Weird developing problem, partially developed roll?

[hans voralberg]

I just deved my first roll this afternoon and it's Tmax P3200. Souped in Ilfotec DDX 1+4 (I take that as 1 part dev 4 part water?) 350ml for 12 minute @ 21C, agitate every minute. Ilfostop agitate 15 sec and left for 1 min, the Ilford Rapid fixer for 5 min, agitate as dev. Then rinse with water.

Now the result is weird, the last 6 frames, which sit on the outer most edge of the reel is perfectly developed, the neg looks right and very detailed. HOWEVER, 3-4 frames before them are completely blank, i mean clear, transparent. And the rest of the roll is pitch black ?? No markin on edge for the black part either.

Now i couldnt figure out what's wrong, surely could not be because i didnt agitate it. Any idea ?

 

[MartinP]

Mechanical problem in the film-transport, combined with a light leak during rewind ??

The combination of normal, clear and black results really doesn't sound like a development related effect - but as I have never seen that sort of result I am only guessing.... Is the camera one of those electric-winder types which winds the whole film out of the cassette to start, before winding it back in as the shots are exposed ?

If/when you figure it out let us all know what happened !

Edit: typo removed and question added.

 

[hans voralberg]

I very much doubt the problem is with the camera, I use a Olympus OM2SP and Im pretty sure i didnt do anything wrong with rewinding it back in.

Another thing is, I just use exactly the same setup for Tri-X 400, only change the time to 7 min develop. The whole roll is completely black ? Couldnt figure why ? My mate told me probably 1+4 dillution is too strong ?

 

[shadowfox]

Shoot a throwaway color negative roll, toss it to the minilab, pay a buck or two to develop it only, and examine the negatives. That should help you rule out development ... or ... the camera.

 

[titrisol]

Could you have a light leak in you changing bag or in the dark room/closet where you load your film?

I very much doubt the problem is with the camera, I use a Olympus OM2SP and Im pretty sure i didnt do anything wrong with rewinding it back in.

Another thing is, I just use exactly the same setup for Tri-X 400, only change the time to 7 min develop. The whole roll is completely black ? Couldnt figure why ? My mate told me probably 1+4 dillution is too strong ?

 

[hans voralberg]

Uhm no, but it would make the thing go completely dark would it ?

 

[Leica-Virgin]

Here's my take for what it's worth.
If the black section of the roll has no edge markings it means that this part of the roll has been uniformly fogged in a way that would occur if the start of the roll was pulled from the cassette in the light.
My guess is that the clear section of the roll DOES have edge markings which would be consistent with unexposed but correctly developed film.
The last part of the roll (say exposures 30 to 36) will have edge markings, frame separation and correctly exposed images.
The only way I can think of that would produce this result would be if part of the film was pulled out of the cassette prior to loading. Perhaps by someone else? A shutter speed fault or serious underexposure could lead to the series of clear frames. The only correctly exposed part of the film is at the very end where correct exposure is being applied to unfogged film.
I am 99% certain this is not a process error as light leaks would result in streaking rather than the clearly designated areas you describe.

 

[Leica-Virgin]

Just another thought. I wonder if the camera back was opened during film use. If open long enough it could completely fog the film sitting outside the cassette. If the back was then closed and the film advanced two or three frames with the lens cap on before normal shooting was resumed a similar effect would be produced.
Sorry for the conspiracy theory overtones but I strongly suspect an outside intervention here!!

 

[hans voralberg]

I guess it must have been exporsure to light during extraction that fog it, when i pop it open i did drop it on the floor and it sorta rolls to the door and there's a bit of light leaking in, didnt think it was enough to do anything

 

[drewbarb]

This is not a problem with your chemistry or your development routine. Somewhere along the line, your film was exposed to more light than is needed to make an image. The clear frames have the opposite problem. All sounds strange to me- I have to suspect improper film handling first.

 

[titrisol]

Precisely the pint

I guess it must have been exporsure to light during extraction that fog it, when i pop it open i did drop it on the floor and it sorta rolls to the door and there's a bit of light leaking in, didnt think it was enough to do anything