Issues with the E6 development

[ujjwal]

hi,
I am not an eXpert in the development process at all. In fact am doing it now after over a decade and trying out the colour process for the first time at home. So quite a novice really. One of the things that attracted me to come back to it was the daylight tank that tomography has introduced and the kits that are available now a days.

So I tried doing the E6 development with the AdoX C Tec E6 process. The first roll went out smooth.
In the second roll I have some green patches appearing on the edges of the frame and sometimes spilling onto the image.
But this is not the case for the entire roll and is there only in the (maybe first half of the roll).

Any advice? or any ideas of how/what might have gone wrong?

(Just another detail - I prepared 350 ml s of the chemicals because that s the lomo tank's capability and maybe that was not the smart thing to do? )
(Also am using a hand rolled Ektachrome 100 D film)

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

(it is somehow not allowing me to upload images even when I have reduced them to less than 2 MBs)

thanks
ujjwal

 

[koraks]

Welcome to Photrio! It'd help if you could post some pictures to illustrate the problem you're running into.

 

[ujjwal]

Sorry but since it was not letting me upload jpegs even after reducing their size, I made a pdf.

 

[Rudeofus]

To me this looks more like a light leak in your camera than a chemistry defect. Chemistry typically acts uniformly, and the center of these affected slides looks good. One other option would be pieces of your film roll touching during development, which happens if the film spooling goes wrong..

 

[ujjwal]

Thanks a lot for your reply.

ah okay, that s what I was thinking as to how has the chemical fucked up only a portion of the roll. from my previous forgotten old eXperience this seemed odd.
And I did used to have that spooling issue and hence thought this daylight tank might be a good solution.

Do you think it's at all possible to be an issue of hand rolling the cartridge?

thanks
u.

 

[ujjwal]

And light leak in camera for me seems quite improbable. I have been using this FM2 since quite some time without a problem. Maybe I need to clean/dry the spool better.

 

[koraks]

I'd expect this to be a failure of the bleach or fogging steps. Possible causes could be exhausted chemistry or insufficient volume of chemistry for this tank and agitation method.

 

[ujjwal]

Ah okay, ironically the bleach is the one chemistry i made fresh.

 

[koraks]

I've had another closer look and in retrospect, I think @Rudeofus must at least be partly (probably entirely) correct:

This is a 100% definitive sign of a light leak. Since this is apparently self-rolled film from a bulk roll, by guess is that something went wrong in that process. Might as simple as a failing felt light trap on the cassette used.

 

[miha]

Do you think it's at all possible to be an issue of hand rolling the cartridge?

thanks
u.

Quite possible. Who did the confectioning?

 

[ujjwal]

Not me. This person I know.
But I was partly sceptical of it, that s why I mentioned it.

The ghost sprockets is what is an indication that it might be leakage?

 

[miha]

The ghost sprockets is what is an indication that it might be leakage?

Correct. Light leakage to the film could occur during the confection or rolling stage, due to faulty cassettes, inside the camera, or while loading the film onto the reels.

 

[koraks]

The ghost sprockets is what is an indication that it might be leakage?

Yes, that shows light leaks as the film was tightly rolled, as it would be on the bulk roll and inside a 35mm cassette. I cannot tell from the defect whether the inadvertent exposure happened on the bulk roll or within the cassette, but I would expect the latter.

 

[MattKing]

Sorry but since it was not letting me upload jpegs even after reducing their size, I made a pdf.

Resize your colour images to 1000 pixels on the long dimension, and then save the result as a jpeg with 80 quality.
You can succeed with slightly larger files - particularly monochrome ones - but this approach works quickly and easily.
And 1000 pixels results in an image that fits the viewer embedded in Photrio and most screens quite well.

 

[koraks]

Resize your colour images to 1000 pixels on the long dimension, and then save the result as a jpeg with 80 quality.

Yes, although 90-95 will also work. Btw, here's some more hints that may be of use to you @ujjwal : https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/how-to-post-pictures-and-avoid-size-limit-problems.211668

 

[Rudeofus]

The thing which makes me hesitant about that light leak theory: why green? I've seen green color negative film hit by red dark room "safelight", but color slide film? Why green??

 

[lamerko]

Maybe because of the light penetrating from the back of the film.

 

[ujjwal]

thanks a lot for looking through the photos and telling me what could have gone wrong.
Its such a relief that I didn’t fuck up the developing process.

Could I also ask…. how many times would you advise to use the C Tec E6 kit.
They advise 3 times. But with using the lomo day light tank - one roll at a time, I was wondering if I could stretch it?
Also, since I made 350 ml chemistry. The third time I do would be a bit less chemistry left. It is a 1 litre kit.
Would you advise to dilute it a bit in the third round to make 350 ml chemistry and then maybe develop for a bit longer?

thanks again
ujjwal.

 

[mshchem]

Oh Boy

 

[koraks]

Could I also ask…. how many times would you advise to use the C Tec E6 kit.

I can't comment really, other than that there will be shifts in density and color balance and at some point these shifts become a problem. It's kind of personal/subjective when the results start to become unacceptable. Given the cost of reversal film and the effort that generally goes into making the slides, I'd rather not risk it, but to each their own.

The thing which makes me hesitant about that light leak theory: why green? I've seen green color negative film hit by red dark room "safelight", but color slide film? Why green??

I wondered about the same and it may be related to the fogging involving some kind of semi-transparent material that favors this wavelength, but I also feel something for @lamerko's explanation - maybe the fact that the cyan dye forming layer is at the base of the film has something to do with it?

 

[Samu]

Almost certainly a light leak of some kind. I've never seen a chemistry problem in E6 making this kind of green cast, although I am no expert in the Tetenal type 3 bath process. The cast near the sprocket holes makes the light leak theory the most viable. Another possibility would be a really hard grilling with a CT scanner at an airport or customs.

 

[koraks]

Another possibility would be a really hard grilling with a CT scanner at an airport or customs.

It would have affected the entire roll and the fogging would be even, not in spots. So that one's out.