Marks on negative

[vncnt]

Hi everyone,

I've been having problems with my negatives. It seems that the emulsion side is always super clean but there's something like water leak on the shiny side. It was worst before when I was using too much photo flo but it's still not perfect.

The pictures are portrait on a white background but I changed the brightness so you can see the lines on the negative. Its normally more visible on blank surface like a sky or a background.

These weirds spots on the side of the negative appear often.

This is the worst example that I have. It was like this when I was using too much photo flo but as you can see the leaks are not vertical like if it would be water that slide on the negative when they're hanging. I tried to remove the line with isopropyl alcohol 90% but nothing changed.

My new developing routine is :
Presoak with distilled water 1 minute (constant agitation)
Xtol 1:1 (30 sec. agitation then 10 sec. every minute)
Ilfostop 1 min (constant agitation)
Ilford Rapid Fixer (8min - 30 sec. agitation then 10 sec. every minute)
Wash 10 minutes
Final rinse with distilled water and 2-3 drops of photoflo (30 sec. of moving the reels then 30 sec. of rest)
I don't squeegee them

I've tried so many ways but it seems that I always get marks on my negative... I don't know what I can change anymore.

The Xtol was made with tap water but I was adding the other half of distilled water. I will do the next batch with a 100% distilled water.

I went to a professional shop with my negatives and no one was able to help me..

Thank you very much

 

[Gary Gruber]

Hi everyone,

I've been having problems with my negatives. It seems that the emulsion side is always super clean but there's something like water leak on the shiny side. It was worst before when I was using too much photo flo but it's still not perfect.

The pictures are portrait on a white background but I changed the brightness so you can see the lines on the negative. Its normally more visible on blank surface like a sky or a background.

View attachment 191984 View attachment 191985 View attachment 191986

These weirds spots on the side of the negative appear often.

This is the worst example that I have. It was like this when I was using too much photo flo but as you can see the leaks are not vertical like if it would be water that slide on the negative when they're hanging. I tried to remove the line with isopropyl alcohol 90% but nothing changed.
View attachment 191988

My new developing routine is :
Presoak with distilled water 1 minute (constant agitation)
Xtol 1:1 (30 sec. agitation then 10 sec. every minute)
Ilfostop 1 min (constant agitation)
Ilford Rapid Fixer (8min - 30 sec. agitation then 10 sec. every minute)
Wash 10 minutes
Final rinse with distilled water and 2-3 drops of photoflo (30 sec. of moving the reels then 30 sec. of rest)
I don't squeegee them

I've tried so many ways but it seems that I always get marks on my negative... I don't know what I can change anymore.

The Xtol was made with tap water but I was adding the other half of distilled water. I will do the next batch with a 100% distilled water.

I went to a professional shop with my negatives and no one was able to help me..

Thank you very much

If you re-wash the film, does the streaking disappear? I would try a bit more photoflo. I use 1/2 capfull for 1-2 reel processing tank. Also, you are over fixing. 2-4 minutes is adequate.

 

[Neal]

Dear vncnt,

I add one more step. Once I have the film hanging, I pour the photoflo over each side of the film. This seems to wash away any excess bubbles and such. I can't take credit for the idea as I picked it up years ago either on this forum or the old Compuserve photo forum.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra