Acros 100: odd residue/spots on negs (and a grain question)

[philipus]

I don't have much experience with Acros 100 and recently shot my first rolls in 135 and 120.

So far I've only scanned one 120 roll and I noticed an odd residue of white spots and streaks on all images. Below are a few examples at 100%, note that the residue is also on the emulsion outside the image.

This is how I developed:

• In HC-110:H at 18C, a bit cool perhaps but all chemicals and water had this temp. Could the cooler temp cause this?
  
• Using Ilford stop, which I also reuse, but perhaps it has gone old/bad? I think I've used the same stop for more than a year, which may be a bit excessive. There is no residue in the stop.
  
• My Ilford fixer, which I reuse, has plenty (as in lots and lots) of black "stuff" in it - could the white residue/spots be black fixer residue? Oddly I haven't had this on any of my previous rolls.
  
• I washed well, as I always do, filling the tank and agitating 30x5 times. Then I took each spiral and dipped in a container with water and a tiny bit of Ilfotol and shook off the water before hanging the film.
  
• I used ordinary tap water which I always do without any similar problems.

About the grain - does this look like normal 120 Acros 100 grain (ignoring for a moment the white spots; this is perhaps best seen on the last image)?

Thanks very much in advance for your thoughts
Philip

 

[jim_jm]

I've been using Acros 100 for years, and it is a very fine-grained film. I routinely develop 120 Acros in HC-110 Dil B, and recently finished a number of rolls at about 18C. I even have a tough time seeing the grain in the focusing magnifier when printing 8x10s.

One year-old stop bath is pushing it. You'd be better off dumping it and just using water (or dilute vinegar)for a stop bath, if you don't have any stock solution left.

Don't use fixer with stuff floating in it like you describe. It'll give you problems sooner or later.

The white streaks and speckles on your film look like residue from your wash water, or a problem with that old fixer. It may be something has changed with the quality of your tap water also. Just get some distilled water and use it when you mix your final wetting agent. You can re-use it, but don't let it get too old either. I've seen nasty things growing in old Photo-flo.

 

[philipus]

Thank you very much for you reply, Jim. What you describe in terms of grain is what I would have expected so I clearly did something wrong (sheepish smile), because afaik nothing has changed with our tap water here.

I will mix up new stop bath and fixer and try on a new film this morning. I think I might have some distilled water too so I could use that for the final wash.

Just a follow-up question: Is there a way to clean negatives? I'm thinking both of removing drying marks and removing these spots/streaks. Perhaps there's a mild solvent one can use?

Br
Philip

 

[John Bragg]

The black stuff you describe is silver precipitate and is a sign that the fixer is over worked. Dump the fixer and make fresh in a new bottle as you will never get rid of it all and future film damage will occur. It adheres to the film and is nigh impossible to remove with resulting white spots when scanned or printed. The watermark is a drying issue. Perhaps some mineral deposit from tap water in your supply.

 

[philipus]

Thanks John. I've today mixed new fixer in a new bottle so hopefully that will help.

About the drying marks, can those be removed using a solvent or water? I've seen posts on the internet that one could mix a tiny bit of pure alcohol with water possibly but I'm not sure that's at all a good idea. I realise it's impossible to clean off silver precipitate but it would be great to be able to remove ordinary drying marks (from mineral deposits or such).

br
Philip

The black stuff you describe is silver precipitate and is a sign that the fixer is over worked. Dump the fixer and make fresh in a new bottle as you will never get rid of it all and future film damage will occur. It adheres to the film and is nigh impossible to remove with resulting white spots when scanned or printed. The watermark is a drying issue. Perhaps some mineral deposit from tap water in your supply.

 

[John Bragg]

Thanks John. I've today mixed new fixer in a new bottle so hopefully that will help.

About the drying marks, can those be removed using a solvent or water? I've seen posts on the internet that one could mix a tiny bit of pure alcohol with water possibly but I'm not sure that's at all a good idea. I realise it's impossible to clean off silver precipitate but it would be great to be able to remove ordinary drying marks (from mineral deposits or such).

br
Philip

Hi Philip, I have not attempted to remove such marks, but it may be possible. The last time I had negatives like these (with silver deposits) to rescue, I did so with some careful cloning and clean up with Gimp. That was a steep learning curve for me, but it worked and the images were unrepeatable, so it was worth the extra effort.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Once you have the drying marks it all depends on whether something is "in" the emulsion, which can be quite soft when it emerges from the development process. You can try a couple of drops of wetting agent, like Photo Flo, in distilled (not spring) water -- H2O from a dehumidifier passed through a coffee filter will work, or bottled (probably simplest). If you re-fix, use the distilled water as your "end run" just before you hang the film to dry. In any event, distilled water/photo flo is not a bad final rinse, followed by drying in a dust free environment.

 

[philipus]

Thanks John, that's impressive and must have taken quite some time but if the photos were unrepeatable it must have been worth it. I might try to clone away the biggest ones, but to remove all will take an eternity, I fear.

Hi Philip, I have not attempted to remove such marks, but it may be possible. The last time I had negatives like these (with silver deposits) to rescue, I did so with some careful cloning and clean up with Gimp. That was a steep learning curve for me, but it worked and the images were unrepeatable, so it was worth the extra effort.

 

[znapper]

First image definitely looks like your average drop of water, which sat collecting dust while drying.

Your last wash needs to be with clean (filtered) water, use photoflo in the final rinse and swing the tank, back and fourth, in a pendulum motion after emptying out the final time, to force as much water off the film as possible.

The room you hang your film to dry in, should be as dust-free as possible, I use the shower (the actual shower cubicle) after running the water for some time, so that the moisture pulls out as much dust as possible before hanging the film up.

When dry, make sure your negs go directly into a plastic sleeve, to prevent any dust from accumulating on it.

Don't use accordion-bottles for chemicals (especially fixer), as chemical sludge will accumulate inside over time, this will come loose and manifest as specs on your film. (white specks on your print)

Change out your fix and stop regularly.

Some say the stop-bath can be too aggressive and suggest water for stop, I've used water for 11 years with no issues yet.

Final tip: Make sure all liquids are within +-2 degrees, to avoid reticulation. (crackling of the emulsion).

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Not sure if this helps. I used to have blobs of stuff on the negatives etc, and for the life of me couldn't figure out the blobs, spots etc.

I knew the edge of negative black spots was due to the exhausted fixer, but other than that I could not get a consistent clean negative.

I solved this by doing a finger squeegee wash after the normal post fix wash ( 3x 20). I would run the negative under a running tap and pull it five times between my forefinger and middlefinger. Then I would dump it in a cylinder with a drop of hand soap. And then finger squeegee it to dry and hang.

Years later, I recently found out the dark spots was due to the ap tank and reels being really filthy and the soot probably contaminated the negatives. As for the white blob I can only guess that the quality of the tap water is inconsistent sometimes. Your mileage may vary.

Raytoei
Ps. These days, I wash the reels and ap tank with a toothbrush, about once a month. I consider myself a high volume film user, hence the need to clean it more frequently.

 

[lshofstra]

+1 in regard to "looks like drying marks". But a word on fixer, as this has been mentioned:
I have found that silver precipitate will form long before the fixer is exhausted. Ergo: filter it, preferably before use. Precipitation takes time so this gets more important if you haven't used your fixer for a while. When you mix new fixer first rinse the bottle and give it a good shake to loosen any silver sticking to the bottle. I use harmonica bottles with no problems at all, as long as I stick to this procedure.
To know when to change your fixer: test it. Several ways to do this; I use an indicator that requires 5 drops in 10ml of fixer. Forgot the chemistry behind it, but it's bound to have an honourable mention in Anchell's book.
By the way, you'll find the subject of the squeegee a very controversial one. If you decide to try it then do as Raytoei does: use your fingers. That way you will at least feel if there's anything that might scratch your neg, which is more than can be said for a rubber squeegee.