m6 help!

wafflecakee

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Help!
7207914414_95434052d9_z.jpg
 
No - not a light leak in the camera. I've seen this many times on my own negs. The streaks are uneven development, probably from stand development or a too-regular pattern of inversion (as can occur with mechanical inversion with a gadget like this one), and possibly made worse by exhausted fixer (or a combination of these). Go back to normal development with standard dilution and agitation and you'll be fine.

Edit: sample of fixer exhaustion here
 
It really looks like bad developpement streaks.

Check your developping process (fresh products, following instructions), if everything is ok on this side there is an other option: The M6 shutter now shows signs of streaks for the highest speeds (above 1/500th).
 
Strange, I used Blazinol (rebranded rodinal) 4.5 minutes with neopan at 400. 10 second agitation every minute. Now here's what I don't understand... My room mate processed two rolls of ilford, hp5 and fp4, with the same fixer and had no issues...
 
Very unusual to find this with the agitation routine you describe. The streaks align with the sprocket holes and originate from one edge and fade towards the other edge. This is common when the film is given little or no agitation (thus my assumption that you used stand development).

Time for some controlled experiments:

  • try the same film in a different camera, then develop with the same routine
  • try a different film in the M6, then develop with the same routine
  • try a different film and camera, then develop with the same routine
  • try developing with the agitation routine recommended by AGFA (continuous agitation for the first 30s then 5s agitation every 30s)

Also make sure you tightly control all other variables to ensure no light leaks when handling the film. Good luck, and let us know what you find. :)
 
I love that image. I would crop a little, and print it 13x10 and frame it.

I wouldn't want that sort of image all the time. If it happens when you don't want it, it's a problem. But in this case, it's more like magic. Or serendipity at the least. Thank you for posting it.




WOW, screw that ! If my camera or processing technique did such I'd be taking a lot more pictures and presenting them to MOMA.

George, I'm with you!
 
Well, I'll replace my fix and try agfa's agitation cycles.

Since a few of you seem to like the shot this much, I'll print it and send it to you. Pm me.
 
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