Irregular cloud-like film fog

I'm testing a new combination: ORWO N75 in Fomadon LQN developer and I'm getting a peculiar irregular base fog. I used this developer with HP5 before and despite higher amount of fog it never looked like this. Also this combination seems to be very sensitive to improper agitation. I almost ruined the previous roll by stick only agitation (it worked fine with other films though). Those rectangles are just a phone screen which I used as a target to calculate a gamma afterwards. The vertical line is a left by a film end. The left part sat in an inner turn of the spiral looking towards the core and it has even more fog. It's not a proper scan, don't pay attention to uneven lighting from top to bottom.
Is this film damaged somehow or is this developer just too active for this film? I'll try to change one variable at a time and test this film with Microphen (the combination known to work well) which is also a speed increasing PQ developer but probably less alkaline (borax instead of sodium carbonate).
Edit: Just noticed that the negative turns out to be very flat with noticeable acutance effect like if it's underagitated despite I used standard 30 sec + 10 sec (4 turns) per minute pattern recommended by developer's manufacturer.

Looks like age fog to me. Whats the expiration date on the film?

glbeas said:

Looks like age fog to me. Whats the expiration date on the film?

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I bought it in a bulk from the factory and the roll has only a serial number on it. Nevertheless this stock was introduced in 2019. I just scanned the negative and it looks terrible. Like no agitation at all. In this example I cranked the contrast to more dramatic and lo-fi effect but you got the point.

Looks to me like the film got fogged along the way. How are you bulk loading it? You have to do it in absolute darkness.

Also looks like you didn't have enough developer in the tank, so it looks like two problems to me.

More fog toward the tank core suggests something in your tank isn't as light tight as it should be. Possibility of a cracked tank core? What brand of tank are you using?

River Mantis said:

I bought it in a bulk from the factory and the roll has only a serial number on it. Nevertheless this stock was introduced in 2019. I just scanned the negative and it looks terrible. Like no agitation at all. In this example I cranked the contrast to more dramatic and lo-fi effect but you got the point.View attachment 266941

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I think it looks great but a little sideways, did you just shoot whatever at random to try your processing chemicals? What you could do if shoot motion 35mm film, when it's 24 frames a second the fogginess becomes an aesthetic more than a photographer's problem

Looks like insufficient fixing. Try fixing again in fresh fixer.

Patrick Robert James said:

Looks to me like the film got fogged along the way. How are you bulk loading it? You have to do it in absolute darkness.

Also looks like you didn't have enough developer in the tank, so it looks like two problems to me.

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The same tank with the same amount of developer worked just fine before. An of course it was a complete darkness. Like literally a gasket sealed bathroom with all lights turned off in the apartment at the night I still suspect a stock/developer combination. The negative looks very flat and underagitated with noticeable edge effects. Like the developer exhausts itself way too fast.

I've just developed another roll in Microphen and it turned out perfect. Normal contrast, no visible fog. I think the case is closed. This film just doesn't like Fomadon LQN for some reason.

River Mantis said:

I've just developed another roll in Microphen and it turned out perfect. Normal contrast, no visible fog. I think the case is closed. This film just doesn't like Fomadon LQN for some reason.

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There ARE poor film+developer combinations that should be avoided. Looks like you just identified one.