Any idea what this is?

[Muggins]

I got a call from the developers suggesting I check the gate in my camera as the last neg had a "scratch" on the emulsion, but that they'd spot it out in the scans - luckily it was in the sky, so a simple job.

When I got the negs back, I saw the attached - I'm fairly sure that's no scratch (and I can't find anything in the gate to cause it), it looks more like an emulsion flaw. Anyone else agree? Or disagree? It's Porta 160 in 120, BTW, I just scanned B&W for speed. Would be interesting to know what happened...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

That's not a scratch, it is from a piece of dust on the film when it was exposed in the camera.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I agree with Chris. Check the seals on the camera. When they deteriorate, they can shed chunks of crud like this. And if you have an SLR, mirror damping foam can do the same thing. Whatever the case, a good cleaning with compressed air may be in order.

 

[xayraa33]

It could be a Puerto Rico island shaped UFO.

 

[Muggins]

It could be a Puerto Rico island shaped UFO.

*snorts tea over keyboard*

Thank you gents - as it's a Super Ikonta I rebuilt on a table, I suspect that general crud is the culprit, as any seal would be string-type. I'll give it a good blowout before I use it next.

 

[JoeV]

This reminds me that every time I’m spotting dust off scanned negatives the thought strikes me that perhaps I’m deleting evidence of unusual aerial phenomenon, masquerading as dust!

 

[farlymac]

I once tried like the devil to clean up a scan of a slide my father took back when the only way you could do that was to turn on the ICE feature, until I realized they were flying birds in the background.

PF

 

[titrisol]

The spot/dust bunny is too well defined in the negative, it is either a emulsion defect or piece of dirt that touched the film.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

On film, a chunk of crud on the film ruins a frame. Let's imagine what a chunk of crud like this on a sensor would do to a day's shooting. Score 1 convenience point for film.