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  #11  
Old 3rd August 2019, 08:16 AM
marty marty is offline
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Hi, Mitch. Thank you for pointing me to your interesting article. In the distant past I had a problem with the wetting agent, I was using a way too concentrate solution which left a nasty sticky residue really difficult to remove. Part of the problem was the tap water, using distillate/demineralized water for the wetting agent solution tamed the problem and reducing drastically the quantity of wetting agent stock did the rest, leaving a perfectly shining film. Apparently only exteriorly if the issue is affecting the emulsion below the surface. I'll take your advice and try to do the WA bath in a separate container.

M.
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  #12  
Old 3rd August 2019, 04:46 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I use Ilford wetting agent and keep it in a bottle which I then decant into a plastic sandwich box and swish the film which I have removed that that stage from the reel in there. I run my middle two fingers down the film twice once I have removed it from the WA and then shake the film vigorously before hanging it up. So far(several years) I have had no problems

It might be relevant to say that the film is hung in a drying cabinet and fan driven air is blown over it. However even without fan driven air I think that the WA does come off the film's surface OK so that if the fan were ever to break down the film would still dry cleanly but of course take longer to dry

Mike
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  #13  
Old 3rd August 2019, 08:21 PM
marty marty is offline
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Thank you for the tips, Mike. I'll try doing the WA bath out of the tank and see. I also use my fingers to remove di excess of liquid after having removed the film from the reel. Then as you do I hang it in a drying cabinet.
Mine is a DIY one with no fan, although I originally planned to put in one at a later time. The film is drying clean, on the surface at least.

M.
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  #14  
Old 3rd August 2019, 08:44 PM
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I had a problem like that a couple of years ago and traced it to partially exhausted fixer. Might be worth a check.


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  #15  
Old 3rd August 2019, 10:56 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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marty it is defiantly the way it is stored and it only happens with 120 film and usually near the end of the sell by date or older ,if the film has been through a summers and a winter,with all the temperature changes and the film has some moisture in it and this with the backing paper causes this to happen .I now will only buy ten or twenty rolls of 120 at a time ,unless I am going to shoot a lot in a short time .but 35mm don't seem to have this problem and I don't mind buying a load of that film . I don't have the use of a fridge and keep my film in a box under my enlarger table on the floor ,its the coldest place in my darkroom . I had a similar problem once, i loaded up some 5x4 film in a slightly damp developing tank so I could develop it the next day ,after I had developed the film and hung it up to dry I notest the same blotchy pattern on the negs ,so I would guess that the worm night and damp developing tank produced moisture that stuck to the film ,the film was fomapan sheet film.
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  #16  
Old 4th August 2019, 04:59 AM
Stocky Stocky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmuir View Post
Thanks for the picture, Marty. It shows very clearly the problem. I haven’t experienced this myself, but it looks like reticulation. I mention that because the effect seems quite evenly distributed over the frame. This occurs when the emulsion experiences sharp changes in temperature during processing. It’s not very common with modern film, but I believe it’s still possible. I had thought the backing paper problem gave a more random, blotchy appearance, but I may be wrong.
Alex.


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I have read that modern films are very resistant to reticulation. In fact it has been reported that it's quite difficult to make it happen deliberately. The OP has controlled the temperatures reasonably well it seems.

Can you see the defects on the negative? Maybe in strong reflected light?
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  #17  
Old 4th August 2019, 06:02 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stocky View Post
I have read that modern films are very resistant to reticulation. In fact it has been reported that it's quite difficult to make it happen deliberately. The OP has controlled the temperatures reasonably well it seems.
Typical 120 backing paper is coated on one side with an inert resin that should not offset, either chemically or physically. I am certain that Ilford's technicians check every batch. And I have never observed reticulation, going back to the 1960s.
So the storage conditions of the film rise to the top of the list of suspects. Perhaps it is my rigorous photolab apprenticeship, but I would no more use improperly-stored film than eat a sandwich that had been out of the fridge for a few days.
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  #18  
Old 4th August 2019, 11:17 AM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photomi7ch View Post
Looks to me like a wetting agent contamination. Always shows it's self in the sky and in other areas if you look for it.
There is a thread here that talks about it. Also a post on my blog on how I found it.
Mitch, I followed through to your blog and read the post about wetting agent = very interesting read!

It so happens, that I have been printing up an old negative this week and have exactly the same marks in the sky area that is being talked about. It might explain why I never printed that neg / film up at the time. Saying that I am going to check the rest of the film, especially any negs that have sky areas on, to see if it's apparent on them as well, which I suspect it will.

But the question I have, before I try it, is if I rewash the separate lengths of negatives that have this mottling in the sky area, will it disappear after a further wash or is it there permanently now?

Terry S
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  #19  
Old 4th August 2019, 01:58 PM
Tony Marlow Tony Marlow is offline
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I had mottling very similar to that of the op,with a batch of out of date HP5+ which I bought from an aquaintance. I put it down to bad storage conditions and vowed never again to buy out of date films.

Tony
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  #20  
Old 4th August 2019, 04:26 PM
marty marty is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brock View Post
I had a problem like that a couple of years ago and traced it to partially exhausted fixer. Might be worth a check.


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Hi, Bruce. Thank you for replaying. I mxed the fixer from concentrate just before developing the film.

M.
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