• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Someone's Finger Print On My Negative...And It Ain't Mine!

Andrew O'Neill said:
I'll assume you are kidding...As I stated previously, my skin did not touch the film. So that would be pointless... Actually, I tell a lie. I made contact with it when I hung it up to dry...
Click to expand...

You stated previously that as far as you're aware your skin did not touch the film.
Prove it to the jury.

Occam's razor
 
Last edited:
I have it on video, actually. Well, the actual opening of the box, and closing once the holder was loaded, as well as pulling the film out and slipping them into the BTZS tube, was in darkness. Gloves on even through the stop and fix...
 
I don't think it's a fingerprint; nobody has lines that linear, and they always loop around the tip. Even monkeys and koala. It's likely a chemical on your gloved finger with a higher surface tension than its attraction for nitrile. Maybe you touched the chemical, then waited a bit before touching the film?
 

It's a finger print. I've looked at it very closely with a loupe.
 
Andrew O'Neill said:
Here's a snap with my finger for scale...

View attachment 419692
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy,
That is much easier to make sense of.
It certainly looks like some foreign contaminant.
I do find the swirl pattern unusual for a human fingerprint though
EDIT: but I trust your eyes in this.
One question though - is it usual for fingerprints applied before development and exposure to come out dark on the negative?
 
Is it on the emulsion side? That's about as obvious as defects can get.

Based on Andrew's finger for scale looks like Harman are still using adult hominids for confectioning.

 
Last edited:
Of course it's a fingerprint!! Maybe not a fingertip. Could very well be a stain imparted on the substrate before coating. I would let Harman know. There's another half a print out there based on the cut. Packaging film is tricky. Obviously!
 
Don_ih said:
Crop it out. Complain to Ilford. Forget it happened.
Click to expand...

Quite frankly, it's not worth the headache, nor am I bothered. I just wanted to share it with the group. I shot a back up and it's perfect.
 
bewilson said:
I don't think it's a fingerprint
Click to expand...
Most definitely is, but it's at a ca. 90 degree angle from what you'd expect from the round shape.

It's really puzzling. Not just the fact that it's there, but also the apparent high silver density it has resulted in. I mean, I never wear gloves when loading sheet film into holders. I never get these kinds of prints on my film.
 
koraks said:
I never get these kinds of prints on my film.
Click to expand...

The only fingerprint I remember getting on film looked nothing like that. It developed as a faint variation in density. The only fingerprint I saw that looked like that was in an old box of paper I bought. A clear fingerprint developed that black on the top sheet. The previous owner must've had something on his hands and the fingerprint sat there for a long time doing whatever it did.
 
I started wearing gloves when my finger prints ended up all over 4 sheets of 4x5 HIE, in the late 90's (in very humid Japan). The humidity is a bit high most of the time in my darkroom here, so film can feel a bit sticky. Gloves help.
 
Andrew O'Neill said:
I started wearing gloves when my finger prints ended up all over 4 sheets of 4x5 HIE, in the late 90's (in very humid Japan). The humidity is a bit high most of the time in my darkroom here, so film can feel a bit sticky. Gloves help.
Click to expand...

Sooooo........ ?



 
When I print postcards for the exchange I'm pretty good at handling. The pearl/ luster surface can be a bit difficult to see by safelight, I remember once I "felt" my finger sort of stick. Sure enough when developed there was a fingerprint. It's easy to do.
 
Semi off topic, but I would get finger prints on Agfa Portria Rapid 16x20 sheets (photopaper) in the corners.

Turns out photopaper (and perhaps film?) can be sensitive to pressure induced ‘exposure’ for a short time after it hits the developer. I would slip the paper into the developer emulsion down, grip two corners tightly between fingers, and flip it over face up.

I would grip the paper very tight due to its size and weight…and slippery fingers (no gloves).

I would also see this on student prints as sharp thin black lines on their prints where they used SS tongs to push their paper down into the developer.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register