Oy! :confused:
So I'm starting to make inroads on the 40+ rolls that have been begging me to develop them since last June. I haven't had any problems, so I thought, until I scanned a few pics of my nephews to send to my brother. Every single neg (on several different rolls of 135 Tri-X, all shot over a period of several months) had a least one scratch (always horizontal, always straight and parallel). Some of the scratches are a little short, some run for at least half the negative. Upon closer inspection it appears that the non-emulsion side of the negatives are all scratched up -- there are many, many lines running across the negs (more than show up in the scans). I'm not sure if it's me, the developing process, the camera, or the film itself.
I'm developing in small SS or Paterson type tanks. I do not use bulk-loaded film, and I don't pull it out of the cassette (I pop open the lid). I load the film in a changing bag, develop and fix as usual, then hang to dry. I do not squeegee the film in any way. (this is the way I have always done it). I thought perhaps it might be the printfile sleeves or the scanner, but the scratches are there before I put them in either of them. I thought it was me, the way I load the reels, but older negs loaded in the same way don't exhibit these scratches, and the 120 negs I've developed recently are also scratch-free. Then I thought it was the camera (I use 2 Nikon Fe's interchangeably) -- but it seems a little strange that the camera would consistently scratch negs across entirely different rolls. Could it be the film? That doesn't seem likely, but I'm trying to figure out where they come from. Again, they are only on the non-emulsion side.
Basically, I want to save the 30+ rolls I have left to develop. If it's the film, or the camera, there's nothing I can do about it (except saving future rolls), but if it's something else, perhaps I can change what I'm doing. I haven't been able to print any by enlarger (that's another long story) so I'm not sure if they'll show up as badly as they do with a computer scan. Obviously I can fix things via the computer, but that's not what I want to do. I rather have good negs I can print from (once I have access to an enlarger again).
I'm attaching a crop of the neg here. I hope it comes out well enough to see the scratches. Any ideas of where they're coming from would be a great help.
So I'm starting to make inroads on the 40+ rolls that have been begging me to develop them since last June. I haven't had any problems, so I thought, until I scanned a few pics of my nephews to send to my brother. Every single neg (on several different rolls of 135 Tri-X, all shot over a period of several months) had a least one scratch (always horizontal, always straight and parallel). Some of the scratches are a little short, some run for at least half the negative. Upon closer inspection it appears that the non-emulsion side of the negatives are all scratched up -- there are many, many lines running across the negs (more than show up in the scans). I'm not sure if it's me, the developing process, the camera, or the film itself.
I'm developing in small SS or Paterson type tanks. I do not use bulk-loaded film, and I don't pull it out of the cassette (I pop open the lid). I load the film in a changing bag, develop and fix as usual, then hang to dry. I do not squeegee the film in any way. (this is the way I have always done it). I thought perhaps it might be the printfile sleeves or the scanner, but the scratches are there before I put them in either of them. I thought it was me, the way I load the reels, but older negs loaded in the same way don't exhibit these scratches, and the 120 negs I've developed recently are also scratch-free. Then I thought it was the camera (I use 2 Nikon Fe's interchangeably) -- but it seems a little strange that the camera would consistently scratch negs across entirely different rolls. Could it be the film? That doesn't seem likely, but I'm trying to figure out where they come from. Again, they are only on the non-emulsion side.
Basically, I want to save the 30+ rolls I have left to develop. If it's the film, or the camera, there's nothing I can do about it (except saving future rolls), but if it's something else, perhaps I can change what I'm doing. I haven't been able to print any by enlarger (that's another long story) so I'm not sure if they'll show up as badly as they do with a computer scan. Obviously I can fix things via the computer, but that's not what I want to do. I rather have good negs I can print from (once I have access to an enlarger again).
I'm attaching a crop of the neg here. I hope it comes out well enough to see the scratches. Any ideas of where they're coming from would be a great help.
.
)