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  #11  
Old 18th October 2016, 09:48 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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h/151874499492?hash=item235c6cf3a4:g:h6MAAOSwYHxWOaI T
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Originally Posted by Coastman View Post
Thanks for all the suggestions, the film was developed in Ultrafin 1+20 for 7.5 minutes@ 20c, the contrast and grain were OK.
I do use a stop bath and wetting agent, I'll stop using the the stop bath, but I use the wetting agent which I pour down the hanging negs, as I live in hard water area.
I now scan all my negs as I no longer have a darkroom, I'm OK with this but will check the negs carefully with a loup to make sure the blotches are actually on the negs, which I'm pretty sure they are , as I have been doing this for years in this house and have only recently encountered this problem, and will look on ebay for some coffee filters, and if all that fails maybe devving in distilled water is an option.
Thanks again, all suggestions are helpful.
Tim

Re filtering:

I use something similar to these - you can buy them at most supermarkets etc.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coffee-Fil...MAAOSwYHxWOaIT

Neil.
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Last edited by B&W Neil; 18th October 2016 at 09:51 AM.
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  #12  
Old 18th October 2016, 02:31 PM
TonyMiller TonyMiller is offline
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One thing that helped me was using a Brita water filter and jug or similar. I filter all my dev/ stop/ fix/ wetting agent water now - bit long-winded but it solves most of the negative spots. I got out of the habit earlier this year and the problem returned. We are in a hard water area.
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  #13  
Old 18th October 2016, 08:05 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Tim,

Could you perhaps give some more info on the nature of the spots? How large are they? Are they showing up white when printed, meaning they are dark on the negs?

I recently had a similar problem on all my films (independent of film-dev combination), and figured out that I was using too much wetting agent in the final rinse. I use Kodak Photoflow, and had always used their recommended dose. Turns out this was creating far too many bubbles, which stuck to the film when it was pulled from the tank and did not all flow off. These bubbles then dried onto the film as dark spots from the residue. Further blotchiness was evident from the water flow marks drying as residue. First attempt at solving it was to wipe the films after hanging, but that only partly solved the problem -- bubble spots were gone but general blotchiness was still there. Then I happened to listen to an episode of the FPP podcast and they mentioned using only a couple of drops of Photoflow, rather than a half or full capfull as per Kodak. Tried that, and problem solved! Perfectly clean films, no residue or drying marks, and no bubbles.

BTW, the blotches/bubble marks are not visible when looking through the film. You can see them if you hold it at an angle against a light and create a reflection off the surface, then they will show up very faintly.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Svend
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  #14  
Old 18th October 2016, 08:47 PM
Coastman Coastman is offline
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Thanks for your advice Gents, sounds like Coffee/water filters are worth trying, I'm willing to try these things to avoid any more disapointment.
Svend, the blotches are like faint snow, looking at the negs with a magnifying loupe, they are faint dark blotches, but they are not on all the negs from the same roll, and they seem to be worse in the sky.
I only scan my negs at the moment, but can enlarge them on the computer and see them quite clearly.
The first time it happened , I was trying a roll of Shanghai film ( in date )and the blotches were quite severe, so I renewed my fixer, but it is still occuring but no where near as bad as the first time, I will try to attach the image.
Tim
dont think it worked, hey ho
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  #15  
Old 18th October 2016, 09:37 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Tim,

Have you been able to determine whether this is something on the surface of the film, such as a residue, or actually in the emulsion? As mentioned, maybe looking at the film at a sharp angle against a light to cast a reflection would show up any surface deposits.

So when you say "faint snow", I take that to mean a non-circular shape....correct? Then not likely from a wetting agent bubble, which would be circular. But snow conjures up an image of a crystal -- is that what you're seeing?

How much wetting agent do you use? Maybe it's too strong a solution.

Perhaps this is a bit of reticulation? Are ALL your temps the same? Wash water too? No temperature shock going on?

Sorry, but I have to ask, do you clean your tanks thoroughly after each batch? I have heard that if you forget to rinse out the wetting agent, the residual can create a lot of bubbles in the next developer, leaving blotches.

Pardon the questions on method and handling -- not trying to be critical; just trying to rule out some possible causes here.

Cheers,
Svend

Last edited by Svend; 18th October 2016 at 09:41 PM.
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  #16  
Old 19th October 2016, 08:03 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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Avoiding dust.

An old ex pro printer advised me years ago to always store my measuring cylinders / jugs etc upside down to prevent dust falling into them, this made sense so I've done so ever since. After all - it cost nothing!

With dev tanks if stored with their lids on they should be dust free. But always filter your chemicals to be double sure.

Film is probably at its most vunerable stage to dust contamination when it is wet and hanging up to dry. I dry mine in the darkroom with the door shut as my darkroom is pretty dust-free. If you are unable to do this a shower enclosure or a bathroom, if you can use it, is a good choice. Try to avoide places such as carpeted rooms with curtains etc that are in frequent use. If you are rich buy a film drying cabinet, or if you are good at DIY make one up.

Neil.
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  #17  
Old 19th October 2016, 01:20 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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If this is in fact a surface deposit -- dust, wetting agent residue, hard water deposit, mineral bits, etc. -- you might be able to salvage your developed films with a solvent cleaner like PEC-12 or similar.

http://photosol.com/products/pec-12/

Or you might try rewashing them to dissolve the deposit if it's water soluble, then do a final rinse in distilled water with only a single drop or two of Photoflo.

I wouldn't consider them lost. You spent a lot of time and money getting the shots and developing the rolls. A bit more time invested might save these images. Worth a try....

Let us know what you find out re. surface deposit vs. emulsion problem.

Svend
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  #18  
Old 21st October 2016, 06:54 PM
Coastman Coastman is offline
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Thanks again all for your advice, the spots seem to be " in " the film , so I have purchased a Brita water filter, to filter all water used in the process, also I will " one shot" my fixer, and use water washes instead of stop bath, and see what happens, I'll be happy to stick to this system if it works.
I shoot Digital about half of the time, but as good as digital is, nothing can compare with satisfaction of using a roll of film in an old camera, and seeing the developed strip of negatives hanging up to dry and of course the final image.

Tim
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  #19  
Old 21st October 2016, 09:34 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Fomopan

I have just processed my 1st Fomopan 100 (120) and have no problem. I used a stop bath for 30 seconds followed by fixing for 5mins and 6 x 30secs wash.
Perhaps it is because I live in an area with very soft water, this is a blessing when film processing. I only very rarely get bits attached to the emulsion and have never found the need for filtering the water.
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  #20  
Old 21st October 2016, 09:54 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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I use stop bath on all my films and paper without any problems .if you are getting drying marks on your film you are not using enough wetting agent .I have done it this way constantly since 1971 and have had no trouble..



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