Blotches: What did I do wrong?

Hi! I've been developing B&W for 4 years now, and almost always I get satisfactory results. Every once in a while though something happens that makes me wonder what did I do wrong. This time, I have these "blotches" that are most visible in the lighter parts of the image - as exemplified by the images I attached.

- Shot with Leica IIIf
- lenses Industar-22, Jupiter-3 or Jupiter-12
- Fresh Kodak TRI-X 400 film
- Developed in Paterson Super System 4 tank as the only roll of film. I put another spiral on top of the bottom one to keep it from floating.
- Presoaked for ~30 seconds. I always do this, mostly because of superstition and "to remove the bits of fiber my film changing bag might introduce".
- Developer Kodak D-76, mixed from fresh powder, stock strengh solution, less than 2 months old solution kept in a full brown glass bottle.
- Developed in 20C 6min 30 seconds, with gentle and varied agitation about once every 30 seconds (inversions, rolling tank around on the table, etc. to make it as random as possible.)
- Kodak MAX-Stop stop bath
- Agfa Agefix 1+5 for 3min 30secs
- 13 minute wash with running water from the tap
- 1 minute in distilled water to remove calcium stains.
- Hang to dry, no "film scratcher" device used

The blotches have become a part of the image - they're not any kind of separate junk on the film surface, so I am assuming they didn't appear after the processing part but instead during it.

I've seen these kind of blotches a couple times before, with different film+dev+camera+etc. combos so it's hard to figure out what is the connection..

So, any bright ideas please

It could be drying marks - I notice you don't use Photoflo (or an equivalent) after the wash step.

Best to check the film - if you can see it on the non-emulsion side, I'd be pretty sure it's dried water. If so, you'll need to resoak for maybe 5 mins and then use some Photoflo to ensure the water doesn't "sit" on your negatives.

Maybe other APUGers have more suggestions?

Developer surge through sprocket holes = more development due to turbulence/increased agitation near the film holes than the reset of the film.

Typical cause = "bad" agitation or uneven development during the initial development - I have seen this also as a factor of "personal process" - vs film dev strength. I would try changing your agitation technique or using a more dilute developer than strait D76 maybe 1+1? If your filling procedure when dumping the dev in the tank is not really quick and you do not start agitation IMMEDIATELY this can also cause this - ie. pouring the developer too slowly and then screwing around for a little bit before starting agitation,

RB

Ps. It looks like you have multiple issues but the one that smacks me in the face is image #2

No, I don't believe it to be drying marks - as I wrote, there's nothing to be seen on the film surface itself. I used to use Agepon many years ago, but I got annoyed by the occasional "soap bubble" marks it caused and went to distilled water. No drying marks ever since.

Of the suggested causes I think the screwing around after pouring in the developer sounds possible. The other thing that came to my mind is that I also do C-41 and even though I wash the tank thoroughly afterwards, maybe some residue of that evil stabilizator is still left and causes these effects? I remember that the previous development using this tank indeed was C-41.

Not enough initial agitation in the developer is as RB says..the problem

rwboyer said:

Developer surge through sprocket holes = more development due to turbulence/increased agitation near the film holes than the reset of the film.

Typical cause = "bad" agitation or uneven development during the initial development - I have seen this also as a factor of "personal process" - vs film dev strength. I would try changing your agitation technique or using a more dilute developer than strait D76 maybe 1+1? If your filling procedure when dumping the dev in the tank is not really quick and you do not start agitation IMMEDIATELY this can also cause this - ie. pouring the developer too slowly and then screwing around for a little bit before starting agitation,

RB

Ps. It looks like you have multiple issues but the one that smacks me in the face is image #2

Click to expand...

Ok, I will concentrate on the initial agitation part more from now on.

Funny how bad habits gang up on you. A year ago I had developed a habit of doing too vigorous agitation and I got perforation turbulence effects (as analyzed by a bunch of film gurus at that time). Now I've gotten too lazy on the initial agitation part.
One of these days I'll get some kind of agitation machine so that at least that part is standardized, leaving me responsible for messing up something else instead

Oh and now I remember the last time I had these blotches. It was developing APX-25 with 1+50 Rodinal a bit over a year ago - my wonderful Rome pics

When you put in the developer, make sure you invert and twist, this is critical as soon as chems hit the film or you will get uneveness in flat areas if you don't
.
Also make sure you are using an good stop bath, to stop development immediately. Specifically important with lots of grey backgrounds

Now that I think of it, I might have screwed around before pouring in the stop bath for even longer than after pouring in the developer. I'll be more careful with that from now on - and mix up a new stop bath just in case.

Well, I've been developing some more with the same batch of D-76, trying to make sure I do a thorough no-screwing-around initial agitation and pour the stop bath in quickly after I pour the developer out. I am getting better results, but not perfect:
- One bunch of development using 1+1 dilution, Pan F+ 50 120 size: perfect. Neopan Acros 100 135 size: Ok, only about two blotches in the whole roll
- Another bunch of development using 1+3 dilution, EFKE KB25 (from a 2006 batch that has so far worked very well): some blotches, example below (enhanced with Curves a bit to show it better):

Since I am used to getting "perfect" results every time in development evenness, I am still not satisfied with this even though it's not really end of the world. Maybe I screwed up mixing this batch of developer somehow? I think I will develop the next 3-5 rolls with something else, like Rodinal, just for a change.

toninikkanen said:

Now that I think of it, I might have screwed around before pouring in the stop bath for even longer than after pouring in the developer. I'll be more careful with that from now on - and mix up a new stop bath just in case.

Click to expand...

***************
At any rate, Toni, the negs appear to be very sharp. Which lens on your IIIf?

Image 1: Jupiter-3
Image 2,3: industar-22
Image 4: jupiter-12
Image 5: industar-22

not enoughn agitation and the first 30 sec are most critical.

Use a Paterson with the funnel and tube and fill as quickly as possible. Then use the twist stick for 30 sec.
Inversion after that.

If you have a stainless tank, drop the loaded reel in the prefilled tank, cap and invert. 3 times in 5 sec for 30 sec, 30 divided by 5 is 6. 6x3 = 18 inversons in 30 sec. Only use enough developer so the reel is covered, no more.

Some update

I began mixing my developer into distilled water and the problems have vanished. None of the suggested improvements to my workflow fixed my problems, so I guess I wasn't doing that bad a job after all.

I contacted the waterworks, asking about any changes to the water quality, and got a response. Freely translating from the Finnish, they said the water has been record-breaking hard (10 German units) and that also the alkalinity and buffering properties have been different from the usual. Maybe those affected the development somehow.

Also, looking closer I found the same kind of uneven development effects in two rolls of C-41 developed during the spring, while originally I thought I was only having problems with my B&W development.