120 film emulsion speckle

[OAPOli]

I accidentally shot some blank frames. 120 format Kodak 400TMAX, expired 2016 and kept in a fridge. There is a faint pattern which I guess is caused by the backing paper? You have to boost the contrast to see it; it's not noticeable at all on the exposed frames.

I just wanted to share this with the forum.

 

[koraks]

Yeah, looks like backing paper offset. You mentioned that the film was refrigerated; how long did you allow it to come up to temperature before opening the foil wrapper?

 

[OAPOli]

@koraks about a 1/2 hour.

 

[koraks]

That should be plenty. I'd just put this down to unfortunate interaction between film and backing paper during long-term storage. If it's any consolation, I've seen somewhat similar effects on expired but otherwise properly handled Kodak color negative film. Some rolls are absolutely fine, some have 'convenient' frame numbers imprinted on the images...

 

[K-G]

Ilford has had similar problems and Kodak also had the problem with backing paper letters and figures showing up on the film. On. the latest films from both Ilford and Kodak it seems that the problems have been solved.
Ilford have written about it on their web-page. I include that.

Karl-Gustaf

updated-120-roll-film-statement

 

[Harry Callahan]

What i consider strange is that the speckles are smeared at the upper edge of the film. It looks like they have been wiped off the film - about where the film has contact to the reel of the developing tank. Also on the lower edge of the film, but not that obvious.
To me it looks like these speckles are some kind of residue you can wipe or wash off the film with a little scrubbing. Very gentle of course.

 

[F4U]

Film comes with an expiration date. Everything in this life has an expiration date, You can fudge a little bit with film, but not forever. I have never had a successful outcome by trying to freeze or refrigerate it.

 

[koraks]

Film comes with an expiration date. Everything in this life has an expiration date, You can fudge a little bit with film, but not forever. I have never had a successful outcome by trying to freeze or refrigerate it.

10 years is not an unreasonable timeframe to get somewhat decent results from most B&W film and some color film, too. Refrigeration and freezing are used at a large scale by many people (including myself) to arrest at least the chemical aspect of film deterioration, to good effect and generally without issue. The problem here appears to be a particular interaction between backing paper and emulsion, which 120 film is inherently more prone to due to its construction.

What i consider strange is that the speckles are smeared at the upper edge of the film. It looks like they have been wiped off the film

That's an interesting observation; definitely worth a try. Some dichroic fog can indeed be wiped off. Not that it will solve much since it's unlikely that it can be cleared entirely and without any damage to the images, but it may give some insight into the chemical underpinnings of the fogging mechanism. So I'd consider it more academically relevant than practically so.

 

[abruzzi]

I had something similar on TMAX100 that I fixed with additional fixing.