Light leaks, or shoddy developing?

[ChristopherCoy]

Kodak Tmax 400, rodinal 1:50 for 13 mins.

light leaks or shoddy developing? I ask because this is the first time I use steel reels and I struggled to get it loaded correctly.

 

[MattKing]

Light leaks - probably not in the camera.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Light leaks - probably not in the camera.

hmmmm.... I wonder how else they could have gotten there.

ETA: on second thought, they would have to be in camera because I developed a roll of TriX in the same tank and it came out perfect except for an undeveloped end that I think got stuck in an air bubble or to the side of the tank.

 

[cjbecker]

If it was loaded wrong on the reel and touching, there would be spots completely undeveloped and fixed. There would still be purplish layer also. Very obvious.

 

[MattKing]

If it was loaded wrong on the reel and touching, there would be spots completely undeveloped and fixed. There would still be purplish layer also. Very obvious.

Or, alternatively, if they shifted after development, they would be clear.
Is it bulk film, or factory load cassettes?
Do you use a changing bag?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

If it was loaded wrong on the reel and touching, there would be spots completely undeveloped and fixed. There would still be purplish layer also. Very obvious.

Ok well I know what that looks like. The end of the TriX roll was like that. I lost like 3 frames.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Or, alternatively, if they shifted after development, they would be clear.
Is it bulk film, or factory load cassettes?
Do you use a changing bag?

Factory loaded, and I loaded film in my bathroom last night which was light tight and 100% dark.

 

[cjbecker]

hmmmm.... I wonder how else they could have gotten there.

ETA: on second thought, they would have to be in camera because I developed a roll of TriX in the same tank and it came out perfect except for an undeveloped end that I think got stuck in an air bubble or to the side of the tank.

same camera for both rolls?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

same camera for both rolls?

nope. TriX shot with the F5, Tmax shot with h th e Yashica Minister D.

 

[MattKing]

ETA: on second thought, they would have to be in camera because I developed a roll of TriX in the same tank and it came out perfect except for an undeveloped end that I think got stuck in an air bubble or to the side of the tank.

Not necessarily. There are all sorts of opportunities to end up with light struck film. So you wear an activity tracker?
When you say "in the same tank" do you mean at the same time in the same tank? Or do you mean you used the same tank, but developed them separately?

 

[cmacd123]

tip off is the image of a sprocket hole offset from the actual hole. Light struck, outside the cassette. (much to big a fogged spot to be through the felt.)

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Not necessarily. There are all sorts of opportunities to end up with light struck film. So you wear an activity tracker?
When you say "in the same tank" do you mean at the same time in the same tank? Or do you mean you used the same tank, but developed them separately?

Yes they were developed in the same tank. I unloaded the cassettes one after the other, in the same bathroom, at the same time. I put them both into the tank at the same time, and this reel was on the bottom. The first came out perfect (aside from the undeveloped area that was either in an air bubble or stuck to the tank). No marks like this. They were both developed in the same chemicals, at the same time, for the same length of time.

 

[MattKing]

That should be "Do you wear an activity tracker?"

 

[ChristopherCoy]

That should be "Do you wear an activity tracker?"

No. I have an Apple Watch but I wasn’t wearing anything that had lights. And if anything did cause slight leak outside of the cassette, wouldn’t both rolls have them?

I’m going to burn a roll TriX tomorrow. 1, to test for light leaks in the Yashica, and 2 to use it as a practice roll for loading the steel reels. Those things are HARD to load.

 

[Randy Stewart]

"Factory loaded, and I loaded film in my bathroom last night which was light tight and 100% dark."

My first reaction was that the film was bulk loaded into a cartridge with a bad light seal. But with a factory load, it looks more like an in-camera light leak at some rear seal. probably the end seal near the take-up spool. (I'm not familiar with the seals on an F5, but even the mighty can fall.) Way out alternative would be that the camera back latch is not fully locking, so the back is left a tad open.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

"Factory loaded, and I loaded film in my bathroom last night which was light tight and 100% dark."

My first reaction was that the film was bulk loaded into a cartridge with a bad light seal. But with a factory load, it looks more like an in-camera light leak at some rear seal. probably the end seal near the take-up spool. (I'm not familiar with the seals on an F5, but even the mighty can fall.) Way out alternative would be that the camera back latch is not fully locking, so the back is left a tad open.

this is from the Yashica rangefinder. I’ll load new film tomorrow, put electrical tape around the door and see if that solves the issue.

 

[foc]

You say your bathroom was used as a darkroom and that it is light tight.
The only way to check this is to stay, yourself, in the bathroom (as a darkroom) for 10 - 15 minutes. If there is a light leak in the darkroom, then you will see it.
I think it might be a better idea to invest in a changing bag or dark box for film developing loading.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

You say your bathroom was used as a darkroom and that it is light tight.
The only way to check this is to stay, yourself, in the bathroom (as a darkroom) for 10 - 15 minutes. If there is a light leak in the darkroom, then you will see it.
I think it might be a better idea to invest in a changing bag or dark box for film developing loading.

We live on a boat.

I cut a cardboard piece to put in the port hole, which is already heavily tinted. Then I covered the entire porthole with fabric.

The door to the bathroom is what you would expect, a oval shaped door with a lip all the way around. Around the lip is a seal. This makes the door light tight, and mostly water to tight.

The water tank monitors, which don’t light up unless you push a button, we’re covered with heavy duct tape, just in case.

And on top of all that, I closed the door to the bedroom so light from the salon didn’t enter the space, hung a towel on the inside of the bathroom door, and this was all done after the sun went down and it was dark outside.

Trust me when I say, it was 100% dark.

 

[glbeas]

From the spacing of the fogging it looks like someone popped the camera back open briefly before the film was rewound.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Door open, darkroom fogging, or something lighting up while the film was out of the cassette wouldn't put the fogging in the same location relative to each frame. A camera back/door light leak would. Movement of the film stops when you're carrying or composing the next shot, and more time or brighter ambient light between shots will make darker (in the negative) bars than on rapid consecutive shots or ones where the ambient was dim.

These aren't sharp at all, so they're probably scattering around a corner. I'm going to suggest a problem light leak at the cassette end of the door, whether that's hinge or latch (latch on most 35mm), scattering past the cassette itself and fogging the film mostly just before it enters the gate.

 

[John Bragg]

That is an old camera. Have the seals been replaced at all, as the originals will most likely be shot ?

 

[Arvee]

I'm thinking it's a light leak at/near the latch side of the back door on the Yashica.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I put a new roll in this morning, put electrical tape over all the seams all around the door and shot the roll. I’ll see what happens in the morning,

 

[Donald Qualls]

I put a new roll in this morning, put electrical tape over all the seams all around the door and shot the roll. I’ll see what happens in the morning,

We're all waiting to see what results you get.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

We're all waiting to see what results you get.

No light leaks! I'm about to start scanning the roll I developed this morning.