Hi all,
I've recently begun attempting to home develop my black and white 35mm negatives. I have had pretty consistent streaks of---what looks to me like--overdevelopment.
I've attached a particularly bad example, plus the negative strip (sorry that one's not of great quality).
So far I've processed 7 rolls, and all have had varying degrees of this problem.
-They were all done with Kodak D76 (at varying dilutions) and Kodafix at various process times, including push processing on two. I have re-mixed my developer twice and fixer once. No change.
-I have used tap water, tho no one else in my town has had this problem, nor can tell me what it might be.
-I have tried four different tanks (both Patterson and SS) and used inversion and stand processing. When agitating I do 30 seconds to begin, and have tried both 5 sec every 30, as well as 10 sec every 60. When I agitate I twist and invert at what I would call a 'steady' pace. While two rolls seemed a little better, there weren't any corresponding details between the two (one was stand and one agitated, different dilutions, and different batches).
-There is no problem with my camera as I've had rolls from it professionally processed with zero issues.
-I have done my loading in two different bags, in dark rooms, and while my 'chemical station' is my kitchen sink, I have done all developing at night with minimal to no light. I do not believe this to be a light leak of any kind.
From what I can gather on forums, this is either Bromide Drag or a problem with my Fixer (this post is the only which suggests a fixer problem but it looks so much like what I'm having problems with: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums...-darkroom/189097-example-exhausted-fixer.html)
I don't actually understand why people online keep saying Bromide Drag because whatever is going through the sprocket holes seems to be overdeveloping the film in those comet-trail-like areas, and Bromide is a byproduct of the chemical process which inhibits development and is actually what causes developer to lose potency over uses.
The only success I've had is with 120 film, so it's obviously a lot to do with the sprocket holes in the 35mm.
Also, I have a temp control set up with a Sous Vide machine, so even though I know it's not a big deal for B+W but temperature has been exactly 68.
Either way there isn't much online which seems very clear. Some people say too vigorous agitation and some say not enough. Some say to stop top loading the chemicals and instead dunk, but the Patterson loads from the bottom and made no difference.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is driving me crazy! I've wasted too much film in a short time (including two rolls of Neopan).
Waiting on some TMax developer in the mail before I can try anything else.
Thanks!
I've recently begun attempting to home develop my black and white 35mm negatives. I have had pretty consistent streaks of---what looks to me like--overdevelopment.
I've attached a particularly bad example, plus the negative strip (sorry that one's not of great quality).
So far I've processed 7 rolls, and all have had varying degrees of this problem.
-They were all done with Kodak D76 (at varying dilutions) and Kodafix at various process times, including push processing on two. I have re-mixed my developer twice and fixer once. No change.
-I have used tap water, tho no one else in my town has had this problem, nor can tell me what it might be.
-I have tried four different tanks (both Patterson and SS) and used inversion and stand processing. When agitating I do 30 seconds to begin, and have tried both 5 sec every 30, as well as 10 sec every 60. When I agitate I twist and invert at what I would call a 'steady' pace. While two rolls seemed a little better, there weren't any corresponding details between the two (one was stand and one agitated, different dilutions, and different batches).
-There is no problem with my camera as I've had rolls from it professionally processed with zero issues.
-I have done my loading in two different bags, in dark rooms, and while my 'chemical station' is my kitchen sink, I have done all developing at night with minimal to no light. I do not believe this to be a light leak of any kind.
From what I can gather on forums, this is either Bromide Drag or a problem with my Fixer (this post is the only which suggests a fixer problem but it looks so much like what I'm having problems with: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums...-darkroom/189097-example-exhausted-fixer.html)
I don't actually understand why people online keep saying Bromide Drag because whatever is going through the sprocket holes seems to be overdeveloping the film in those comet-trail-like areas, and Bromide is a byproduct of the chemical process which inhibits development and is actually what causes developer to lose potency over uses.
The only success I've had is with 120 film, so it's obviously a lot to do with the sprocket holes in the 35mm.
Also, I have a temp control set up with a Sous Vide machine, so even though I know it's not a big deal for B+W but temperature has been exactly 68.
Either way there isn't much online which seems very clear. Some people say too vigorous agitation and some say not enough. Some say to stop top loading the chemicals and instead dunk, but the Patterson loads from the bottom and made no difference.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is driving me crazy! I've wasted too much film in a short time (including two rolls of Neopan).
Waiting on some TMax developer in the mail before I can try anything else.
Thanks!
