Workflow and general rant

[back alley]

my scanner was very chaep, it cost me a used oly 35 rc.

i have no curl with new kodak tri-x, none. the film strip neg carrier for the canon 2710 works very well.
i process normally and use a wetting agent at the end but nothing special re. film curl. i also use the patterson clips, 2 at the bottom.

i wonder if the humidity might influence it as it is usually very dry here in the west.

joe

 

[GeneW]

i wonder if the humidity might influence it as it is usually very dry here in the west.

joe

It might be a factor. As I say, I get this particular curl with Kodak films. Ilford and Fuji don't seem to curl as much.

Gene

 

[rover]

You see, I am not scanning my negs so I don't have a problem with the side to side curve of a neg. It gets flattened out when printing by the neg carrier of the enlarger. I then scan my prints on a flatbed scanner. I have been thinking about getting a neg scanner to speed things up (the darkroom printing is the most time-consuming, but still enjoyable aspect of photography). I need to wait until prices come down and they have come up with better neg carrier systems to address the film curl issue.

My scanner is an Epson 3200. It does a nice job, but the next generation Epsons were designed more with film in mind, so the impovements may already be available.

Film is rolled and in the zip lock bag to keep the dust away.

 

[rover]

I am scanning fast, and the negs still want to curl. 🙁

When flat though I can get some sharpness.

The first frame taken with my 50/1.5 Canon.
TMax 100 in D76.
Yellow filter, 50/1.9 square hood.

 

[RayPA]

Check out the link for Foto Timer I provided above. You can download the software (freeware!) from there, and you'll also find very good instructions there. If you need more help, or a "ready-to-go" set of chain-events, drop me a line...

Denis

Denis, I'm gonna try your Palm setup. I'm bummed though. I haven't used my Palm in a long time. I forgot about it actually, until I saw your post and pulled it out. It was dead. I got some AAA's, booted it up, and all my cool apps are gone. 😡 But I'm gonna incorporate it into the development workflow, putting it back into service. 🙂

 

[phototone]

My RFDR workflow.

!. shoot photos
2. process film (usually at night) late at night
3. Next morning sleeve in to page sleeves and put under heavy books
4. By Evening flat enough to get fairly good edge-to-edge sharpness on my scanner.

 

[phototone]

Done that, these resilient little f'ers just bow again after a day or so when the book it taken off. I am going to try to scan quickly today after I cut them.

Suprisingly NO. The negatives once into page sleeves and going through the 8 to 24 hours of pressing under heavy books (lots of books) seem to retain their flatness and resistance to "bowing"

 

[GeneW]

The negatives once into page sleeves and going through the 8 to 24 hours of pressing under heavy books (lots of books) seem to retain their flatness and resistance to "bowing"

Unfortunately while that works for me for many films, it takes about a week under a heavy unabridged dictionary before the Kodak B&W negs flatten out and stay that way. I wish it weren't so ...

Gene

 

[taffer]

Rover, do you still have that neg curl problem ? Mines when dry have still some side to side curl (not leader to end). If I place them on the neg carrier of my 3170 with the matt side down they keep flat enough for a good scan BUT I've noticed that if I leave the strips on the carrier overnight, when I take them out they are PERFECTLY flat. You'll still need some time to flatten a whole 36 roll, but it's better than nothing 🙂

And no, I didn't discover that by forgetting to take film out of the carriers after scanning them 😀

 

[rover]

Yes Oscar, the bastards still curl.

I developed 3 rolls a couple weeks ago, dryed them for a few hours, rolled them ala Gene's recommendations and let them sit over night, cut them and put them in sleeves in the morning, under books for a number of days until I had a chance to scan, and they still curled. 🙁

Not as much, but I did scan them upside down as you suggest and that did help. I was amazed that after the first couple batches of scanning that the curl had returned to the rest of the negs.

 

[taffer]

They are tough then ! Have you seen some of the homebrew film dryers ? As they are rather cheap you could try to build one and try it with some test rolls, maybe it's related to humidity as some say above. I also have more trouble with Tri-X curling than I usually have with Neopan.

 

[rover]

Well, I am going to buy a dehumidifier for the room with my camera stuff. It is a guest bedroom and where I hang the negs because it gets the least traffic in the house, just me really. That may help, but I doubt it as we have yet hit our humid season. I may live with it for now as I have a desire for a dedicated film scanner which should help the situation.

 

[Pherdinand]

Just an idea (I have no experience w drying negatives, but i do with other organic/polymer strips): Are you sure you are not overtensioning the neg lengthwise, while dryi\ng (aka too much weight hangin on them)? When removing the tension after drying, they might start to curl due to tensions induced by deformations inside the material.

 

[rover]

Pherdinand, I actually notice the curl when I am taking them down, before the bottom clip is removed from the strip. The clips I have are made by Paterson for hanging negatives. The bottom clip is slightly heavier than the top, but not by much. I will try putting the lighter clips on the bottom. I will try anything actually.

 

[back alley]

how long do you wash the film for rover?

i use a combination of different clips that i've picked up over the years.
i use one at the top and usually use 2 on the bottom, hanging one on the other.
so my tension would be greater yet.

i do wonder about the humidity, it's bone dry here especially in the winter. we have to oil wood furniture or it will dry out quickly.

i could take a pic of my negs in the sleeves, completely flat.

i hope the dehumidifier works.
joe

 

[rover]

I wash for 2 minutes, then Perma Wash for 2 minutes then wash again for at least 6. That is more or less the instructions on the Perma Wash.

 

[back alley]

that sounds good. i thought maybe you were keeping it in the water for way too long or something.
actually, i just plain wash and keep it in longer than that.

gotta be the humidity...

 

[peter_n]

Rover, if you already have a Palm, you don't need ANY OTHER TIMER!!! (sorry for shouting 🙂)....
Download and install the Foto Timer, enter your processes, and you're set to go! Try it out...

Denis thank you very much for this great link! 🙂

 

[GeneW]

I may live with it for now as I have a desire for a dedicated film scanner which should help the situation.

If I scan on a flatbed the heat puts curl back into the negs. They're less affected in my Minolta 35mm scanner. I think a dedicated scanner will help you with this.

Gene

 

[rover]

Denis thank you very much for this great link! 🙂

I down loaded the Foto Timer onto my Palm too. I need to read the instructions and start building some workflows to see how it works. I am sure it will work well.