Negative puzzle

[BainDarret]

Hello All,

Monday was the perfect day to go to Beechwood cemetery, here in Ottawa, to shoot some IR film.
Tuesday was the perfect (cloudy) day to develop said film.

Or was it.

At first the negatives looked fine, however once scanned as a digital contact sheet the problem became very apparent.
As can be seen in the attached scans (over sharpened for emphasis) there are hundreds of tiny black spots on the negatives. They appear throughout the roll including the line near the top off the picture. I have developed dozens of rolls of Rollei IR 400 film in DS-1 during the past 3 years with no problems. I have developed thousands of rolls since the late 1960s and have never seen this, ever. The next day I shot a roll of FP4+ in the same camera and developed it using the same technique, tank and chemicals with no sign of any defect.

The camera used was a Fujica GS645W, film Rollei IR 400 developed in home brew DS-1, stop bath and Hypam fixer.

I plan on shooting another roll of IR film the next sunny day in hopes of a better result. In the meantime can anyone offer some insight re what went wrong?

Mike

 

[pentaxuser]

I'll say this, Mike. Whatever you have done the top pic it has given it an almost a 3D quality in terms of the way the church stands out. It looks great.

Sorry, no idea about the spots, though.

pentaxuser

 

[BainDarret]

I'll say this, Mike. Whatever you have done the top pic it has given it an almost a 3D quality in terms of the way the church stands out. It looks great.

Sorry, no idea about the spots, though.

pentaxuser

Thanks Pentaxuser, I think the shadows from the back/side lighting give it the 3D look.
Imagine my disappointment when I saw the defects. No way I'll ever be able to retouch out all those spots!

 

[bdial]

Do you have stuff floating in your fixer? How fresh (or unfresh) is it?

Aside from spots, the light on the chapel with the clouds is spectacular, and the spots give it an interesting surreal effect. Not what you were looking for, obviously, but cool in a way.

 

[BainDarret]

Do you have stuff floating in your fixer? How fresh (or unfresh) is it?

Aside from spots, the light on the chapel with the clouds is spectacular, and the spots give it an interesting surreal effect. Not what you were looking for, obviously, but cool in a way.

I used fresh fixer and used the same developer and fixer when I processed the roll of FP4+ that came out ok.
I think I will print the negative just to see if I like it.

 

[pbromaghin]

Notice that the line of more concentrated spotting continues across to the next photo as if having to do with some transport mechanism.

 

[osella]

It’s possible that it is a humidity/backing paper issue.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I shoot this film regularly, in 120 and 4x5. I've never seen this before. I'm pretty sure it's not backing paper offset. At least I don't think it is. Let us know how the next roll turns out when you've shot and developed it!

 

[AgX]

It does not look like that paper/emulsion interaction. And yes, that "stripe" parallel to the edges caught my attention too.

 

[NB23]

From past reports, it’s expired film, poorly stored, multiple thaw/freeze cycles.

 

[John Bragg]

Your fixer may be fresh, but is the bottle clean ? It is possible for minute silver crystals to precipitate out and deposit on the inside of the bottle. I have had just that happen before. Bottle looks black and smells sulphurous.

 

[Todd Niccole]

I used to get something like this, streaks of dots from what turned out to be reusing the same wetting agent many times. So, I now make it fresh to order and never reuse it.

 

[BainDarret]

Next time I process film I will filter all solutions.
I don't think it is the wetting agent as I mix it fresh with distilled water every time and use it one shot.
The film is not subjected to freezing and thawing and is always given time to acclimatize.
There is no evidence of physical damage from transport in camera that would cause the line.
I will update in a few days when I process the next roll of 400 IR.