c41 development stains

[david klose]

I got some cloudy stains on my last roll. I have never seen this before, and have no clue where this could come from. I always follow the same steps using the same temperatures when developing c41
any suggestions?

 

[Svenedin]

I hardly ever process C41 myself but why is there a blue cast to the whole picture?

 

[david klose]

because it is the raw file from the scanner, without any adjustments done.

 

[Svenedin]

That doesn't make it easy to see the stains you refer to. I assume you mean in front of the ball of wool but this could be a stained table cloth!

 

[WilmarcoImaging]

David, what film size is it? What tank and developing equipment do you use? The marks on your image to me look like they can be from developer pouring on the film in a concentrated way, or too slowly. Also if the film is 35mm or 120, it could be the film was not sitting the reel 100% correctly. If the film is 4x5, then it could be the film is touching the holder or the side of the tank or tray.

A suggestion for the pouring defect is to use a pre-wash bath of plain water at 39 deg C, before the developer. Also try to pour the developer in a uniform way that does not cause a stream of developer to directly touch the film. I use a funnel for this (auf Deutsch: Trichter). If you use a tank or tray these suggestions do not apply.

The reel or tank defect needs to be solved by careful handling.

I like the image very much. My wife knits and the materials in your image are familiar to me.

 

[david klose]

Hi Wilmarcoimaging,
thanks for the answer. It is portra medium format film. I use Jobo Tanks and Rollei Digibase. I always prewash my film and as I wrote, this is the first time this happens. I am sure this has something to do with development because those marks are not on the surface.

 

[Rudeofus]

I would suggest this comes from waiting too long between pouring out of CD and pouring in stop bath or BLIX. You can literally see where the CD ran down across your film strip - remember that 30 seconds extra dev time is a stop push!

 

[david klose]

Thanks for your reply.
I checked the negatives again. I can see that the direction of the marks on the negative shows that this happens when I hang the roll to let it dry. What do you think?

 

[Kuby]

Thanks for your reply.
I checked the negatives again. I can see that the direction of the marks on the negative shows that this happens when I hang the roll to let it dry. What do you think?

I have had marks like this on my negatives and I doubt it is in the drying process. I finger squeegee my negatives until they are almost dry (as I have had water spots from poor drying in the past) and I have still had marks like this. I think it came from a delay bewteen pouring out the developer and pouring in the bleach (blix in my case). I also moved from developing ~8 rolls at once to 2, and this also seems to have improved my results.

 

[Rudeofus]

I checked the negatives again. I can see that the direction of the marks on the negative shows that this happens when I hang the roll to let it dry. What do you think?

Drying marks look distinctly different from development stains, so you should be able to differentiate between them. Drying marks appear mostly on the surface and show up a bit like if a tap water droplet dries on a mirror. Developer stains as suggested by me (and also by Kuby) are regular image, i.e. dye clouds in the emulsion.

 

[WilmarcoImaging]

Looks like developer-related marks. It doesn't look like drying marks to me.

 

[david klose]

Hi,
I am sorry I didn't explain that correctly. I thought this could happen due to bad stab drying , because I hang my rolls directly after using the stab. But I think you are right about it coming from waiting too long between cd and stop bath.

 

[Anon Ymous]

Hi,
... I thought this could happen due to bad stab drying , because I hang my rolls directly after using the stab...

That's exactly what you're supposed to do. If you ever need to rinse your C41 negatives at some point in the future, then you need to use the stabiliser as a final bath once more.