Weird colors in color slides

[telemetre]

I just had 2 rolls of slide film developed in a lab recommended by a friend. Looking at the slides, I realized in most of the frames, dark areas were rendered red rather than black.

The films were fresh, and recently exposed (at most a week). A quick search suggests this might be due to stale chemistry, but I just wondered what you people think the problem might be.

I'm quite angry right now and don't want to head to the lab tomorrow and accuse the techs unnecessarily, so I'd appreciate any comments...

An example:

 

[sevo]

That rather looks like a pseudosolarisation effect. Due to a light leakage during a later stage of the primary development, or secondary developer (or rather, the fogging agent contained in there to do away with the exposure stage between primary and secondary) contamination of the primary.

Sevo

 

[MichaelW]

I saw a similar result on a sheet of 45 Provia I had done at a lab. When I collected it the lab guy said there'd been an accident - the film had jumped off one of the racks due to mechanical problem. So I'd agree with Sevo that it's most likely a lab error. You should talk to them about it. I think a decent lab should own up to it when you collected the film.

 

[telemetre]

Thanks for the informative answers. I'll go have a little chat with them tomorrow, mentioning Sevo's explanation.

The sad thing is I was just starting to shoot color again after a few years, and this event wasn't exactly motivating. Maybe I should stick to b&w where the errors are all mine...

 

[charjohncarter]

Two rolls that is hard, I'll remember not to take two in at a time. Sorry, that happened to you, at least they could pay for two rolls of film and also deduct any processing charges.

 

[Dwig]

I no longer have my old charts for identifying processing problems, but if my dusty memory is at all functional these slides show a processing problem related to bleaching or fixing (often a common bleach-fix step in modern processes). It could be a time, temperature, or exhaustion (improper replenishment) issue.

As "charjohncarter" said in his post, the lab should pay for replacement film and refund the processing charges. This is the industry standard for compensation when unfixable problems occur due to lab error.

 

[telemetre]

Well, I went to the lab, got refunds for the processing and the films along with a few dozen apologies.

They said they couldn't check the state of the chemicals, as "indicators" weren't being produced anymore, and after this event they would probably stop processing e-6 altogether.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Well, just an accident... It hurts but, just because of them you don't deserve to forget color... You might never ever have another accident with color in your life... Developing C41 at home is easy too, and you can control contrast...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[sjw617]

Well, I went to the lab, got refunds for the processing and the films along with a few dozen apologies.

They said they couldn't check the state of the chemicals, as "indicators" weren't being produced anymore, and after this event they would probably stop processing e-6 altogether.

I guess that tells you how much E^ they have been getting lately.

Steve

 

[Roger Hicks]

DIY E6 with Tetenal and a CPE-2 is easier than you might think, and cheaper, and if you have to make a special trip to the lab, it can be quicker too.

Cheers,

R.