Completely Blank Film

[robbeiflex]

Hello All,

Today while out snowshoeing (in Luxembourg, really!) I finished a roll of Rollei 400s that I had sitting around. I followed the development time exactly, BUT the result = completely blank film. 😕

First of all I would like to say that this is not a problem, because I had two cameras, and this was just a play/practice film. :angel:

Now, there are a number of reasons this could have happened, and we may never really know the answer. However, in the interest of continued learning and at the risk of embarrassing myself I though I would start a poll to see what may be the most likely cause:

1.) Loading film in harsh daylight,
2.) XTOL contaminated by grad cylinder with traces of wetting agent (may have happened),
3.) Stop contaminated by fixer (did happen, I only realized today that on Sunday I poured fixer into my Stop storage bottle resulting in a 2/3 Stop to 1/3 Fixer mix)
4.) All of the above.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Cheers
Rob

 

[sahe69]

With "completely blank" do you mean that also the frame numbers, film type imprinting etc. on the edges of the film are gone?

 

[robbeiflex]

With "completely blank" do you mean that also the frame numbers, film type imprinting etc. on the edges of the film are gone?

Yes they are gone, good point, when I say completely blank I mean it! 🙂

 

[Pablito]

Yes they are gone, good point, when I say completely blank I mean it! 🙂

then you put the fixer in before the developer.

 

[sahe69]

then you put the fixer in before the developer.

Excactly. Been there done that 😱 🙂

 

[haempe]

Nothing of your options can cause this...

 

[robbeiflex]

then you put the fixer in before the developer.

Not possible. The developer was diluted on the spot in a grad cylinder, and the fixer was in a black bottle. This I'm sure of.

 

[MartinP]

Even if you had a 30%-fixer stop-bath there would be no effect on the already formed and developed silver image. The fixer removes the undeveloped silver to leave behind the negative-image which we want, whether you do it (or better to say start it, stop-bath is usually less than the fix time remember) by accident or not.

I'd have to tick the poll option for 'none of the above'. If the film is totally blank then it is the old 'fixer in place of developer' accident that everyone has done once.

EDIT: Or perhaps you put the stop-bath in before the developer, that would do it too. Or totally dead Xtol . . .

 

[sahe69]

Not possible. The developer was diluted on the spot in a grad cylinder, and the fixer was in a black bottle. This I'm sure of.

And you are absolutely sure you did not have fixer instead of developer in your grad cylinder? 🙂

 

[Pablito]

only possible explanation.

 

[jljohn]

The most likely explanation would seem to be Fixer before Developer, but as the OP insists that this is not possible, what other scenarios could cause the same effect? I can think of at least two here. First, is genuinely stone-cold dead developer (presumably from age or improper storage). It would have no effect on the film and the rest of the process would strip the film. Second is that the developer was made inactive by contamination. I don't know if wetting agent could do it, but is it possible that something else may have neutralized the developer?

 

[tlitody]

is the film leader blank too? if it is then you didn't use any developer or fixed fiirst. If its black then you didn't expose film. And if you are prone to putting fixer in stop bottle, how can you be so sure you din't fix before developing?

 

[FalseDigital]

I did this recently....I later realized that the developer I used was expired and thus didn't develop my film at all. :[ It's possible that your developer is expired or that if you used pre-mixed solution that it was sitting with too much air in the bottle which would also make it go bad much quicker.

 

[robbeiflex]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Film leader is blank too, albeit a touch darker than the rest.

All of this points to contamination of the developer for me. Stone dead, completely gone developer. After cleaning the grad cylinder I developed another film no problem, so it's not the stock developer that's the problem. And believe me, the developer is in a completely different container than the stop and fixer which are in similar containers. So I guess it boils dow to whether XTOL is so sensitive that wetting agent (essentially an industrial detergent) can contaminate it.

MartinP: Thanks for clarifying what exactly the stop and fixer do. I read that some time ago and appreciate the reminder.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[tlitody]

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Film leader is blank too, albeit a touch darker than the rest.

All of this points to contamination of the developer for me. Stone dead, completely gone developer. After cleaning the grad cylinder I developed another film no problem, so it's not the stock developer that's the problem. And believe me, the developer is in a completely different container than the stop and fixer which are in similar containers. So I guess it boils dow to whether XTOL is so sensitive that wetting agent (essentially an industrial detergent) can contaminate it.

MartinP: Thanks for clarifying what exactly the stop and fixer do. I read that some time ago and appreciate the reminder.

Cheers,
Rob

We believe you 😉

 

[skibeerr]

I did this recently....I later realized that the developer I used was expired and thus didn't develop my film at all. :[ It's possible that your developer is expired or that if you used pre-mixed solution that it was sitting with too much air in the bottle which would also make it go bad much quicker.

Happened to me to, old premixed developer and everything gone totally blank.
I checked this again with a piece of overexposed film and again totally blank.

I lost three important rolls and since then I mix fresh dev every time.

Wim