Blank roll - what went wrong ?

P

Peter_Jones

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Just dev'd a roll of HP5 120, only for it to turn out totally blank ! not even any film markings.

Could my developer (Ilfosol 3) be to blame ? I don't remember it being that dark (looked like flat cola) last time I mixed some. (though it's about 6 months since I used it last)

Also there was a lot of purple colour when rinsing the film after fixing.

I suspect my dev's gone off (it'll teach me to use fresh chems) - just need my suspicions confirming really.


:(
 
Yeah, the fixer stripped off everything if your developer is bad.

I won't entertain the idea the you tried to fix first somehow. ;)
 
Are you sure you added the chemicals in the right order--fix, stop, developer? That usually leaves clean film. Even bad developer shows something--unless you kill it with stop.
 
Thardy said:
Yeah, the fixer stripped off everything if your developer is bad.

I won't entertain the idea the you tried to fix first somehow. ;)
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Lol - chems in right order :D I'm a bit fussy with that. Thanks for confirming my suspicion about bad dev, Thomas.

Thinking about the developer, although I last used it about six months ago (not done much photography in last half year or so), I'd been using it a couple of months prior to that too. Looking at the data sheet it reckons 4 months life once opened :rolleyes: oh well, live and learn. At least it was only a test roll (checking for light leaks)

Gives me an excuse to go out shooting tomorrow with the TLR :)
 
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Ilfosol S had the tendency for instant death, Ilfosol 3 should be more robust regarding the shelf life. If it is darkish brown I would not use it any more. I think open bottle keep around 1-2 months. If you put in the fridge it keeps longer.
 
You can always drop a piece of exposed film into the developer and see what happens.
 
If you can decant the just-opened bottle in to a smaller one, and/or squeeze the container so that there is no airspace in the bottle after you have used some of it, then it should last longer. I use this idea for ID11 stock solution which seems to last quite a while when there is no air in the bottle (and I hope I haven't jinxed myself saying that...).
 
MartinP said:
If you can decant the just-opened bottle in to a smaller one, and/or squeeze the container so that there is no airspace in the bottle after you have used some of it, then it should last longer. I use this idea for ID11 stock solution which seems to last quite a while when there is no air in the bottle (and I hope I haven't jinxed myself saying that...).
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Yep, or you can buy some glass beads and drop them into the bottle until the liquid reaches the top.
 
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