Film came out clear!

Slowshooter · Aug 28, 2014

Developed a roll of FP4 last night using Ilfosol 3. Following much expectation, the roll came out completely clear. The film was one I shot for fun in order to practice processing. Mind you it dated from 1998 and hadn't been stored properly. The chemicals are about six months old and were used in the proper sequence. The cap on the Ilfosol bottle wasn't screwed on as tightly as it should have been and the liquid itself was a fairly light brown. There's no problem with the camera. Could the film just have been too old or is the developer at fault?

Rhodes · Aug 28, 2014

If the chemicals were used in the proper sequence and fixer was not used first, the developer was dead.

Kirks518 · Aug 28, 2014

I'm by no means an expert, as I'm new to developing myself, but...

1) - are you sure the camera is operating properly?
2) - are you sure the film was put on the take up spool correctly, and that the film was advancing?
3) - what does the rebate look like? any legible info there?

If the rebate (the edge of the film) has any markings on it that you can see clearly, then it was the camera, film loading, or film advance.
If the rebate is clear, then it's an issue with either the developer, or your development times/methods, or possibly the film itself.

My vote goes to incorrect film loading.

ic-racer · Aug 28, 2014

Process a small piece of film in the suspect developer in daylight in a tray. It should come out pretty black.

Kirks518 · Aug 28, 2014

Rhodes said:
If the chemicals were used in the proper sequence and fixer was not used first, the developer was dead.

Unless the rebate shows development, correct?

Rhodes · Aug 28, 2014

Of course Kirks518

analoguey · Aug 28, 2014

Quite a few similar threads on here - you could search and see any of them to follow the trouble-shooting steps.

A good idea would be to see if you can see the manufacturer markings coming out on the film - if not, it could be a dev issue as stated above.

Slowshooter · Aug 28, 2014

The film was loaded correctly. No problems with the camera; it's produced good black and white films recently (lab processed!) and colour films as well. There were no numbers or other markings visible on the film. How long should developer be stored?

pentaxuser · Aug 28, 2014

Do as has been suggested. Use the leader in daylight and develop it in a small container for the same period as the developing instructions say for your film and see what happens. It should go very black. The only way it might be clear is if the developer failed totally and completely. Given what you have said about it, I have to say this seems unlikely but this test will tell

pentaxuser.

bdial · Aug 28, 2014

Storage time vary, Ilford's data sheet will include their recommendations. But generally speaking, 6 months is plenty of time for most developers to go off, especially if they aren't tightly capped. That it was brown is another bad sign.

The generalization that clear film = "fixer used first" assumes known good chemistry. If the developer is suspect, then it depends on the particular formulation whether or not even a slight image would be expected.

No harm in testing it, but I'd recommend fresh developer for your next roll. Even if it manages to turn a piece of leader dark, it may not be able to get it to full density.

railwayman3 · Aug 28, 2014

I'm 99% sure it was the developer at fault, particularly as you say it was not sealed properly.

Old or badly-stored film normally shows some degree of fogging, rather than being completely clear. I'd expect even a badly-stored film from 1998 to show some image, even if also heavily fogged. In general, I'd expect a normally-stored slow B&W film from 1998 to produce some usable image, while a frozen film of similar vintage would still be good.

Slowshooter · Aug 28, 2014

Thanks everyone. I'll try the developer with a small strip of film tonight and report back.

E. von Hoegh · Aug 28, 2014

Slowshooter said:
Developed a roll of FP4 last night using Ilfosol 3. Following much expectation, the roll came out completely clear. The film was one I shot for fun in order to practice processing. Mind you it dated from 1998 and hadn't been stored properly. The chemicals are about six months old and were used in the proper sequence. The cap on the Ilfosol bottle wasn't screwed on as tightly as it should have been and the liquid itself was a fairly light brown. There's no problem with the camera. Could the film just have been too old or is the developer at fault?

If there are no manufacturer's marks on the edges of the film, and the chemicals were used in the correct order, the developer was dead.
I'm using 8x10 sheet Tri-X that dates from the late 80s; it' a bit slow but otherwise fine (I got a bonanza of this stuff, frozen since new).
I routinely purge all my chemical bottles with nitrogen, but even then I wouldn't use 6 month old developer.

Rhodes · Aug 28, 2014

Let's stir the some stuff: if the developer was rodinal, 6 months is noting for it!

DannL. · Aug 28, 2014

It's comforting to know that the developer you are using will actually develop the film. When there is the "potential" for failure . . . old film, old chemistry, etc . . . it can save a lot of frustration by running the film test mentioned previously. When loading up your reel, simply cut of the first inch of leader and before processing the whole reel, run the leader through the chemistry with the lights on. These days I use my chemistry often enough not to run into this problem. But I have exhausted the fixer on several occasions.

Film came out clear!

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