developing/scanning question help me fix my mistake

[dogbunny]

So I developed my first roll of Tri-X, only my second time developing. I had something weird happen. The last five frames are really overexposed, but the rest of the roll is just fine. I was using a Hexar RF in AE mode. I'm not sure if I did something wrong developing or not. My 2 guesses are A) I hit the exposure compensation dial and I didn't notice it or B) some light is getting into my tank, because the last 5 photos would have been on the outside of the reel. Maybe (A) because the rest of the roll is fine?

Second part, Though they are really over exposed, I can still see details in the negatives, they aren't just black. There are pictures there, but when I scan all I get is black files that I can't adjust to bring out any photo. Maybe the quality of my cheap Canon scanner? Is there any way to get the details I see in the negative to at least appear minimally in the scanned file?

As always, thanks,

DB

 

[ibcrewin]

Let's see some pics!

 

[charjohncarter]

Go to the histogram and spread it way out (move the black arrow to the extreme left and the white to the extreme right)(well, maybe not all the way but check to see what you are getting in the preview). Scan and then PS or whatever to bring the arrows to where you get something. You will then probably have to use curves to get the contrast.

 

[pufy]

If the tank is responsible then the area between those frames should be dark. If it was the camera's fault, that area should be clear.

 

[williams473]

Pufy is right - when film is accidentally slightly exposed to stray light as in a tank leak or bad film back, it is referred to as "fogged." That's because the film will appeat to have a black fog across it - very irregular, organic shapes. If the overexposure is contained within the edges of each frame, then it's the over/double exposure problem like Pufy said.

 

[dogbunny]

Try try again

Try try again

Go to the histogram and spread it way out (move the black arrow to the extreme left and the white to the extreme right)(well, maybe not all the way but check to see what you are getting in the preview). Scan and then PS or whatever to bring the arrows to where you get something. You will then probably have to use curves to get the contrast.

Thanks a bunch I will give this a try tonight when I get home.

And thanks Pufy and William. The lines between the frame are fine and clear. I must have managed to overexpose them while shooting.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

If you cam see detail in the neg, it can be brought out in a scan, but yours may not be able to handle such dense negs. I've never had trouble with overexposed negs with my Nikon scanner. You might see if your scan software has an 'exposure' control that you could set to make the scanner use a longer exposure to bring back the details. This is called Analog Gain in my Nikon scanner. If that is not possible, you might have to pay someone to scan them with a good scanner. Keep in mind that a really overexposed neg will give poor tonality and lower sharpness and usually more grain, so taking heroic steps to 'fix it' is probably not worth it unless is was a shot you cannot redo and is something important to you.

 

[dogbunny]

If you cam see detail in the neg, it can be brought out in a scan, but yours may not be able to handle such dense negs. I've never had trouble with overexposed negs with my Nikon scanner. You might see if your scan software has an 'exposure' control that you could set to make the scanner use a longer exposure to bring back the details. This is called Analog Gain in my Nikon scanner. If that is not possible, you might have to pay someone to scan them with a good scanner. Keep in mind that a really overexposed neg will give poor tonality and lower sharpness and usually more grain, so taking heroic steps to 'fix it' is probably not worth it unless is was a shot you cannot redo and is something important to you.

Chris,

I will see if my scanner has any kind of exposure control. I recently bought a Nikon scanner, but it hasn't arrived yet. Maybe I will have better luck with that.

Thanks for the advice,

DB