 seconds following.
After the developer I used a water stop consisting of two sets of ten agitations (emptying between sets). I followed with Kodafix diluted 1+4 that I had used for perhaps four other rolls of film. I followed the same agitation technique for 6 minutes (however, I forgot to cool the fixer and it was probably about 28 degreees). I don't know if I care for Kodafix: I just switched to it to save money over Ilford Rapid Fix and it doesn't always clear the very edges of the film. Perhaps it is my fault and not the fixer's.
I then used the Ilford-style wash, filling and emptying the tank for a series of 10-20-30 agitations. I followed with a distilled water rinse with three drops of Edwal LFN Wetting agent for one minute (with constnat slow agitation).
After I removed the two reels I loaded them into my film dryer built on plans from Shutterbug. I use a low heat for 8 minutes, flipping the reels after 4. I do question this choice of technique and am curious if it may be leading to any potential issues. After the film dryer I left for an hour or two with the film still on clips and then returned later in the evening.
I then cut the negatives into strips of four and sleeved them. I had originally used the film cutter available at my workplace (a photo lab), but was concerned that it was scratching my negatives (it is old and not of the greatest quality - a strike against one hour labs; I also thought that the storage between darkroom and workplace in film canisters may have been an issue): I have had a relatively consistent problem with small lengthwise scratches on most of my negatives; they aren't that noticable when scanning, but stick out prominently when wet printing. Even after cutting by hand, these last two rolls still exhibit similar scratching. I am curious if perhaps my choice of reels - which I find easier to load - may be leading to said scratches. The ratcheting mechanism extends over the entire length of the film instead of merely near the sprockets and perhaps an imperfection/debris is scratching the film while loading. This is just an idea, one I plan to test with my next roll (I have some other plastic reels with a more standard loading mechanism that I used when I first started).
Well, I hope I explained everything well and I greatly appreciate any help that you kind folks may send my direction. RFF has been an invaluable resource for someone just getting into rangefinder photography and darkroom processing. Thanks again in advance.
-Chris