Dots and spots on film negatives - please advise

[Odot]

Hey, does anyone know what these bottom right dots could be? They are on a few negatives (not in order).

The spot on the top looks like obvious water spots and i need to get better with that as well. I´ve heard that film squeegees can damage your negatives so use my fingers to get most of the liquid off the film but still, theres these spots.

Could this be from the wetting agent as well? I really just use a small sprinkle.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Use a wetting agent, PhotoFlo or equivalent mixed exactly not drops or capfuls, do not squeegee or fingers to wipe and hang to dry. Then take a paper towel and put it at the lowest corner of the film to draw off the excess liquid.

 

[bsdunek]

Looks like a water spot to me. I use Photoflo, but mixed to twice the recommended dilution. I have had trouble with it too strong. I use a photo sponge to wipe the film after hanging. I have several old Kodak photo sponges with work great. I make sure to rinse them well after. use and dry in a drawer, not out in the dust. Just the way I do it and it works for me.

 

[Odot]

Looks like a water spot to me. I use Photoflo, but mixed to twice the recommended dilution. I have had trouble with it too strong. I use a photo sponge to wipe the film after hanging. I have several old Kodak photo sponges with work great. I make sure to rinse them well after. use and dry in a drawer, not out in the dust. Just the way I do it and it works for me.

So instead of adding a few sprinkles to the rinse water i should make it extra?

Photo sponge? I have never heard of such thing and i looked up BHphoto as well in hopes of finding one. Where can i get one?

 

[MattKing]

So instead of adding a few sprinkles to the rinse water i should make it extra?

Take 5 ml of Photo-flo and add it to one litre of water.
That will give you the recommended dilution.
The amount of surfactant necessary varies a bit with the qualities of your water. So many people who have soft water are able to use a more dilute concentration.
I have a more complex method which I use - I make a stock solution using isopropyl alcohol diluted 1 part Photo-flo to seven parts alcohol, and then make a working solution by diluting the stock solution 1 + 24 - but the 5 ml in a litre works fine.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

So instead of adding a few sprinkles to the rinse water i should make it extra?

Photo sponge? I have never heard of such thing and i looked up BHphoto as well in hopes of finding one. Where can i get one?

No, you should measure. Wetting agents come with instructions for diluting (e.g. Kodak Photo Flo 200 should be diluted 1:200). That said, you can use other methods of measuring than a graduate. A small syringe makes a good measure for very small amounts of concentrate like wetting agents. You want the wetting agent to prevent beading up of water droplets on your film. If it's not doing that, it's too weak. Mixing too strong is also a problem, because that can leave residue on the film. The proper dilution for 99% of the applications has been worked out by the manufacturer, so use that and don't deviate from it unless you have a good reason.

As for squeegeeing or not: you'll get as many opinions and methods here as there are forum contributors. I use clean fingers and never have a scratch. I've got photo sponges but never use them...

Best,

Doremus

 

[Sirius Glass]

Of course you should measure and start with the dilution recommendations. Only deviate for a really good reason, not an excuse. The companies spent a lot of money and research time to come up with the right mixture, so why waste their efforts and our time deviating and then taking up bandwidth because "a sprinkle or a dash should be enough".

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

Used distilled water with your surfactant.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Used distilled water with your surfactant.

Definitely! Using hard water with the wetting agent will result in spotting due to the dissolved minerals. And, if you have hard water, increase your time in the wetting agent/distilled water to several minutes to ensure that the minerals in the water are removed from the negative. Discard your wetting agent after one batch/session.

Best,

Doremus

 

[REAndy]

+1 using distilled water.
Get a quart/liter sprayer bottle (you know the kind where the nozzle can be turned to make a spray to a stream?) and fill that with your working strength PhotoFlo solution.
After washing film, I hold up the film with one hand, and spray both sides of the film completely. I'm looking for complete "displacement" of the wash water with the PhotoFlo solution.
I wipe with fingers and hang on film clips, and use a piece of paper toweling on the bottom to soak up the excess.

In some above posts, others have said not to wipe with fingers/squeegee/sponge, I'm gonna try that next time and see what kind of results I can get. If it works, it would eliminate one potential source of scratches.

 

[mklw1954]

I use PhotoFlo at half the recommended concentration and have no drying marks. I would not touch the negatives with anything, let them air dry in a clean area.

For the small white points showing up, filtering each chemical, each time used, using coffee filters (assuming you re-use) eliminated those for me. Also, let reels and tanks air dry, i.e., don't wipe them dry and risk getting lint on them which can then be in the tank while developing.