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  #1  
Old 10th September 2023, 08:57 AM
loganca loganca is offline
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Default Light leaks at the start of HP5+ 35mm rolls

I switched from Tri-X to HP5+ a few months ago and the transition went smoothly. I shot about 10 rolls and developed them using HC-110 in a Jobo 1500 series tank using manual inversion and the negatives looked fine. Recently, however, I've begun to have what appears to be light leaks at the beginning of the rolls, often affecting the first 2 or 3 frames on the roll after the leader. This has happened to some degree on the last several rolls I've developed, some of which have the same finishing number in the rebate, but not all. I've seen this problem using different cameras, changing bags, and developing tanks. This lead me to wonder if I had a bad batch of HP5+ with faulty/leaking cassettes. I reached out to Ilford and they acknowledged that the symptoms do appear consistent with a faulty light trap in the cassette but they said they hadn't heard any other complaints about it. They did offer to replace the rolls that exhibited this problem, but I told them I'd develop my remaining shot rolls first and see what happens. Well, I just developed another roll today and the same problem occurred - obvious fogging in the leader area followed by 3 fogged frames. The rest of the roll appears fine.

I keep coming back to the idea of faulty cassettes, but HP5+ is a popular film and I'm not seeing any reports about this issue on this forum, photrio, etc. But I can't think of where in my handling of the film or developing it this might be happening. FWIW I checked my Harrison changing bag with a flashlight and don't see any leaks and I carefully inspected my two Jobo 1520 tanks and don't see any issues there either.

If anyone has any thoughts on what could be the source of this issue I'd be grateful. As I mentioned, it is happening with multiple tanks, cameras and changing bags so I'm not sure where else things could be going wrong.

Here's a photo of the start of one of the affected rolls:

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Old 10th September 2023, 10:32 AM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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I would try two things.
First, accept the offer of replacement films from Ilford.
Second, buy a few rolls from a different supplier to see if there’s any difference. Obviously, you can compare the batch number when you process the first of these rolls.
Alex


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  #3  
Old 10th September 2023, 11:04 AM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Looks to me like it is light leaks from the cassette felt trap.

I take it that you are loading your film cassettes in subdued light ?

If you cannot managed to find a low light location, at least use your body as a sun shield.

The film itself looks like it might be slight crumpled - probably due to time and temperature it was stored at.

It is highly unlikely that streaks like that are caused by your film handling during the development phase (where it would cover the entire film).

It is much more likely that it is your film handling during the camera loading and unloading phase.

Martin
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Old 10th September 2023, 12:07 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Two things came to mind for me, when I looked at your film leader.

1. Have you laid the film leaders, in the same direction, next to each other? Do they look similar and are the streaks all on the same side of the films?

2. Have you tried loading the film into the camera in a film changing bag? I know you mention the bag, but I'm presuming that you meant using them to load a developer tank.

Terry S
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Old 10th September 2023, 01:26 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmuir View Post
I would try two things.
First, accept the offer of replacement films from Ilford.
Second, buy a few rolls from a different supplier to see if there’s any difference. Obviously, you can compare the batch number when you process the first of these rolls.
Alex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I just ordered a few rolls of film from a different manufacturer (Kodak Tri-X) and I'll see how that goes.

If there was a manufacturing problem at Ilford I'd expect to hear about it elsewhere which is why I have been doubting the faulty cassette theory, but it seems more and more likely as I eliminate other possible causes.
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Old 10th September 2023, 01:29 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
Looks to me like it is light leaks from the cassette felt trap.

I take it that you are loading your film cassettes in subdued light ?

If you cannot managed to find a low light location, at least use your body as a sun shield.

The film itself looks like it might be slight crumpled - probably due to time and temperature it was stored at.

It is highly unlikely that streaks like that are caused by your film handling during the development phase (where it would cover the entire film).

It is much more likely that it is your film handling during the camera loading and unloading phase.

Martin
I'm loading the film in a shady area away from any direct sunlight. I don't see any signs of crumpling when I examine the film strip, that may be an optical illusion in the photograph I posted.
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Old 10th September 2023, 05:35 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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loganca, in the strip you have shown us where does this section come on the film's length? If it's the start i.e. the part from the leader that is always outside so is always black but some of which is cut straight to fit the reel more easily and the rest with the streaks is the part of the film that is covered by the cassette and is only uncovered when the take-up spool takes it into the camera but by then you have shut the back of the camera so other than the already existing light streaks from what may be pinholes in the cassette this part is not blasted by light? So the clear section with black streaks then follows as this is the section affected by a light leak but presumably there is no image of any kind because the camera hasn't as yet wound the film to frame 1?

Have got this correct and if so does that mean that whatever is causing what appears to be light leaks does not affect any actual exposed frames as the film in this area is protected from light by the leader and these 3 frames?

So to summarised you have shown us the leader plus the 3 frames that are inside the cassette but are directly exposed to a cassette light leak?

To repeat my final question are any of the shutter- exposed frames subject to light leaks as the one I see only have light streaks but no exposure to the internal camera mechanisms for exposing a scene you are taking?

I'll stop there as it maybe that it is only me who is a little confused and no one else seems to be confused

Thanks

Mike
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Old 10th September 2023, 10:08 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
loganca, in the strip you have shown us where does this section come on the film's length? If it's the start i.e. the part from the leader that is always outside so is always black but some of which is cut straight to fit the reel more easily and the rest with the streaks is the part of the film that is covered by the cassette and is only uncovered when the take-up spool takes it into the camera but by then you have shut the back of the camera so other than the already existing light streaks from what may be pinholes in the cassette this part is not blasted by light? So the clear section with black streaks then follows as this is the section affected by a light leak but presumably there is no image of any kind because the camera hasn't as yet wound the film to frame 1?

Have got this correct and if so does that mean that whatever is causing what appears to be light leaks does not affect any actual exposed frames as the film in this area is protected from light by the leader and these 3 frames?

So to summarised you have shown us the leader plus the 3 frames that are inside the cassette but are directly exposed to a cassette light leak?

To repeat my final question are any of the shutter- exposed frames subject to light leaks as the one I see only have light streaks but no exposure to the internal camera mechanisms for exposing a scene you are taking?

I'll stop there as it maybe that it is only me who is a little confused and no one else seems to be confused

Thanks

Mike
Yes, what you described is correct.

This is the beginning of the roll (with the tapered part of the leader cut off prior to loading the film onto the developing reel). The black portion is the portion exposed to light with the camera back open during film loading. The back was then closed without advancing a frame. The clear part with black streaks shown in the photo is the portion of the film roll that was pulled out of the cassette after the camera back was closed and I advanced a few frames. I would expect that portion of the film roll to be completely clear as it should not have had any light exposure. Unfortunately, some of the shot frames that followed this were fogged in a similar fashion to the clear portion of this film strip.
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Old 10th September 2023, 10:12 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
Two things came to mind for me, when I looked at your film leader.

1. Have you laid the film leaders, in the same direction, next to each other? Do they look similar and are the streaks all on the same side of the films?
I have done that and the streaks all follow a similar pattern. They mostly seem to emanate from the bottom of the film strip but some reach completely across the short side of the strip. I'll post an image shortly that shows several film strips laid beside each other.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
2. Have you tried loading the film into the camera in a film changing bag? I know you mention the bag, but I'm presuming that you meant using them to load a developer tank.
I have not loaded/unloaded the film in a changing bag. I used the changing bag only to load the film on the developing reel. That's a good suggestion, though, I'll try that with the next roll I shoot - assuming I can successfully load the film into the camera 'blind'.
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Old 13th September 2023, 03:40 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quick follow-up:

Ilford has sent me replacement rolls of film to cover the ones that were affected by this issue - in fact, they sent me more replacements than the number that had issues, and did it before I even contacted them this last time - excellent customer service!

Hoping that these new rolls will be free of problems. I'll post back once I've received them and have a chance to shoot/develop them.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who chimed in with helpful advice.
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