Need a Diagnosis

[Uncle Bill]

I just processed a roll of Agfa APX 400 film in D-76 1+1 for 14 min at 20c that was shot through a Contax IIIa over the past few months.

I found I got shots like one on the left the beginning and end of the roll while other shots scanned represent what was in the middle roll of the film. So light leaks can be ruled out, I was using a plastic AP tank and I usually don't have this problem. Suggestions?

 

[le vrai rdu]

You probably had some part of the film in contact with others parts of the film while it was on the reel. That pevented the soup to act everywhere on your film

 

[MartinP]

Hmmmm, the lighter area on the pic would be from a darker area on the neg, so I suspect that film touching in the reel is not the problem (unless you have raw emulsion there, but that would be easy to diagnose).

It certainly looks like light coming in from somewhere, was the camera in different light or in/out of a case during the time the film was in it ? Also, do the dark marks on the negative extend outside the frame on the film ?

 

[Uncle Bill]

It's not the camera, note the other two photos I scanned and posted are from the same roll in the middle, the problem shot is representative of the first four to six and the last six shots on the roll. I am thinking perhaps Le Vrai rdu is onto something.

I should add I had this problem once before with a Kiev III and a roll of HP5 and HC110, I am wondering with the spool design it makes the film super curly so it won't load properly on the reel, of course something you can't check in complete darkness.

 

[le vrai rdu]

Well ,I had this kind of trouble with the curled end of film in contact with te rest of the film in the reel, maybe the soup doesn't act there, or maybe it stay there , acting too much on the film.

 

[MartinP]

My point was that reducing the flow of developer to somewhere on the film will result in less development, which means a thinner negative, which means a dark mark on the print - not a light mark as you have on your example above.

Light leaks are frequently not consistent also . . .

😱

 

[le vrai rdu]

My point was that reducing the flow of developer to somewhere on the film will result in less development, which means a thinner negative, which means a dark mark on the print - not a light mark as you have on your example above.

Light leaks are frequently not consistent also . . .

😱

yes I understand but I don't know if it prevent the soup to be there or if it keep the soup too much , one can also think that it prevent the fix to act in this place, witch will create black marks on your film when you put it out of the tank; so white mark on the final photo. I once had" foggy" films with inefficient fix. Maybe this can be an answer too imho.

 

[xayraa33]

Since the film was shot thru a Contax IIIa, could it be that one shutter curtain was slow in closing?
But this would not happen on the fast speeds on a Kiev or a prewar Contax though Bill.

 

[Wayno]

Sure looks like a shutter problem to me - not latching or closing properly. I've had similar frames from a pre-war Contax that was acting up. It may only happen at certain speeds, or be an intermittent problem.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Well...the Contax sat for a two months before I finished the roll. Slow shutter could be the problem. I am going to run a roll through and see what I get.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Further update,

I had a look at Darkroom Basics by Hicks and Schultz and I think the developer did not get to some parts of the film while in the tank.

 

[Trius]

That's a really strange pattern to be film that was not properly spooled on the (developing) reel. I don't think so ... I think it's either shutter or some sort of ... unidentified gremlin. I could be wrong; I'd need to see the affected negatives to be sure.

 

[manfromh]

I once had similar results from a Kiev. The shutter opened a bit when I changed the shutter speed to a faster one (after cocking). I dont know if the shutter is of the same design in a post-war Contax though.