Noooo... Developing disaster

antistatic

antistatic

Well-known
Local time
6:44 AM
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
267
View My Gallery
Today I had spent this lovely early spring afternoon out with my 3 year old son and an MP loaded with TMax 400, traveling on trains and ferries to parks and cafes. (He is a big fan of public transport. So much more interesting than the back of a car). The light was lovely, the crowds were interesting and photogenic and the moments were decisive.

I developed it tonight. When I pulled it out of the tank the reel had slid up the spindle part way through the process so about the top quarter was underdeveloped :bang::bang::bang:

Of course, from what I can see of what is left on the negatives, they were all worthy of the Pulitzer Prize.

Just thought I would share with others who would feel my pain. (My wife said "oh never mind")

David
 
Not sure what you do with your negs (scanning, traditional printing) but I'll wager that unless it was terrible it can be fixed. Scan the negs and run 'em through photoshop! Finally that program can be used for something other than making unnatural looking photos!
 
I feel your pain!🙁 but next time you won´t forget to place an extra empty reel on top.
Cheer up!

antistatic said:
Today I had spent this lovely early spring afternoon out with my 3 year old son and an MP loaded with TMax 400, traveling on trains and ferries to parks and cafes. (He is a big fan of public transport. So much more interesting than the back of a car). The light was lovely, the crowds were interesting and photogenic and the moments were decisive.

I developed it tonight. When I pulled it out of the tank the reel had slid up the spindle part way through the process so about the top quarter was underdeveloped :bang::bang::bang:

Of course, from what I can see of what is left on the negatives, they were all worthy of the Pulitzer Prize.

Just thought I would share with others who would feel my pain. (My wife said "oh never mind")

David
Click to expand...
 
I processed 12 rolls of film yesterday and this morning.

I was paranoid about every tank.

A terrible feeling, I can imagine.
 
Very sorry about what happened. I fear there's nothing you can do... The undeveloped part of the negative was already exposed to the light so that side of the photos is gone.

Hate to say this, but at least you know that next time you'll put an empty spool on top of the one you're using, just to make sure the "good" one doesn't move.
 
Nothing I can say will fix it. However, anyone who develops film regularly can tell horror stories if they are willing to share the embarassment. When I was in an investigator's school, the old sarge warned us to be careful how we placed the 4x5 negatives in the developer. Well, I knew something of film development, having had my father show me once. Yeah, once. So I was confident.

When you do it wrong, there is no hiding the fact even in a hugh darkroom full of fellow students. The sound of 4x5 negatives being ripped apart makes a horrible sound. 😀

Worst, that isn't the only time I have done something wrong or stupid. Actually, your wife was closer to the answer than most of us would be willing to admit.
 
Sorry, I know you're disappointed. So many things can go wrong with this process, but at least you didn't have to wait two weeks to find out there was a problem.
 
Sorry for your loss.

Fill the tank full. Developer is cheap. You won't exhaust the chemistry. The empty reel is nice, but if the tank is full you can't miss any of the film.
 
My first roll was so easy to soup I got superoverconfident... and I REALLY fouled up the second one.

I learned to pay attention to whenever I spool film into the reel.

Then, the awful moment came when I was agitating film one night... and I suddenly wondered "where in this process am I? Am I fixing or rinsing after stopping?"

Fortunately, I left capped but unscrewed the bottle of the chemical I was using (fixer), so I recovered my notion of where I was.

There was another time when I simply didn't fix the negatives well enough, and they came all milky and looking downright crappy. Like you, I posted a thread and was told to soup them again in fixer. That did the trick! 🙂

Needless to say, I've tried to make the best out of every situation. And you will do the same, I'm sure.

Take care! 🙂
 
I got some single reel steel tanks and some reels for 35mm & 120. If your going to process one roll at a time I would advise you get one instead of plastic or a multiroll tank. Then it will never happen again.
 
Developer is cheap. Use lots of it. Big tanks let you dilute the heck out of the developer. Making it even cheaper so you can use lots more! And another thing. A larger volume of fluid maintains it's temperature better during development.

Pop quiz:
How much does Xtol cost per 35mm-36 exp. or 120 roll?
How much are your negatives worth?
How much are your once in a lifetime negatives worth?

Developer and fixer are the last things to skimp on.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Can you figure out a way to keep the reel from sliding?
Click to expand...
Did you not have one of those clips on the spindle that are intended to stop the reel sliding? They're not infallible though - they can slide too under vigorous agitation.

The trick of fully loading the spindle with extra spools has been mentioned, but the other way is to use the old fashioned method of agitation using the little twirly stick rather than inversion. I started that way 40 years ago and haven't changed, and so I never have problems with sliding spools.
 
Thanks again everyone. I might dunk the roll in fixer again to see what happens. There is still some detail left in the stuffed quarter of the negs so I am not sure if it is just not fixed properly. Nothing to lose🙁

I was also comparing this kind of problem to something like your CF card suddenly not reading. Now I hate computer/digital gltches as they often occur for no obvious reason and the solution is also often far from clear. At least I knew straight away what had gone wrong and will be able to do something about it for next time (and every time after that!!). I can deal with problems that obey Newtonian physics. Still sucks though.

David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom