Acros and Pinholes/Flaking Emulsion

[bvy]

I'm wondeingr if there's any evidence to suggest that Acros 100 becomes more susceptible to pinholes/flaking emulsion if allowed to sit for a considerable length of time after being exposed. My exposed film is always stored in a cool dry area away from light. Here are a couple frames from film exposed in summer 2014 and developed last week.

Another film from about a year ago showed only one pinhole that I could find. Stuff that I shot last week and developed seems fine.

Yes, lesson learned, don't wait so long. My questions are: Is that even what I'm seeing here? Is Acros (or any film) more prone to this issue if allowed to sit for too long? And are there any precautions I can or should take to alleviate the potential damage -- e.g. replace the stop bath with a water stop, for instance?

Thanks.

(Everything shown/described was developed in HC-110 (E) at 68F for 8 minutes.)

 

[DWThomas]

Loose crud in camera or crud on a roller that contacts the emulsion? The irregular shape makes me think that way. If anything were on the emulsion surface during exposure, it could leave a clear spot. I've never seen anything like that with Acros, but then I've probably never exceeded two weeks to develop an exposed roll.

 

[bvy]

I'm also suspecting it's the rollers, though I don't have this camera anymore. The question now is -- has the damage already been done, or is this happening during the development process? If the latter, I wonder if changing developer or some other parameters of my processing can stop or ease the damage. I have several more rolls from this time period that I need to process.

 

[DWThomas]

If it is dirt blocking the exposure, I fear the damage is done. I suppose looking at the known defective one under a microscope might give hints as to whether the spots are mechanical damage or just clear emulsion. Of course if the dirt was of a hard, 3-dimensional sort, there could be some of both.

Maybe wait a day or two and see if any other Intrepid APUG Investigators have something to say. (My expertise is of very little depth here!)