film development problem?????

First of all, I just want to say thanks to all the members of apug as you are most helpful. I have learned and continue to learn a lot from this site.

I just processed some Ilford Delta 100 in DDX. It is the first roll I shot with a Konica camera that is "new" to me. Problem is that about 50% of the negative seems to have discoloration on it which is consistent throughout the negs. My first thought is light leak but could it be something in development? I don't have a scanner so can't post a pic of it. It is a brownish tint on upper half of all negs. BTW developer, stop, fix all worked fine a couple weeks ago when I processed film from another reliable camera. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

BTW....images look good. I also finished with a photoflo rinse.

21 May 2008

mps:

I to have learned a lot form the members of APUG.

Welcome to the wonderful world of film processing. What is intriguing about you problem is that only 50% of the negatives show the problem. May I ask if the 50% is along the film (i.e. first half of the roll), or is it half of all the frames in the roll. If it is the latter it could be too little developer in the tank.

I also noted that you had reused developer from a "couple of weeks ago". This is usually not a good practice because developer will oxidize and loose strength. Generally the more dilute the faster it will oxidize. Stop and fix should be ok of kept in closed containers.

As for the brown stain I do not know if DDX is a "staining developer". I use mainly D76, Perceptol, and HC110.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Darwin

Poor description on my part. Along the entire roll, the top half of the negative is darker than the bottom half. I did mix the developer immediately before from concentrate. I used 20 ounces of dev with a 2 Patterson reel system.

mps:

I to have learned a lot form the members of APUG.

Welcome to the wonderful world of film processing. What is intriguing about you problem is that only 50% of the negatives show the problem. May I ask if the 50% is along the film (i.e. first half of the roll), or is it half of all the frames in the roll. If it is the latter it could be too little developer in the tank.

I also noted that you had reused developer from a "couple of weeks ago". This is usually not a good practice because developer will oxidize and loose strength. Generally the more dilute the faster it will oxidize. Stop and fix should be ok of kept in closed containers.

As for the brown stain I do not know if DDX is a "staining developer". I use mainly D76, Perceptol, and HC110.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Darwin[/QUOTE]

Swirl agitation or inversion agitation?

Fred

Fred Aspen said:

Swirl agitation or inversion agitation?

Fred

Click to expand...

inversion

Sounds like not enough developer to cover the reel...

I agree with k8do...sound like insufficient developer, though I don't understand why it stained? If the development is uniform accross the negative, and you just have this stain (you mentioned they looked good), then it can't be lack of developer (that would show less development on half of the negative. Are you sure the tank was clean when you started? If you reused old developer which is one shot type (as DDx is) then that may be part of the problem.

Could it be insufficient fixer?

Matt

I have used DDX recently. No signs of stain. It isn't a staining developer. I suppose there has to be a point at which even DDX goes bad but within a fortnight and anyway the negs turned out fine if a little brown? As you has used the same dev etc a couple of weeks ago with no problems, it seems unlikely that on this occasion you suddenly used too little developer or fixer. Furthermore you seem to say that apart from the stain the negs turned out fine. If there had been insufficient developer then I'd expect the top part of the film to be poorly developed by comparison as the dev drained down after each inversion period.

I suspect we could offer possible causes until the cows come home but without a scan of the negs none of our offerings might be even close to the real problem.

pentaxuser

I will look to see if someone I know has a scanner. But I was low on fixer, can't tell you how much I actually used though as I didn't pay attention to it but thought it was enough. I looked at the negs again today and they look normal as far as exposure throughout entire neg. Thanks for your help.

BTW - on another topic, any recommendation on scanners that won't break the bank?

Refix and see if the film clears. If so then insufficient fix.

It does sound as though at some stage there was not enough chemistry to cover the film. Could the reel have moved up the central tube? There should be a retaining clip to stop this happening when only one reel is used in two or more reel tank.