New to developing. Running into odd texture on negatives.

[GxAce]

Greetings, everyone!

I've finally tipped my toes into black and white developing and I have ran into an issue with my most recent developed roll. I'm looking for a little help trouble shooting my issue and locking it down to hopefully one variable.

I was developing Tri-X 400 at box speed in Ilfosol 3 9+1 dilution at roughy 68 degrees (this was estimated and could very well be my problem.) I agitated once a minute for about 20 seconds. It was fixed in Ilford Rapid Fixer.

Here is a crop of a photo to illustrate the texture that is appearing on my negatives: http://imgur.com/cBTKkXY

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Bob Carnie]

Looks like reticulation to me - big change in temperature causes this

 

[MartinP]

It looks very much like reticulation, caused by a sudden temperature change to the gelatine during processing. Buying and using a thermometer would be a good investment. Keep all the chemicals and the wash water at a consistent (+/- 0,5C) temperature - it is simple to do once you try. Use a bigger bowl of water, containing everything else, at the right temperature, to reduce the rate of temperature change of the individual chemicals and the tank.

 

[GxAce]

Thanks! This seems rather obvious now that you point that out. Looks like the film is being stressed by a drastic shift in temp. It must have been from my wash being colder than the rest of the process.

 

[GxAce]

Thank you very much everyone! Is there a way to mark this thread as "Solved"?

 

[MartinP]

On the PDF for the developer you used, there is a description of the "Ilford film washing method". You can make a few litres of water up to the right temperature (same as used for processing) and then use that for filling the tank in the manner described in the documentation. That way there is no sudden rush of cold tap-water in to the tank for washing.