Question About How my 35mm Film is developing

[Chavezartstudios]

Hello Photographers. My name is Augustine, I have a question about developing 35mm film. I have developed film many times before and follow the process I have been taught in undergrad, But recently, I developed a few rolls of kodak 400 tri -x and my track holes area are dark. The images look ok, but all my previous developed film, the track holes area are always clear and this time they are dark. My questions are, what could be causing the track holes to be coming out dark? and, would this outcome affect my images? I do see images but thought I would ask and see if I am doing something wrong or is it chemistry. I use D-76 1:1 ratio. Any feedback would be great. Thank you for your time.

 

[Saganich]

The only time I see high base density/fog is with old film that hasn't been stored correctly...to my eye, this looks almost too dense for age related base fog. Where did you get the film? I would guess CT exposure like from an airport. Did you travel with the film?

 

[Chavezartstudios]

The only time I see high base density/fog is with old film that hasn't been stored correctly...to my eye, this looks almost too dense for age related base fog. Where did you get the film? I would guess CT exposure like from an airport. Did you travel with the film?

Hi Saganich, thank you for replying. I bought the film at a photography store in Austin Tx. I am teaching this 35mm film process at a university and all of my student's film came out the same way. My students actually ordered their kodak film from BandH and maybe amazon and I bought mine from a store.

 

[koraks]

Assuming the film didn't go through a CT scanner somewhere, this piques my interest:

all of my student's film came out the same way

That suggests a problem in the darkroom setting. Say..you're not using a 'safelight' when loading film, are you? It does happen from time to time that someone has a momentary lapse of reason and loads their panchromatic film onto processing reels using a red safelight...

 

[Chavezartstudios]

Assuming the film didn't go through a CT scanner somewhere, this piques my interest:


That suggests a problem in the darkroom setting. Say..you're not using a 'safelight' when loading film, are you? It does happen from time to time that someone has a momentary lapse of reason and loads their panchromatic film onto processing reels using a red safelight...

Hi Koraks, no I am completely in the dark. But now that you mention it, my students and I did use the same small room to load our films into the developing tanks. But there were not lights and it was completely dark. Hum....

 

[koraks]

Can you bleach out a part of the leader of your film using a strong ferricyanide bleach, or a C41 bleach if you have any at hand? I'm asking because if this is somehow sulfide fogging, it won't bleach out.

 

[Chavezartstudios]

Can you bleach out a part of the leader of your film using a strong ferricyanide bleach, or a C41 bleach if you have any at hand? I'm asking because if this is somehow sulfide fogging, it won't bleach out.

Ok. So, with this current film, I can apply some ferricyanide bleach and it would bleach out? I can get some something today. Do I just dip a small section into the bleach?

 

[koraks]

Yeah, exactly. It'll take some time to bleach back the exposed leader. If you take an unexposed part, it'll be faster. The result should be the same - clear film base. If it remains brown, that would give us a hint of what's going on. My money is on the film clearing, but give it a try.
PS: technically the film should turn milky white/yellowish as it bleaches; drop some fixer onto it and it should clear.

 

[Chavezartstudios]

Yeah, exactly. It'll take some time to bleach back the exposed leader. If you take an unexposed part, it'll be faster. The result should be the same - clear film base. If it remains brown, that would give us a hint of what's going on. My money is on the film clearing, but give it a try.
PS: technically the film should turn milky white/yellowish as it bleaches; drop some fixer onto it and it should clear.

wow, great information, I will do this really soon. Today I will be busy with my film students exploring street photography with film. But I will try this asap. Your awesome!

 

[koraks]

Sure thing! Now, don't get your hopes up too high; my guess is that the film will clear Ok and that still leaves the question on where this fog comes from. If the film doesn't clear, it's somehow sulfur fogging, which still leaves a puzzle, but at least a very different one.

Assuming the film does clear after bleach (& fix), my initial thought would still be fogging due to exposure to light in the space where all film was taken out of the cassette - so when the film was loaded into the development tank(s). Notorious are status indicator LEDs on computer equipment, smoke alarms, emergency exit lights etc. that remain on or give a brief blip at an unfortunate moment. You said the room you handled the film in was completely dark, but it may be worthwhile to double-check and see if anything might have been overlooked.

 

[Dave Ludwig]

You may already do this but you check for darkness your eyes will not fully adjust for about 10 minutes. Tape a piece of white paper to the wall infront of where you load reels. If you can see it after 10min. you have a problem. Hope you can figure it out.