problems developing 120 film

Gay Larson · Oct 14, 2006

I have developed a great deal of 120 film but I have never had the problems I'm having now. I used Ilfotec on the first three rolls and Ilfosol S (new bottle) on the 2nd three and the negatives are flat looking, not a lot of tonal range and seem somewhat underdeveloped. On several of the 2nd batch there seems to be a milky steak. I used rapid fixer and stop bath none of this is different than what I have done before except they were in a car for several days going to Arizona and could have gotten hot and then came back on the plane with me and went through the carry on x-ray. Does anyone know how the heat could affect the film (not good I'm sure)? Up until the day of the trip they had been in the freezer. I've gone through x-ray before and not had any problems so I don't know what it could be. I was extremely careful when shooting the film and really don't think I underexposed it. Any help would be appreciated. I have three more to develop.

Tom Hoskinson · Oct 14, 2006

Could be that your bottle of Ilfosol S is bad. I'd test it with a short piece (about 1 inch) of exposed (to sunlight) 35mm film of the same type as your 120. If the developer is good, the film should quickly blacken - with a visibly high maximum density. If it does not, I'd get a new bottle of Ilfotec (Ilfotec uses different chemistry than Ilfosol S).

srs5694 · Oct 14, 2006

You mention a "milky st[r]eak." This sounds like it could be underfixing (possibly caused by overused fixer). Perhaps you could try fixing again with fresh fixer. Even if this is the cause of that problem, it wouldn't explain the flat-looking negatives.

I'd also add that just because you've sent film through airport X-ray machines without trouble before doesn't mean that you'll always be successful with this. You could have encountered a machine that was out of spec, or different airports might have different machines or specifications, or an airport might have changed their settings or procedures, or any of a number of other things could account for having no problems before but encountering X-ray fogging this time. That's not to say that I think the airport X-ray machine was the source of the problem; I just think you can't rule it out as a possibility.

Bob F. · Oct 14, 2006

Milky strip = insufficient fixing 99.9% of the time (OK, I made that 99.9% up - but it's close...). Try re-fixing them in fresh fixer.

Good luck, Bob.

Tom Hoskinson · Oct 14, 2006

Bob F. said:
Milky strip = insufficient fixing 99.9% of the time (OK, I made that 99.9% up - but it's close...). Try re-fixing them in fresh fixer.

Good luck, Bob.

Insufficient fixing may have occured, but it does not explain flat-looking negatives.

Aggie · Oct 14, 2006

can Gay selenium tone the negs to bring out more contrast?

Gay Larson · Oct 14, 2006

wow, lots of good thoughts. I really did wonder about the airport x-ray but never considered insufficient fixer. I will do as advised and thanks everyone. so no one thinks excessive heat could be the cause of the flat looking negatives? I think they are definitely printable though.

Bob F. · Oct 14, 2006

Tom Hoskinson said:
Insufficient fixing may have occured, but it does not explain flat-looking negatives.

I do not believe that I suggested that it did. Hang on, let me check my post.... Nope, didn't think so.

Bob.

john_s · Oct 14, 2006

A roll of Neopan SS that I bought in southern Mexico (it was hot!) gave a high level of general fog. As a result, it looked flat (dense and flat), but there was reasonable contrast when I printed it.

I agree with the others about the milkiness: it must be a fixing problem.

Any xray problem will show as extra image density, probably non-uniform (e.g. bands) or maybe as general extra density.

The degree to which a roll of film will or will not be affected by xrays if difficult to predict since the practice at various airports will vary, but in the near future my guess is that it's bound to get much worse.

Tom Hoskinson · Oct 15, 2006

General fog is what I would expect from exposure of the film to heat.

- Flat looking negs, not a lot of tonal range and seem somewhat underdeveloped - ?

I would suspect the film exposure process and/or the developer. It may be a good idea to check your light meter, your shutter operation and your iris diaphragm.

Gay Larson · Oct 15, 2006

Perhaps you are right, I was using a camera that was new to me and my stand-by Pentax. The Pentax film was ok but the film from the Hasselblad had light leaks, I didn't notice at first, and all the other problems so I suspect it turns out my camera needs work or the back has a problem. that of course does not expalin the white streaks. An interesting experience trying to sort it all out. Film I developed yesterday with new developer was ok but it was from the Pentax.

problems developing 120 film

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