Light Film data markings, PanF - Concerned?

Howdy,

I have just developed my first roll of PanF (35mm, shot at ISO50). I have used ID-11, 20Degc, 1+1 for 81/2 minutes (yep, whats written on the Pack!).

I am a bit concerned, as the first key indicator for me doesn't look good. The data markings on the film are extremely light, I.E., they are hardly readable at all. The negs look reasonably OK, maybe a bit light on the contrast. The film leader is completely dark (as one would expect).

Should I be concerned? Should I be throwing away the remainder of my ID-11 (I mixed it up about 4 weeks ago. It has been kept in a cupboard, fully sealed in a PET bottle)? OR is this kind of behavior typical?

Any advice welcome

Cheers

If the negs look OK don't worry, ID-11 doesn't normally go off that quickly and should last at least 6 months.

Ian

That'd be the roll of Pan-F I gave you with the 28-75/2.8, right? I get really thin edge markings from that batch too and the answer I got (from Bob J IIRC) was also to ignore it. In my case, the film came out at normal contrast and density so I wasn't real worried.

Thanks Polyglot. I was hoping that this may be the case. The negs don't look too bad (its hard to tell...I had been trying different things).

Cheers

Look, if you think the image portion of the film is a bit weak looking, it could simply be that you didn't give enough exposure, or that your development was insufficient. Without seeing the negatives, there's really no way to tell if there is a problem or not. But if the negatives print well, then it really is quite simple. There is no problem. ID-11 or D-76 doesn't go off that quickly, so if you mixed and stored the developer correctly, that's likely NOT the problem. Faint or light rebate markings are indicative of nothing. They can be remakably inconsistent from batch to batch. The only thing you can safely conclude by inspecting them is that either the developer worked or didn't. That's all. In the past year I've gone through three 100 ft. bulk rolls of Tri-X and I don't know how many factory loads. The factory loads came from different batch numbers, as did the 100 ft. bulk rolls. The factory loads had good dark rebate markings, and the bulk rolls not; yet the film itself is all good. I don't know how the machines that make the rebate markings work, but I am sure that it involves exposing the rebate to light. So what would it take to change the density of the markings? Not much, and almost certainly nothing that would affect the overall quality of the film.

My understanding from years ago, told by the qc guy at a lab, was that the target rebate densities from batch to batch were available to photo finishers. If true, this indicates that they are variable from the get-go.

Thanks all. Thats exactly the type of information I am after. From a few of the books that I have read (remember, I am new to this), they mention using the rebate markings as an indicator of development. Obviously, this is only to be used as an indication and is not entirely reliable. This has been backed up by Polyglot above (I got the film from him!).

Cheers

Very interesting. Just yesterday I exposed and developed a roll of 120 Pan F film, quite old. On developing it the first thing that caught my eye was that the data markings on the film were very light. But inspection of the negatives showed that both exposure and development were both right on.

Sandy King

I second Sandy King, the same happened to me... and it won't prevent me to order again this film, I really like it.

I recall that the edge marking used to varry a lot more than they do these days on a lot of films.

One must also remember that those marking were exposed back when the film was slit and packaged, and we all know that images are supposed to be developed promptly after exposure.