Something is driving me creasy - spots

[wdenies]

After scanning some (not all) pictures show a lot of small white dots.
Those dots are too small en too regular in shape to be normal dust, I think.
Inspection of the originals on the light table under magnifier shows nothing abnormal.
For a while I suspected the developer, this was rejected because not all negatives on the same roll have the problem.
Before each scanning process the glassplates of the scanner are vacuum cleaned and treated with an antistatic liquid.
Negatives are brushed and cleaned with DustOff compressed air.

Wim

 

[RayPA]

I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm not sure of the source of the spots, they're definitely not dust from the drying step (I use a drying cabinet). They look like a chemical or mineral-based artifact. Maybe from the water? I use tap water to mix stock solutions and for final wash, and I use distilled water for working solutions and with the wetting agent. I've had success keeping these spots to a minimum by incorporating a temperature controlled water bath. Seems to help.


.

 

[RML]

Could it be that your dev'd films aren't fixed or rinsed well enough, leaving traces of chemicals?

 

[aterlecki]

Do you have any pics? What sort of scanner are you using? Often it has nothing to do with any contamination of the neg but with the interaction between the light source of the scanner, the silver in the neg, and the sensor of the scanner (the phenomenon is called the Callier Effect). Usually this is most pronounced with scanners with LED light sources.

 

[titrisol]

Could it just be artifacts from scanning BW film in digital mode?
Do they show in black areas, gray areas, light areas, or all of them?

After scanning some (not all) pictures show a lot of small white dots.
Those dots are too small en too regular in shape to be normal dust, I think.
Inspection of the originals on the light table under magnifier shows nothing abnormal.
For a while I suspected the developer, this was rejected because not all negatives on the same roll have the problem.
Before each scanning process the glassplates of the scanner are vacuum cleaned and treated with an antistatic liquid.
Negatives are brushed and cleaned with DustOff compressed air.

Wim

 

[wdenies]

Here they are.
They show up allover the picture also in color negs.
As you will notice they are much smaller than dust particles

 

[darkkavenger]

Could it be that your chemical dilution is not done properly ? could be this...

 

[kaiyen]

I dunno. Looks like dust to me. No offense, of course, but that looks normal for a neg that has gotten just a bit dusty while drying.

Other possibilities such as the callier effect usually result in something like a "salt and pepper" grain, but that looks different.

allan

 

[wdenies]

I am using the Amaloco mono color concentrate.Mixing is just water and x ml of concentrate.
Already bought a supply of distilled water.
Look at the very tinny spots. The larger ones are dust.

 

[kaiyen]

Hm...you're right. I didn't look closely enough. I just saw the big ones.

The tiny ones might indeed be salt and pepper grain. What kind of scanner is this?

Have you tried scanning as a positive then inverting? That solves it for Nikon scanners (using Vuescan instead of Nikonscan does, too).

allan

 

[titrisol]

My thoughts exactly

The tiny ones might indeed be salt and pepper grain. What kind of scanner is this?

Have you tried scanning as a positive then inverting? That solves it for Nikon scanners (using Vuescan instead of Nikonscan does, too).

allan

 

[photodog]

Try cleaning the negative with an Ilford anti-static cloth (it's the orange one). Gently rub or polish the negative with the cloth. Light finger pressure is good enough.

 

[wdenies]

Polishing does not help.
The scanner (Epson 4870) is not to blame, because:
not all negs on the same roll have the problem
"older" and films developed outsite : no problems
My conclusion: some body snatchers are invading the emulsion layer during the process.
The local FBI found suspect Nbr 1:
Fe particles from the hot water supply

Wim

 

[foon]

I am suffering from the same problem too, I have white spots look exactly like yours on my negatives. I couldn't see the particles with my eyes, but under a loupe I can see them. Luckily the spots on mine can be removed with a cloth, I don't have one of the antistatic cloth, and I have to say it was extremely hard to get rid of all of the little particles. I think I am going to try one of those cloth.

 

[wdenies]

Using:
distilled water for preheating and final rincing
filtering the developer through a coffee filter before each use

reduces the problem to a minimum

 

[daveozzz]

Those little spots look like all my negatives scans - whether home processed or not (why I mostly use slide film now). I just thought that was what it looks like when the scanner's resolving the grain.
I'd be interested to know if you manage to get rid of it.

 

[sockeyed]

I have the identical problem. It's worse with D-76 and Diafine, less so with Rodinal and HC-110, so I'm guessing that it might have something to do with the fact that the first two are powdered developers. I usually do my final wash with pure distilled water and Ilford wetting agent, but I might try the coffee filter approach with the developers. I'll let you know what I learn.