Overexposed lines on film

[Vania]

1. light strike (don't rule out the tank, changing bag, light leaks in the darkroom, etc.) ===> unlikely because it does not show between frames
2. developer surge marks caused by agitation or features in the tank that cause turbulence===> unlikely because it does not show between frames
3. bending or crimping the film ===> unlikely because it does not show between frames

It is within the frame lines, back to the camera.

Are you sure about number 2. ? I would tend to think that agitation or chemical problem would only show inside the frames but I don't really know.
Also what do you guys think of the drop like shape on the neg picture ? The line is clearly turning into a drop. Or the opposite.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

... Also what do you guys think of the drop like shape on the neg picture ? The line is clearly turning into a drop. Or the opposite.

That would point to contact with something; film on the loop above, etc.

 

[Vania]

That would point to contact with something; film on the loop above, etc.

You mean the film could be touching itself ? I find those ilford films to be quite incurvated. I was using kodak films before the sudden tripling of prices. Much flatter.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Yes.
Load up a reel with a process, uncut roll, or just sacrifice a roll for the test, and see if there are contact points or any other features in the areas of increased density. If that's not the culprit, then you'll have to get more creative.

 

[markjwyatt]

I do find that FP4+ especially, is a lot stiffer than other types of film (in 35mm). It is trickier to wind onto SS reels.

 

[Vania]

Yes.
Load up a reel with a process, uncut roll, or just sacrifice a roll for the test, and see if there are contact points or any other features in the areas of increased density. If that's not the culprit, then you'll have to get more creative.

Just did it and tried to load it as bad as I could but it's always perfectly evenly spaced out...

 

[MattKing]

Just did it and tried to load it as bad as I could but it's always perfectly evenly spaced out...

Agitation in liquid can cause the film to move in unattended ways.

 

[Vania]

Could this come from the fixer or my water ?

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Could this come from the fixer or my water ?

Probably not, since the artifacts are so regular. Anything in the fix or the water would be much more random.

 

[MattKing]

Could this come from the fixer or my water ?

For the heck of it, try re-fixing one of the affected negatives, to see if it is actually due to incredibly weird, uneven clearing.

 

[John Wiegerink]

This might sound stupid, but try hanging you film horizontally to dry. It looks to me like some artifacts from drying onto the film emulsion. Remember, one drop of photo- flo goes a very long way. Worth a try?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

This might sound stupid, but try hanging you film horizontally to dry. It looks to me like some artifacts from drying onto the film emulsion. Remember, one drop of photo- flo goes a very long way. Worth a try?

I think that is a reflection from his phone when he was taking a snap of the negative...

 

[Vania]

For the heck of it, try re-fixing one of the affected negatives, to see if it is actually due to incredibly weird, uneven clearing.

That's one of the 1st things I tried, I forgot to mention it, but it didn't do any thing. I thought about fixer because I just started using TETENAL superfix plus 1+4 5min.

 

[Vania]

This might sound stupid, but try hanging you film horizontally to dry. It looks to me like some artifacts from drying onto the film emulsion. Remember, one drop of photo- flo goes a very long way. Worth a try?

I use a wetting agent and tried just demineralised water too. Well I did try the horizontal drying since nothing seems to make sense anymore ;-) didn't solve it.

 

[pentaxuser]

I think that is a reflection from his phone when he was taking a snap of the negative...

I take it Vania that you have seen this reply and have checked it out as well You and the rest of us seem to be at the stage where every possibility is worth looking at

pentaxuser

 

[Vania]

I take it Vania that you have seen this reply and have checked it out as well You and the rest of us seem to be at the stage where every possibility is worth looking at

pentaxuser

It's on the negative/contact print/print. I only took a picture to share it on the forum but have been struggling with this for a month now and wasted at least a dozen films for testing not mentioning quite a few from a trip aboard before I realised what's happening...

 

[otto.f]

Vania, did you know about this?:
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/stateme...store=ilford_brochure&___from_store=ilford_uk

 

[Vania]

Vania, did you know about this?:
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/stateme...store=ilford_brochure&___from_store=ilford_uk

WOW! Thanks for the link. No I didn't know this but it is happening to all my films and they say less than 1.5 complaints for every 10,000 rolls of 120 film... or this is like side effects and big pharma...

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

If you are saying that it doesn't happen with your other camera, then doesn't that put the light squarely on the Hasselblad?

 

[snusmumriken]

Because of the blob on one of your photos, I'm inclined to favour the ideas about fixing/drying/etc.

But another wild suggestion: do you wear a watch in such a way that it would be in a constant position as you wind the film onto the tank spool? Like inside your wrist? I'm just wondering why sometimes two lines and sometimes three.

 

[DWThomas]

Because of the blob on one of your photos, I'm inclined to favour the ideas about fixing/drying/etc.

But another wild suggestion: do you wear a watch in such a way that it would be in a constant position as you wind the film onto the tank spool? Like inside your wrist? I'm just wondering why sometimes two lines and sometimes three.

That's an interesting thought, I recollect several years back someone in these forums had a problem caused by a blinking LED in a fitness watch.

 

[Vania]

Thank you all for taking the time to consider my problem and reply. Unfortunately I have not made the slightest progress and just keep wasting hundreds of euros worth of film to the trash…

What I have learned so for :

1. It’s not a drying issue as I have hanged the film to dry horizontally. I have also tried with/without wetting agent. Although I must say that the streaks seem to follow the path of liquid runing along the film, it's unrelated. Also when inside the tank the streaks are parallel to the ground.
2. It’s not a light leak as I have tried 3 different cameras of different brand and all can show the same problem on some frames at least. Also used 3 different tanks at least and metal as well as plastic reels.
2,5. The streaks are mostly apparent on zones V-VIII, can be perceived in zones III-IV, can't be seen in zones I-II.
3. I contacted Ilford and they have been very reactive but say that to their knowledge it is not an issue that could be consistent with film defect.
4. I have tried different agitation method and although I think this might be where at least part of the problem lies, no change in agitation pattern, frequency and intensity changes anything except using a tank with one empty reel to generate more agitation. But I had mixed result with this method. I tried a 3 reels Paterson tank with 2 films only, 1 film (trix) was fine the other one (HP5) had slight streaks but much weaker as one the images provided as an exemple.
5. Ilford films seem much more affect by this than an old batch of trix I still have. Actually I can barely see it on trix and when I do I am unsure it's the same thing. I only recently started to use HP5 so is there something to dig here. I am not inclined in thinking that ilford films are faulty yet but maybe they are less forgiving with this particular issue.

So I am left to wonder the following :
1. does anyone know for a fact if a developer can do this ? Maybe I have a bad batch of HC110. I used this developer for decades without issues and now can’t get a film developed without those streaks… After all kodak had some serious issues with D76 recently.
2. Can a film defect (coating or other) produce this ?
3. Can a bad fixer be responsible ?
4. Can my tap water cause this ?

At this point switching the chemistry is the only thing I can see that remains to be tried. After that I guess I can't use film anymore, after 25 years of pratice it's crazy...

 

[otto.f]

do you use stopbath?

bad batch of HC110: would not cause stripes, rather speckles

 

[Vania]

do you use stopbath?

bad batch of HC110: would not cause stripes, rather speckles

I use tetenal acetic acid 60% diluted to 2%

 

[snusmumriken]

Can you send an exposed film to one of us to process, to see what happens? I would happily oblige, but am in the UK. If that's of any use, please message me.