Dark clouds rising

[davidnewtonguitars]

What do you think? HP5+ in D76, fresh batch 1+1. Dev in a SS 2 reel tank, pretty sure this roll was the uppermost reel. I feel sure the tank was full of soup, but it is a new to me tank. The other roll developed just fine. All the shots on the roll were like this.

The other issue is the M2 has had an intermittent light leak, and I had the back door taped off all around, and there wasn't any sign of the leak on this roll. But then, this is the opposite of a light leak, as it is darker.

 

[Doug]

It has to be that the level of developer in the tank was a bit low and didn't fully develop the top edge of the film. Also, there's some evidence of surging below the sprocket holes due to vigorous agitation...

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Thanks! The reels on this 1955 Nikor go all the way to the lip of the tank, I will be sure to fill it to overflowing next time.

 

[David Hughes]

Fascinating photo, by the way...


Regards, David

 

[Highway 61]

I have been through similar problems with foam growing up at the top of the developer level inside the tank as far as I agitate during the developing time, with, as a result, the top of the film of the upper reel being in the foam not in liquid developer.

I have experienced this recently, quite more often than before, with D76 1+1 and Ilford films even with an amount of developer quite enough to cover the top of the upper reel by at least 1.5 cm once the tank had been filled.

Note : my tanks and reels are stainless steel and made perfectly clean before each developing session, it is not some wetting agent residues which may cause this.

A pre-soaking and an even more gentle agitation seems to be a solution to avoid this nasty problem.

That said, to the OP : you can't use a tank in which the reels will go all the way up to the lip of the tank.

There are two sizes of Nikor tanks for either one 120 reel or two 135-36 reels. They look identical but there is about 1.5cm of height difference between the two. The smallest will be fine for one 120 reel but too small for two 135-36 reels.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

I normally use a 4 reel 135 tank and have never had this problem, 4, 135 reels still have about 1.5 inches left to the top, and I try to fill the tank with dev. I will use this tank for a single roll, with a empty reel above.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Fascinating photo, by the way...

Regards, David

Thanks! My neighborhood.

 

[Steve M.]

I was going to say that it looks like a working class/outskirts of town Southern neighborhood, and then I see that you're in Texas. Reminds me of the Mississippi areas that my family lived in until moving to the Gulf Coast, which looked very different.

Ck the level of developer that your tank requires because too much developer is as bad as too little. Like the others though, it looks like a developer level issue. This sort of thing is why I finally went to developing one roll at a time. It takes longer, but development issues almost never occur now, and if they do it's only one roll.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

How is too much developer as bad as too little? I've been using a 4 reel tank with an inch of developer over the top reel for several years and never had any issues.

 

[Joao]

Some more dark clouds
Iskra, Shanghai 120 fim in paRodinal. Less paRodinal than necessary. The sky was clear. But I like the result...

[/url]Log by João Freitas, on Flickr[/IMG]

Regards

Joao

 

[Joao]

How is too much developer as bad as too little? .

I believe that "too much developer" should be understood as "no air" or "almost no air" inside the tank. Inversions, in this case, will be less efficient, absence of air does not allow the same movements of liquid on the film surface. I have read this somewhere in this forum, it makes sense,
But it is just my guess, let's wait for more knowledgeable opinions.
Regards
Joao

 

[Doug]

I believe that "too much developer" should be understood as "no air" or "almost no air" inside the tank. Inversions, in this case, will be less efficient, absence of air does not allow the same movements of liquid on the film surface. I have read this somewhere in this forum, it makes sense,
But it is just my guess, let's wait for more knowledgeable opinions.
Regards
Joao

This thought has occurred to me in the past, but careful consideration opposes it, IMO. Without the sloshing sounds of air/liquid one may assume the fluid is locked into position relative to the container. But it's not... As one moves (rotates, say) the container, the inertia of the fluid resists movement, so some turbulence results. Indeed, having air allows foam to form, not so good! 🙂 In any case, vigorous agitation is not necessary or even desirable.