Dirty negs?! Diafine?

[ikiru]

Hello all,

I'm new to developing film at home, but not new to developing film. I did all my own B&W in HS and Uni. I recently started souping my own film (Tri-X Bulk rolled) in Diafine.

This is my Process

1. Diafine made with distilled water
2. Water Stop , tap water
3. Fix made with Tap water
4. Water Wash tap water
5. photoflo with dsitilled water

The first Set I didn't do step 5. and I thought that may have been what messed up my negs. I have TONS of white specks when I scan. Attached is a 100% crop of a 4000dpi scan from my minolta 5400 II.
Any ideas folks?

The upside is that I've gotten really good at spotting! forced me to go beyond the rubber stamp and try out the history brush method (that I highly recommend in combination with the rubber stamp)

-jay

 

[jano]

Hi Jay,

I've got this problem, too, nikon cs v scanner. Many people do as well, most often I see it's people like me new to developing.

I've done a lot of research into this. Some people suggest scanning as a positive/slide and doing the inversion on their own. I tried the method, and had only minor success. Many suggest it's dust, but I don't think it is. Looks more like some sort of deposit that's "black" on the negative. Other suggestions I came across:
- fix longer
- wash longer

I tried the above with strong and frequent agitation, and was able to reduce the spots somewhat to mostly mid-toned areas of similar levels. Also, more vigorous agitation during developing may have some effect.

I've started to just ignore it, as I don't see them appear in prints at 8x10 or 8x12.

Anyone else have suggestions?

Good luck,
Jano

PS: if you have ps cs2, try the spot healing brush. It works fastest, esp if you have a pen/tablet. Just spot spot spot.

 

[ikiru]

I was wondering if maybe it was deposits from the fix....I've always used hypoclear untill not (trying to have a minimal amount of chemicals). Maybe I need to wash longer. I know it isn't the scanning as my older negs don't share this problem....

-jay

 

[paulfitz]

Are there any crystals floating around in either any of your stock solution of Diafine?

 

[jano]

Forgot to mention I get this with Xtol, haven't tried diafine yet.

I will give hypoclear a shot. Just about out of developer, anyway, so I must get some more now, anyway.

Jano

 

[kaiyen]

The whole scan as positive/invert recommendation for Nikon scanners has to do specifically with the "salt and pepper" grain/noise that NikonScan generates. It is not an issue of dust or other stuff on the negative itself (and is solved with VueScan, too).

That really does look like dust to me. You don't say anything about how you are dryving the negatives. You can wash all you want but if it's not clean where you're drying, then you have a problem.

allan

 

[RayPA]

I pretty much use the same water sources, in the same steps as those you've listed. I don't use Diafine, but I do mix developer from dry ingredients. I've found that when I keep all the chemistry (water included) at the same temperature, I minimize those types of film surface deposits. I use a temperature-controlled bath. If this is something you want to try, a submersible heating wand/ heater is a must, otherwise you'll spend all your time manually controlling the temperature of the bath.

🙂

 

[ikiru]

paul- I just put a bit of each a & b into a clear container, there is a bit of stuff floating around. Not really the size of the dry crystals though(As I remember them while disolving the solution)... This is a a probable cause still

Allan- I put the negs in the bathroom shower stall after first running the hot shower to get rid of the dust in the air, then closed the stall door and the bathroom door, only opening to get the negs again.


Ray- Does the wand have a thermistat? Have a photo of your set up?

thank you all for your advice...looks like I have a few areas to trouble shoot. I may try a different developer first to see If I just messed up my diafine!

-jay

 

[kaiyen]

Jay,
Well, that sounds like you've answered my concern...but there isn't a heating vent or anything in the bathroom, is there?

allan

 

[ikiru]

Allan,

There is a electric baseboard heater which was off!
I sure hope I solve this, I'm not fond of these dirty negs!
-jay

 

[jano]

if you figure it out, please share! 🙂

 

[RayPA]

...
Ray- Does the wand have a thermistat? Have a photo of your set up?...
-jay

Jay, it does have a thermostat. I processsed last night, and my setup is not permanent, nor is it very pretty (photogenic). I use a DevTec heater, in a plastic tub, and solutions in various plastic graduates. I'll try to remember to photograph it next time and post it here. 🙂


.

 

[RicardoD]

I just ran into this same problem. I just souped my first roll of Shantou Era 100 B&W film in Diafine and got specks galore on my negatives. Total pain to clean up in photoshop. The thing is this is the first time I have run into this problem. I have probably done 15 rolls so far prior to this one.

Doesn't appear to be dust. Here are my chemicals.

1. Diafine made with distilled water
2. Water Stop , tap water
3. Fix made with distilled water
4. Water Wash tap water (15 min)
5. photoflo with tap water

Anybody have a clue where I am screwing up?

After this weekend I will do my second roll of Shantou Era and see what happens. I will be sure to run the shower prior to hanging up film.

 

[rover]

I too would check your fixer. I found the last time I processed mine had white particles in it. I did not have any problems with my negs, but I use a hypo wash which may be the difference.

 

[RicardoD]

Thanks rover.

Am I looking for particles in the Fixer? Doing some searching I also see that wash times may be a factor.

Some people say use hypo clearing agent some say its not necessary. Here is what I found out about hypo clearing agent

Ammonium thiosulfate, which is the active ingredient in rapid fixer, is less soluble in water than sodium thiosulfate (plain hypo, aka non-rapid fixer). Therefore, rapid fix takes longer to rinse out of your film. Some people say up to an hour if you go straight from fixer to final wash without a dunk in the HCA, versus twenty minutes or so for plain, old-fashioned hypo.

Hypo clearing agent replaces the fixer with a compound more readily soluble in water, thus reducing wash times from an hour to 10-20 minutes. Most HCA's are also buffered to a high pH, to swell the emulsion and speed this process up.

If you care about the longevity of your negatives, then use a hypo clearing agent and give your films a final wash for the recommended times, using lots of running water stabilized to your processing temperature.

I use non-rapid fixer. Anyway, I will keep this thread alive and report my results when I find the cure.

 

[rover]

I use Kodak Rapid fixer, one off, I just dump the used mix when done with a roll. My batch was getting old and like I said forming some floaties. I use the hypo wash to save water, I still wash the film for around 10 minutes so I technically wash a lot. Diafine gets pretty ugly with age, all kinds of ick in it, but it still works. When you get to using it you will think it is bad, but my current batch is a year or so old and going strong.

 

[ikiru]

Interesting to see this thread pop up again. My problem was solved by switching to HC-110...So for me I'm pretty sure it was the diafine....interesting about the fix though, as the last hc-110 roll looks a little dusty(nothing like i got with diafine)....I blamed it on the fact that someone else opened the bathroom door(which is near a wood burning stove) while I was out, during the film drying process... The other factor was that I had read someone talking about a different wash method. fill the tank, do lots of inversions. repeat 3 times........so Maybe I'm seeing fix...
hrmm
I also don't use hypoclear...Maybe it is time to invest.

 

[rich815]

Ikiru, in your case I'm pretty sure it was NOT the diafine, unless you had a bad batch or some kind of dregs in the diafine that should not have been there----or some dregs that was in your fixer that did not somehow get on the film when you used the HC-110. I've been using HC-110, Diafine, Xtol, D-76, and a few other developers. Sometimes I have spots, sometimes not, usually because of dust. Sometimes because of the photoflo getting too frothy, the bubbles drying and leaving residue. And lastly, I've NEVER use Hypoclear and negs from years and years ago are just fine.

It'd be best, in most cases of "what happened to my negs?" posts if people would at least try one more time with another roll and double check the age of their their chemicals, their cleaniness and clarity of their chemicals, etc. and see what happens before asking here. Without all the facts most times we're simply guessing. If people did that oftentimes the problem is not repeated or is at least found when all things are double-checked. Otherwise, we're all just on some wild goose chase....

And worse is when the second time people try they change more than one thing, like a different developer, or film, or water, or methodology. Scientific method, good notes, and only changing one thing at a time is all for good reason. Otherwise if it works better the second time you're never sure what it was that helped and you're almost destined to repeat it later and be right back to the mystery again..

 

[ikiru]

Rich,


If you noticed this is an old thread, that someone else has brought up again (due to a similar problem).

If you read the beginning you would notice that I tried the diafine more than once. Then Tried Hc-110 without changing anything, problem solved......

The diafine was new, it is VERY possible I didn't mix it correctly....
None the less, I'm more than happy with HC-110. I even Like the fact that I get to play around with dilutions for different effects....

In regards to the two changes mentioned in my last response...I wasn't really counting on someone opening the door :bang:
😀

 

[Ronald M]

Never reuse fix more than 24 hours old. Filter it if you insist, but better not to reuse.


After 40 years I put air and water filters in my darkroom. Even wash water is filtered thru 4 layers of Bounty towels. ALL the spotting problems went away.


Since Diafine is reused, I would recommend filtering it also.