My Color Developing: Did I Cause These Light Streaks?

Sirius Glass · Mar 12, 2018

My Jobo 1540 has a center post to hold the reels still. I do not know if it also baffles light. I asked it, but it is not talking.

AgX · Mar 12, 2018

I'm talking... As I said:

AgX said:
Any Jobo film tank at least since the 70s has a center post.

With a 2-reels [or more] tank using no collumn and only one reel there would be a large gap. In a 1-reel tank or a 2-reels tank with both reels the funnel would fit close, but the modern reels have a translucent core.

eharriett · Mar 12, 2018

So, you believe I caused the light leak in the tank by having just one reel in the tank, even though I clipped it to the bottom of the tank?

AgX · Mar 13, 2018

If you clipped the reel to bottom of the tank that means you indeed got that central collumn you said you did not get

You asked for a daylight-loading tank. I do need see the advantage of such tank, but you can buy used as well the very old Agfa ones or the rather new Jobo version, which looks not that much different from your tank.

eharriett · Mar 13, 2018

I found a Jobo at Catlabs. Unfortunately, does not have a option for 120, so is useless to me. However, I got a Paterson tank from B&H that should do the trick until the LabBox comes out. I shall report results. I expect it will get here by Thursday.

AgX · Mar 14, 2018

What benefits has any daylight-loading tank (the ones from Agfa, Jobo, LabBox) over a classig daylight tank? I do not see them.

eharriett · Mar 14, 2018

In my case, besides being a crutch for someone not very experienced with identifying problems, it could eliminate one potential issue. In this case, it would have eliminated the changing bag as the potential culprit to my problem. However, the tank I was looking at is 35mm only, which doesn't help me when I go for the 120 or 127 film. So I just went the traditional and inexpensive route with a Paterson. However, I'm most likely going to upgrade to the Lab Box, if it ever comes out. But I'll be waiting to see some reviews and make sure it is all it is cracked up to be, first.

MattKing · Mar 14, 2018

In case it helps...
It is far, far easier to load film reels in a dark closet/room than with a changing bag.
And there is nothing wrong with loading film reels at night and then putting the tank aside until the next day or so for developing.
And if you must use a changing bag, put something like a cardboard box or light frame inside it, so it stays off your hands.

glbeas · Mar 14, 2018

Easier and cheaper would be to darken the room you are loading the tank in if you think its the changing bag. If you have the centerpost with your Paterson system it shouldnt be the source of light leaks. Ive used Paterson tanks quite a bit and they are very good, You just need to keep the reels very clean.
Did you ever say what format the film was that had the fogging? The stripes are really common with cassettes left out in bright light. I would imagine it could happen as well going through an airport xray scanner.

eharriett · Mar 14, 2018

In this case it was 35mm. My last several rolls I developed was 120 and they were b&w; did not see the problem in those.

The changing bag is a bit on the smaller side, but I've been using it for awhile without any issue. I have a makeshift darkroom (no room in my house is without at least one window, unfortunately), but I primarily use it for slitting film into other formats (120 to 127) and rolling 35mm into 126 cartridges. For transferring to a developing tank, I've gotten good enough I can usually load the tank after dinner while watching TV. Didn't think there were any problems until this showed up.

glbeas · Mar 14, 2018

If thats the case I think its safe to say you are doing everything right and this is a common problem with 35mm cassettes. Kodak used to have metal canisters for the cassetes which then were replaced by opaque plastic cans. This tells me they were concerned with the effectiveness of the felt traps from day one. Then it seems everyone started using the clear cans that at best will keep out dust and moisture but not light. Either they got the felt and halation backing of the film good enough or they just quit caring. Either way the film cassettes shouldnt be left out in bright light for extended periods if this kind of fogging is a bother to you.

twelvetone12 · Mar 14, 2018

eharriett said:
In this case it was 35mm. My last several rolls I developed was 120 and they were b&w; did not see the problem in those.

What cameras did you use? Could it be that both need new light seals? I used a lot a Canonet and a Nikkormat last year, with results similar to yours, and it turned out both cameras leaked light. Depending on the light, the fogging was absent or severe. New seals solved the problem.

eharriett · Mar 14, 2018

twelvetone12 said:
What cameras did you use? Could it be that both need new light seals? I used a lot a Canonet and a Nikkormat last year, with results similar to yours, and it turned out both cameras leaked light. Depending on the light, the fogging was absent or severe. New seals solved the problem.

One is an Olympus 35rc. The other is a Yashica 35. Don’t recall the model and my girlfriend is shooting with it right now so I can’t check.

Sirius Glass · Mar 15, 2018

One advantage of a changing bag [I use a large one] over a darkroom, is that if I drop something in a changing bag, it is much easier to find and I do not accidentally step on it.

eharriett · Mar 17, 2018

My Paterson tank came. I've got some good news and bad news. The good news is it wasn't the developing tank after all. That being said, I'm keeping the new one. Al lot easier to load the film and much less mess than the old one. Up on eBay it goes.

The bad news: I guess I have two cameras with light leaks. Damn.

WilmarcoImaging · Mar 17, 2018

If you want/need help diagnosing the light leaks, post some photos of both cameras with the film door opened, and show us the perimeters of the camera body to film door interface. It looks like the latch side could be leaking. On the lens side of the film, there could be a mirror light seal that is missing or deteriorated.

Sirius Glass · Mar 17, 2018

OR replace the light seals on both cameras and then see if there are still light leaks.

MattKing · Mar 17, 2018

WilmarcoImaging said:
If you want/need help diagnosing the light leaks, post some photos of both cameras with the film door opened, and show us the perimeters of the camera body to film door interface. It looks like the latch side could be leaking. On the lens side of the film, there could be a mirror light seal that is missing or deteriorated.

Sirius Glass said:
OR replace the light seals on both cameras and then see if there are still light leaks.

Even better, replace the light seals first, and then do the tests recommended.

eharriett · Mar 18, 2018

I’m not sure I have a competent enough skill level to replace light seals myself.

Of course, there’s still part of my brain that says somehow I am causing these problems with my developing technique. Not sure how, but it is still the neurotic amateur in me that says, “it isn’t the equipment, moron, it is you!”

eharriett · Mar 18, 2018

Ok. I spoke too soon. I went to YouTube (where else does one learn things, these days?) and got a little education on what it was I was looking for and how to replace. Grabbed my jewelers loupe and looked at the Olympus. YUP! a few of those seals are almost completely gone. Explains why some frames have damage and others don’t. I immediately went to my other cameras that I had here to see if they too have damage (tlr’s don’t have seals?). Aside from stupidly opening up one of the cameras without checking first to see if there was film in it (hopefully, I will learn that lesson if I destroy enough film) they almost all have some deterioration somewhere.

Watched enough vids to show me how to DIY these seals. So I’ll be going out to a craft store tomorrow to see about getting some foam and attempting to do this myself.

This has been both helpful and educational to me. Thank you all for helping. So far, I’ve learned that I had a developer tank that was unnecessarily leaking my chemicals. And my cameras have light seals that have deteriorated. These are good lessons I am grateful to have learned.

MattKing · Mar 18, 2018

Jon Goodman''s custom cut light seal kits including detailed instructions are worth the very small price he charges for them: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html
And dealing with Jon is a treat!

eharriett · Mar 18, 2018

MattKing said:
Jon Goodman''s custom cut light seal kits including detailed instructions are worth the very small price he charges for them: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html
And dealing with Jon is a treat!

Thank you very much for the link for that site! I just looked through it. Does not look like he is selling the custom cut kits anymore (at least, there's no links anywhere), however the manual is still up, so that will help in attempting to cut my own pieces.

MattKing · Mar 18, 2018

eharriett said:
Thank you very much for the link for that site! I just looked through it. Does not look like he is selling the custom cut kits anymore (at least, there's no links anywhere), however the manual is still up, so that will help in attempting to cut my own pieces.

He hasn't sold through a website or on eBay for a long time. Just send him an email at the email address in the text at that site - Jon_Goodman@yahoo.com
EDIT: it may help to understand the process better if I mention that my local camera technician has two prices for doing this - one fairly high price for doing the whole job, and one much lower price if I go through the effort first to clean out the old, crumbling seals and adhesive. The clean out is the time consuming and messy part!

My Color Developing: Did I Cause These Light Streaks?

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