fogging

[dfoo]

I just developed two rolls of 120 film, and to my disappointment both have significant fogging. I load them in my darkroom in complete darkness. I'm trying to work out the source, and not much has changed, other than the introduction of a new enlarger. This enlarger has two florescent markers on the head, could that be the source of the fogging?

 

[Al Kaplan]

What do you mean? Are they lights?

 

[napoleonesq]

That happened to me one night to two batches of film....it turned out it was my fixer that caused it.

I think the temp on the fixer was out of whack or the solution..whatever it was the fixer caused it...after a new solution of fixer things came back to normal.

 

[dfoo]

What do you mean? Are they lights?

They are not lights, they're florescent circles (ie: the glow in the dark things); I guess they are there to avoid smashing your head on the enlarger head in the dark.

I'm sure this is not a fix problem, its definitely fogging.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Try covering the enlarger head with a dark towel when you're loading film. It could also be heat fog if your film was in a hot car or something for too long. Old way past date film tends to looked fogged also.

 

[dfoo]

I don't think its heat. I used two different backs, and two different films. One that was stored pretty carefully, the other was in the back for 6 months+. Both are fogged in the same way, a bloom from the top like the paper was leaking light from one side. However, that cannot be what happened since I'm using two backs, two different rolls of film, both removed from the back in the darkroom. I've loaded many many rolls of film in this room, and this is the first time I've had a problem. The only new thing is the enlarger with the glow in the dark disks.

Perhaps I'll take 2 film strips from a bulk roll and develop one after waving it by the glow in the dark disks, and develop the other without... It sucks, because we had an nice storm last night and I took some really nice shots of the ice on the trees 🙁 Doesn't happen that often!

 

[crawdiddy]

Try covering the enlarger head with a dark towel when you're loading film. It could also be heat fog if your film was in a hot car or something for too long. Old way past date film tends to looked fogged also.

I realize you live in the subtropics, but I've never had any problem with film left in my vehicle in Dallas. And I think it gets hotter here than Miami.

(When it comes to film, it's the heat, NOT the humidity.)

 

[rodinal]

They are not lights, they're florescent circles (ie: the glow in the dark things); I guess they are there to avoid smashing your head on the enlarger head in the dark.

I'm sure this is not a fix problem, its definitely fogging.

That's not fluorescence, it's called phosphorescence or, less technical, you can call it simply luminescence 🙂

 

[dfoo]

Yes, but does it cause fogging? 🙂

 

[rodinal]

Yes, but does it cause fogging? 🙂

Sure it can. If you can see it, so can the film. I fogged (lightly) a couple of films (Neopan 1600) the first time I spooled them in the presence of a Durst Coltim process timer that has a huge luminescent dial. Since then, I load my reels in a changing bag (and remove my watch).

 

[dfoo]

I discovered the source of my problem. Both A12 backs I have have light leaks. One also has a gearing problem causing the first two frames to overlap. I replaced the light seal in one of the backs today and shot a test roll. Works great!

I did a search regarding phosphorescence last night, and found some radiology article that claims it can cause fogging. I suspect the the light levels from the head are not strong enough to cause fogging, but when I loaded the film in todays test I covered the head of the enlarger just in case!

 

[shadowfox]

Have you considered changing bags?

To me, using a good changing bag is more reliable than darkened room for film loading.