What am I seeing on my film.??

[DNG]

Example:

I can hardly see these under a 10x loop..
I tried Edwal Film cleaner, on both sides, no change....
Dried in a humid bathroom, But I had no Photoflow as my last bath..

Is this dust stuck on the film? Which Side, Emoltion Side?

Can I re soak the cut negs in water, then Photoflow? and redry?
Awaiting for your wisdom and advice...
Peter

 

[JayGannon]

Mould? Some od the larger patches look like mould on old negs.. Any mould in the bathroom? Looks like far too much to be dust anyway.

 

[tlitody]

drying marks. Water is full of sediment. Use distilled water for final wash and photoflow rinse.
the white specs could be dust also.

A durst UT100 is worth investing in as it catches a lot of dust before it gets to drying film.

 

[DNG]

Mould? Some od the larger patches look like mould on old negs.. Any mould in the bathroom? Looks like far too much to be dust anyway.

I just souped the film a nights ago, it was in the bathroom no more than 3 hours

 

[tlitody]

yes you can resoak and re-dry but do it with distilled/purified water.

 

[bwcolor]

I had the same problem with debris (not water marks) and switch to filtered water. Distilled is even better, but filtered did it. I use a charcoal filter for critical and use a fine mesh filter that Roger Hicks mentioned for my more casual washes. I think that I got it at Freestyle Photo, or B&H.

I found the filter:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/40390-REG/Paterson_PTP317.html

 

[DNG]

I had the same problem with debris (not water marks) and switch to filtered water. Distilled is even better, but filtered did it. I use a charcoal filter for critical and use a fine mesh filter that Roger Hicks mentioned for my more casual washes. I think that I got it at Freestyle Photo, or B&H.

I found the filter:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/40390-REG/Paterson_PTP317.html

I have a 16oz funnel that has a 200 micron steel mesh in it...
I bought 2 gal of distilled water for mixing my chemicals, then forgot to use it :bang:

I am now going to run my mixed chemicals through the filter and get a charcoal attachment for my Kitchen Faucet. for washing......

Uhhhhhhh... Bone-Head Me :bang:😱

I never had this problem living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in the 60's.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Nobody's asked what film you're using. I had a similar problem when trying out Fomapan and Efke/Adox emulsions. I concluded there were issues with QC in manufacturing that others (Kodak/Ilford) didn't experience. I know some users love those films whilst still others report the 'spotting' problem. After three rolls of each brand gave the same result I threw out about $100 worth of film as I wasn't prepared to go on doing the same thing and producing more and more unprintable negatives. The tonality was nice but the amount of black spots in the negatives was unacceptable, no matter how cheap the film was.

 

[DNG]

Nobody's asked what film you're using. I had a similar problem when trying out Fomapan and Efke/Adox emulsions. I concluded there were issues with QC in manufacturing that others (Kodak/Ilford) didn't experience. I know some users love those films whilst still others report the 'spotting' problem. After three rolls of each brand gave the same result I threw out about $100 worth of film as I wasn't prepared to go on doing the same thing and producing more and more unprintable negatives. The tonality was nice but the amount of black spots in the negatives was unacceptable, no matter how cheap the film was.

Tmax 100, souped in Xtol 1:1 at 23c (room temp)

not all the negatives are like this... from the same roll..

It does have similar spotting, but not as bad...

I'm thinking it may be micro particles in the solutions, they are so small, dust is much bigger.

 

[clayne]

Filter your fixer.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Take a look at http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/mt paterson water filter.html and you'll see the crud BEFORE it gets on the film.

ALL water for mixing (dev, SS, fix) and washing goes through one of these and my negs are vastly cleaner as a result. I use the Ilford wash sequence (5-10-20 inversions) with this strained water, then another 20 inversions in de-ionized water, then 30 sec. in de-ionized water with a squirt of wetting agent.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Arjay]

Very interesting.

I have the same problem with Tmax 100 souped in XTOL 1:1 - but I don't have this problem when I soup Tri-X in Prescysol EF! So, I ask myself if it's really due to the hard water (I have very hard tap water, and I'm not filterinig it).

I always use 'distilled' (well, demineralized) water to prepare my developer and to perform a last rinse with something equivalent to Photoflo, and I only get those damned microspots when using XTOL (and/or Tmax 100). This makes for a hell of a retouching job after scanning.🙁

Any ideas for alternate causes or cures?

 

[wupdigoj]

I had exactly the same problem some time ago. It is very different form defects in the emulsion sometimes present in Foma films. Apparently it is some kind of precipitate caused by iron (Fe) ions content in the water used in the developer. In my experience it is very difficult (impossible) to remove. I think I was using T-max developer an T-max film. I don't know if this is true or not, but using distilled water to prepare the developer cured the problem. For some reason I use tap water for preparing rodinal without any problem.

Javier

 

[DNG]

I had exactly the same problem some time ago. It is very different form defects in the emulsion sometimes present in Foma films. Apparently it is some kind of precipitate caused by iron (Fe) ions content in the water used in the developer. In my experience it is very difficult (impossible) to remove. I think I was using T-max developer an T-max film. I don't know if this is true or not, but using distilled water to prepare the developer cured the problem. For some reason I use tap water for preparing rodinal without any problem.

Javier

Am I going to have to dump my Xtol and buy some more and used distilled water, or will the 2x filtering I did with a 200 micron funnel cure the present batch?