Blotchy 4x5 negatives ...

David Palermo

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Sep 23, 2020
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Santa Barbara, California
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4x5 Format
Hello all,

I decided to develop 2 sheets of Tri-X along with 2 sheets of HP5 for 9 mins in the same tank (SP-445). (Tri-X wanted 8 mins but the HP5 photos were more important so I just decided to go 9 min for all of the film).

The HP5 negs look ok and do not have the "blotching". This negative as you can see has weird blotching at the bottom. The top image is the positive, the bottom is the negative.

I expected the Tri-X negs to be more contrasty but I didn't expect the blotchiness.

Developed for 9 mins at 68F in Ilford Ilfotec DDX. Inverted first 30 seconds and then every 30 seconds. This method of agitation worked well for Fomapan 200 and HP5 last week.

I also tapped hard for air bubbles after agitation each time.

Can anyone tell me what these spots are?

Frustrating...

Thank you!

David
 

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Donald Qualls

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The blotches are light in the positive, indicating the opposite of air bubbles -- that is, the blotches got more development (or exposure) than the rest of the sheet.

Contact fogging in the film holder or during loading, perhaps? Chemical fogging in an unsealed package when storing the film?
 

MattKing

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Check as well that the blotches aren't un-fixed portions of the negative. Donald's suggestion is more likely.
 

Donald Qualls

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Also a remote possibility that an incorrectly closed SP-445 lid could have leaked a little light onto only that edge of only one sheet of film, though I would expect that distribution in that case.
 

mrosenlof

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I've never used the SP-445, but if something prevented the developer from getting to the BACK of the film, it's possible that some of the antihalation dye is not being removed by the developer. I definitely see with with TMax-100, but I'm less certain of Tri-X. But try soaking for maybe five minutes in a solution of about 5g sodium carbonate to 1 liter of water. You could even use developer again if you don't have carbonate. You want a base, but don't go crazy and use lye. re-wash and inspect.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Was the blotchy part of the film oriented upside or downside in the tank? I can see that happening if you don't have enough solution in the tank, and it gets all bubbly and frothy... Never used this tank before, mind you.
 

Donald Qualls

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Andrew O'Neill said:
I can see that happening if you don't have enough solution in the tank, and it gets all bubbly and frothy... Never used this tank before, mind you.
Click to expand...

Once again, "bubbly and frothy" would result in local underdevelopment, dark on the print -- this is light on the print, so if it's development, it would be local overdevelopment. That's unlikely enough, IMO, to make contact or chemical fogging in storage more likely.
 
OP
OP

David Palermo

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Sep 23, 2020
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Location
Santa Barbara, California
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4x5 Format
It turned out to be light-leaks in my film holder. I did a test with an unexposed sheet of film. I put the sheet into the holder and walked outside in the sun and rotated it for a few seconds then developed the film. Same patterns were found on the film as what I posted above. Toyo is sending me new dark slides. Thank you all!
 
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