Film Developing Issues: Streaks

[gzinsel]

I agree with shawn, multi issues!! I think the scratches are caused by a burr or burrs of some sort. could be in the camera, could be harden skin protrusion?, that is knicked so as to cause a burr like score when using your fingers to squegee. more than likely, your film back has a "dust type" issue where the particle is trapped at the bar or film gate and protruding and marking your film as you advancing. When loading film either inside or outside there is always a chance of a particle "coming in" off your shirt or blowing in, and landing in exactly the wrong place. AS a foot note , my bulk loading had this issue, I had to buy a new bulk loader and that issue went away, immediately< sometimes you can not feel it, but its there. and marks your film as you advance. Also do not "pull" your negative thrue your sandwiched negative carrier, that will also cause these scratches, the burr of the metal negative carrier will score/mark your film, due to the "squeeze" preasure. hope you fix your problems dude!!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Shawn- I know there are multiple issues. Correct me if I'm wrong but the OP was specifically asking about the scratches, and said he was aware of the other issues and knew the cause for those. He may not have said such in just a single post.

 

[MartinP]

Can we just confirm whether these marks consist of crud on the film, marks in the filmbase/emulsion, or even marks from the digitising method - whatever that is in this case. Is the film all commercial rolls? - probably yes for 120, but it needs to be asked.

Unless you are using one of the fast-dry alcohol rinse products (which went out of fashion about thirty years ago) there doesn't seem any advantage to a squeegee and there are quite a few disadvantages.

Distilled water, with a low concentration of wetting-agent, for final-rinse 'should' have totally clean water naturally falling off your film, leaving sparkling negs after a few hours drying. If there seem to be marks despite doing this, then I suppose look to the suggestions about damage from burrs or edges during shooting and processing - but the marks look more like crud or squeegee pressure-marks than regular mechanical scratches..

For removing the crud marks, if they are on the filmbase side try a breath on a cleaning pad, and experiment on a non-critical area first!

 

[Darkroom317]

They are scratches in the emulsion. They are mostly not visible when looking at the film directly even on the light table. They are however visible when viewing the film at an angle with the emulsion side up. I am really starting to suspect the film back because upon further inspection the only film effected is Tri-X which all of the rolls ran through the same back. The FP4+ lacks the fine scratches when viewing the emulsion closely. Thanks for all of your advice on these issues. It was very enlightening and I would definitely stop squeegeeing my film and will be washing my reels a lot better.

Thanks

Kris

 

[Darkroom317]

New Update. Not straches

Earlier I looked at the negatives and the issue appeared to be scratches, which they do appear that way. However, I rewashed the negatives. I used Edwal LFN as the wetting agent and did not squeegee the negatives. The streaks are now gone. It appears to have been something that got on the film when I squeegeed them with my fingers. I also did a major cleaning of my film reels.

 

[clayne]

Just do not touch the film when it's wet. There's no need for this and it's not going to dry any faster either way.

 

[GRHazelton]

For cleaning reels, tanks, etc, I've turned to the family dishwashing machine. I've encountered no problems, and the detergent is able to reach tiny crevices that often elude brushes. And the whole process is effortless; I would recommend the upper rack, and air, versus heated drying, especially for plastic reels. For stainless, no worries about overheating. The dishwasher rinse aid might even sub for PhotoFlow, but I'm not gonna try!

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

Earlier I looked at the negatives and the issue appeared to be scratches, which they do appear that way. However, I rewashed the negatives. I used Edwal LFN as the wetting agent and did not squeegee the negatives. The streaks are now gone. It appears to have been something that got on the film when I squeegeed them with my fingers. I also did a major cleaning of my film reels.

That is excellent news.