dirt on film - what caused it?

randyloo2

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What could have been the reason for that? :confused:
Fomapan 200 in D76 1+1 for 8.5 min.
 

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Dang, you have locusts! Did you skip your sacrafices to the harvest gods last year??

(Intersting, almost appears to be a large-scale 'frost' type pattern. Crystals of some sort in the developer? Or fixer crystal contamination in the pre-soak leading to the undeveloped spots?
 
This could very well be an issue with film. Take a look at the emulsion at the back - do you see holes in the surface?
 
It looks to be some issue with the film. I had similar results by developing a panatomic that has been left out in a warm environment for many months. It has not been a problem of the developer because I had two films developed in the same tank that day:


 
Positively emulsion damage. Only a microscope could perhaps tell whether due to heat or bacterial/fungoid decay.
 
... or could it be the mythical reticulation? ... the photographic equivalent of sighting a Yeti

I have most definitely seen reticulation. If you want to see it too take a recently developed negative, wash it in hot water, then wash it in cold water immediately afterwards.

I found this out by accident when trying to clean a dirty negative. I was not happy about it :(

OPs issue doesn't look like reticulation to me.
 
... or could it be the mythical reticulation? ... the photographic equivalent of sighting a Yeti

Oh, I had several films with quite un-mythical reticulation - a few where it happened due to inexplicable (probably chemical) reasons (the common factor may have been a alkaline fixer). And a consistent run of EFKE IR (which always was deficient in its emulsion hardening) I destroyed when the thermostatic mixer in my lab broke down and started oscillating between painfully hot and cold.

But reticulation as I experienced it and as text books picture it creates a wavy texture in the emulsion, not holes or tears - the prints look as if printed sandwiched to a soft macro photograph of sand, not as if there was a black raster superimposed.
 
Reticulation looks different like almost circular spots. This one is for sure damaged emulsion before even exposing the film.
 
I have most definitely seen reticulation. If you want to see it too take a recently developed negative, wash it in hot water, then wash it in cold water immediately afterwards.

I found this out by accident when trying to clean a dirty negative. I was not happy about it :(

OPs issue doesn't look like reticulation to me.

I tried to do it once, on purpose ... 25c fix and then wash in iced-water, I gave up after three or four tries
 
While the developer was not freshly mixed it was from a bottle of pre-made (a couple of months ago) D76 which I dilute 1+1 just before developing. I've developed several other rolls from the same batch with no problem. Un-diluted D76 is kept in sealed bottles. The fixer has been used 4 times before but I usually re-use the fixer a few times before discarding (Ilford rapid fixer)ץ
Also, the unexposed parts are completely clean.
 
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