Irregular wide streaks on 120 Rollei RPX 400 negatives (not light leaks)

Hello fellow film aficionados,

I have been "using" this forum for a long time as a source of information and learned a lot from the discussions posted. Now I finally got an account of my own as I could not find anything through searching the boards. Been developing B+W film for two years now, and I have my "regimen" and I treat it as a natural process, whereas things can turn out differently even if you follow all your steps to the detail.

That being said: I have been using Rollei RPX 400 120 for a few weeks now and shot about 5 rolls with it, some in a Mamia RZ 67 and some in a Yashica Mat 124G. All came out fine with exception of the idiot error like opening your film back unshaded in the mid day sun to remove an exposed spool....meh

Enter the weird one: Snapped some test shots in a studio with my Yashica to test if the flash sync and everything works properly.



This one film I developed has these strange wide marks along the entire film roll. They are about half a centimeder wide and sort of "snake" around. On one side it starts out as a thick wide strip and then branches off into two and they start moving around. They are not light related as they would be black on the negs.

Here are my theories:

1: Something to do with the film manufacturing process?

2: Something done differently during developing? (Can't see what I did did differently apart from accidentally rinsing the film with semi-hot water and then switched back to cold when I realized this).

3: After a final rinse with filtered water and some Tetenal Mirasol 2000 wetting agent, I hang all my film on my shower head as its the only high enough place in my bathroom to hang 135 and 120 film. It's a flat rainshower type heat so the clips fit niely around the round head. When they dry they usually have very faint water spots as the water is ultra hard in Berlin. Sometimes the shower head drips randomly, even if I showered hours earlier. This time it defo did as the lower clip was wet after a whole day drying and I had to clean the newly acquired mineral deposits from the drip water...that is when I put the film on the light table and discovered these weird bars... As I said before they start out as one, and that was the first frame that hung closest to the shower head. Could it be that there was a substantial drip, which caused the drying film to have a stream of water running alongside it that was constantly wet, resulting in an uneven drying process? This would somehow explain why the lines don't follow a particular pattern and look like a stream of water?

Sorry for this huge monster post but it baffles me and I really want to know what i going on Luckily this was a test film

Looking forward to your expertise

Welcome!!!

May I know how long did you develop?

Adonal (Rodinal) 1+25, 8 minutes at exactly 20°C

Hi and welcome

Are the rebates normal?

Got it at Fotoimpex in Berlin. Reputable, and price was €3,90 which is normal

There are strange oval marks at the opposite side too.
Though I would not link them to the stripe artefacts.

Yeah I saw the also, but that could also be the out of focus look of the paper roll which was crumpling a bit at the side. Or, also something to do with the film or water...My lighttable batteries died, will take another look with my loupe when they are recharged...

But yeah no idea what this is i have never seen this in film. Mystical

Could you post more photos, depicting the change of that stripe into swinging stripes?

To me it looks like a manufacturing fault. You might inform Maco (Rollei) on this.

Xmas said:

Hi and welcome

Are the rebates normal?

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Sorry inadequate query - the edge of the negative has frame numbers and other information are they uniform on both sides of the negative all the way along the film?.

When I was using Rodinal, I normally pour 600ml(Dev+water) for 120. But I was not really happy with Rodinal and switched to Barry Thornton Two Bath(cheap, fun to mix, sharp negs, no visual grain but slightly soft negatives but I print with split-grade).

* With 1+25 and 8mins of development we may rule out the bromide drag.

I personally will write to the manufacturer and see how it goes.

May we ask about the quantity of water and developer mix?

Xmas said:

Sorry inadequate query - the edge of the negative has frame numbers and other information are they uniform on both sides of the negative all the way along the film?.

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Yes the Rollei lettering as well as the frame numbers are uniform. Nothing unusual about the film.


And I don't think it's the developer as I have been using Rodinal exclusively for Tri-X, Kentmere, and other films with great results (I like the look). Slightly grainy but sharp, gives that old film reporter look when printed right.

Once my lighttable is recharged i'll post some more pics from the roll. Thanks so far

By the way, the marks on the right edge are air bubbles. From how far in the from the edge they are, I'd guess you are using a plastic reel?

No idea on the wide marks. Your water drip idea might be the likely culprit? You need a better place to dry your film, or put a bag or deflector over the shower head while drying.

Houston, we have a problem! I'd say it's an emulsion problem from the factory and if it is we'll probably hear from other folks about it. I looked very close at the images posted and on my monitor it looks like the difference in densities of the stripes carry over into the suit the man is wearing. That rules out a background/backdrop problem. The orientation on the negative indicates a vertical striping that is far to even for me at least, that rules out a processing or handling problem on the users part. Yup, I'll put my money on a QC problem at the place of manufacture. JohnW

AgX said:

Could you post more photos, depicting the change of that stripe into swinging stripes?

To me it looks like a manufacturing fault. You might inform Maco (Rollei) on this.

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Typically I am reluctant in blaming a manufacturer. And maybe I dit it prematurely this time.

Considering those oval marks as well as your remark about that running water, hint at drying marks induced by remaining water for a long time (droplets) on part of the emulsion. A running stream might form a stripe that otherwise may not be that regular.
But, all drying artefacts of that kind I know are anything but homogeneous. Though yours are.

AgX said:

Typically I am reluctant in blaming a manufacturer. And maybe I dit it prematurely this time.

Considering those oval marks as well as your remark about that running water, hint at drying marks induced by remaining water for a long time (droplets) on part of the emulsion. A running stream might form a stripe that otherwise may not be that regular.
But, all drying artefacts of that kind I know are anything but homogeneous. Though yours are.

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AGX, the give away for me was him saying that it runs the "entire" length of the roll and I assume he's talking uniform width the entire length. The density difference can only be a defect in the emulsion. Can't be any kind of light leak since the density would very with a light leak. I'm still placing my bet on the place of manufacture. Could be wrong of course and every now and then my wife proves it. JohnW

Thanks for rebate information and are the gaps between the frames clear or do they have the effect?

The lines look too straight and too regular to be chemical. I'd say it's either a problem with the camera or a problem with the film. You have used the camera regularly, right? And without the problem? Have you used the camera since this incident?

The mfg would be in England and I have serious doubts that it would make such a mistake. But stranger things have happened. These look like roller marks to much. Maybe something happened at the packaging stage.

We do not know where that film was converted. That may have been somewhere else.

Thanks for the replies so far!

The batteries from my lightpad are charged and for times sake I snapped 3 more negs with my phone and inverted them in-phone and pushed clarity and contrast. By no means scientific but it shows the problem. They are ordered in the same way that they were hung up to dry. So the first image was closest to the shower head. You can clearly see the wide line start out as one at the top and then it branches off into two and one wobbles off to the side.


Oh and the weird dots on the right side from my first post seem to be air bubbles indeed. I am using plastic reels but have been doing so exclusively. This is actually the first time I had any show up (standard JOBO reels). Perhaps I didn't pay enough attention to smooth agitation / did not tap the canister hard enough to dislodge any air bubbles. Was only on that one frame as well. Must be bad practice.

Whoops sorry bout that the negs were upright in preview on my pc but here they are tipped over...oh well but the inverted photos are upright at least, and show the problem better anyhow. By the way when I hold the negs against the light it goes along the entire filmstrip even in the frame spaces. So it is not exclusively visible on the frames themselves.

Those oval marks cannot be air-bubbles.

AgX said:

Those oval marks cannot be air-bubbles.

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The ones from the first post with the other dude crossing his arms? To the right of the frame? Hmmm. No idea? Another member suggested it, since I never had air bubbles show up on my developed negs I thought this might be a first

baachitraka said:

May we ask about the quantity of water and developer mix?

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Around 500ml which is suggested as per the Jobo tank instructions. Tested it without film and in 120 configuration the top of the reel is about 0.5 cm from the surface of the liquid. Meaning when tapped right there should be no bubbles and the entire negative is covered with fresh developer.

And guesstimate 480ml water 20ml Adonal