My negatives curl and it affects my sharpness!

Andrey said:

Why can't I just tape it to a normal neg carrier?

Click to expand...

You can. I always tape 4x5 negs to the carrier as a matter of course - there just isn't enough 'edge' to support them properly otherwise. I also will tape them using transparent tape to the BOTTOM of a piece of translucent plexiglas when I need to. Great also if you want to make 'full frame' shots including the film rebates, etc... or montages with multiple negs (i.e. - two 120 negs side by side, etc..)

The Solution

Listen up! The solution to getting flat negatives is simply to take the dried negatives and roll them back on to a developing reel (buckle toward the inside) and let them sit overnight. In the morning...PRESTO!...flat negatives.

Cheers...

Rem

I'm not convinced that I understand. Can you describe in more detail your developing process? How long in which chemical, how long washed, did you use a wash aide, did you use something to help prevent water spots, etc. Go ahead and try additional clothespins: I have three hanging off the bottom of the film strip, all that will fit across the end of the film.

Mike

mjs said:

I'm not convinced that I understand. Can you describe in more detail your developing process?

Click to expand...

No prewash.

Develop for 7-10 minutes or so.
Stop with vinegar acid for 1-2 minutes.
Fix for 7 minutes
I washed with cold running water for about 10 minutes
Then I rinsed with distilled water once.
Then I let it sit in distilled water for less than 5 minutes.

Andrey said:

No prewash.

Develop for 7-10 minutes or so.
Stop with vinegar acid for 1-2 minutes.
Fix for 7 minutes
I washed with cold running water for about 10 minutes
Then I rinsed with distilled water once.
Then I let it sit in distilled water for less than 5 minutes.

Click to expand...

That seems normal enough. The last soak in distilled water ought to remove any weird variables coming from your ordinary water. Can you try the next roll with weight more or less evenly distributed at the bottom of the hanging film strip, and let us know whether than made the curl better or worse?

I don't think I get excessive curling in my 35mm film, but I wasn't satisfied with edge-to-edge sharpness using the regular 35mm neg carrier for my LPL 4500, and I started using the "Universal" glass carrier several years ago. I expected all kinds of problems with Newton rings and the four new glass surfaces to attract dust, but those problems haven't materialized, and I wouldn't want to print 35mm any other way. The top piece of glass has an anti-Newton surface of some kind, but it doesn't seem to degrade sharpness.

For whatever reason, my medium format and 4x5 negatives seem to do fine in their glassless carriers.

Gary,
East Snook, TX

At the B&W evening class I attended in the U.K. there were heated(as in v. hot) drying cabinets and even Ilford film would curl alarmingly but always flattened after being pressed in neg files between books. I now have my own cabinet and never use the heating elements. Simple ambient temp fan assisted drying is fine and very quick( 20 mins max).

If humidity has a lot to do with it as seems logical then it seems to me that UK APUGers may as well not offer their advice. In my part of the U.K. humidity is regularly between 70-80% for most of the winter. I have been looking at the gauge recently and it has now fallen to 60% which is low by our standards. Being a small island I think humidity is much the same wherever you are in the U.K.

Those living in deserts seem to consider 35% as high humidity which is unheard of in the U.K. Just as a matter of interest is humidity much lower than the U.K. over nearly all of N America? I had always assumed that in the more northern latitudes of N America, say Rochester, that humidity would be much the same as here but I now wonder if my assumption is way out and much lower humidity is the N American norm.

pentaxuser

You say APX, but a lot of companies made APX film. What company made the film?

PE

mjs said:

That seems normal enough. The last soak in distilled water ought to remove any weird variables coming from your ordinary water. Can you try the next roll with weight more or less evenly distributed at the bottom of the hanging film strip, and let us know whether than made the curl better or worse?

Click to expand...

I'll let you know when I do it.

I'm also discovering that the Arista Edu Ultra ISO 100 stays very flat all by itself. It's nice.