Strange linear scratches on my negatives.

Hello everyone, lately I have been getting these long linear scratches running along the length of the film. Oriniginally I thought they were made in camera but they have happened using my Nikon F5 as well as my Leica IIIf. I currently use the freestyle plastic reels and load bulk film on to reusable plastic canisters. I am tempted to think they happen on the bulk loader because I use different canisters and have the same result. what puzzles me is that the scratches are not completely linear. If they were happening on the bulk loading I would not expect to see curves on the scratches since the film should not be wiggling that much from loader to cannister. All input appreciated.

Nikon F5. Tmaxx 400. Developed in Patterson Tank using Freestyle plastic reels.

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No scratches the length of the film show up on my computer monitor.

They are in the bottom third of the frame. I may need to tweak the scan to make them more visible.


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How do you move your film through your enlarger... or scanner holder?

They appeared on the first print I made on my enlarger. I positioned the frame with the open negative carrier and then closed it. No dragging of the negative on the carrier.

Here is a different scan of the negative which may show them better. As you can see they are not parallel to each other which is really wierd.

Do you use a squeegee when you hang your developed film to dry?

Can you tell whether the scratches are on the emulsion side of the film or on the back of the film?

The bulk loading is the most likely. The usual suspect would be the film canister light trap.
When you load the camera do you cinch the film tightly with the rewind knob?
Something during processing is another possibility. When you load the film in a reel is it dangling in a long stream or or contained in a coil? When you hang it up for drying do you touch it with anything?
Try a factory load or two and see if things change, or try some brand new cassettes.

Open bulk loader (in dark) remove film reel cut off 3 foot load into spiral, develope normally. If they still there not your loader or camera...

drgoose said:

Hello everyone, lately I have been getting these long linear scratches running along the length of the film. Oriniginally I thought they were made in camera but they have happened using my Nikon F5 as well as my Leica IIIf. I currently use the freestyle plastic reels and load bulk film on to reusable plastic canisters. I am tempted to think they happen on the bulk loader because I use different canisters and have the same result. what puzzles me is that the scratches are not completely linear. If they were happening on the bulk loading I would not expect to see curves on the scratches since the film should not be wiggling that much from loader to cannister. All input appreciated.

Nikon F5. Tmaxx 400. Developed in Patterson Tank using Freestyle plastic reels.

View attachment 96466

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Some bulk loaders use an "open" slot and some use a felt light trap. The felt light trap ones can cause problems from time to time by getting a piece of grit/dirt lodged in the felt, but the "open slot" loaders (Alden's etc.) should not cause this, but you never rule anything out. John W

MattKing said:

Do you use a squeegee when you hang your developed film to dry?

Can you tell whether the scratches are on the emulsion side of the film or on the back of the film?

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They appear on the base side of the film. I don't use squeggee or wipe the film.

What vexes me is the two very different types of scratches... one very straight and the other very wobbly. It's almost as if there are two different problems. Did both of these scratches appear at the same time? Are both types always present?

What type or brand of bulk loader?

The players:




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Xmas said:

Open bulk loader (in dark) remove film reel cut off 3 foot load into spiral, develope normally. If they still there not your loader or camera...

Click to expand...

I'd do this!

I would suspect the following;

1. You are not opening the light trap on the bulk loader after everything is set up to load the film cannister. You may or may not feel a lot of additional pull but you are still dragging the film through the closed slot.

2. You are squeegeeing your film after development before you hang it to dry.

3. There is some grit in the felt traps of your film canisters.

These are the things that have caused scratches for me over the years. Number one is the most likely. If I forget to open the light trap I will toss the film, that is how consistently this causes scratches for me. And it seems that it is very easy for me to forget this if I don't keep my mind on the task at hand, something that is hard to do while engaged in something that mind-numbing.

The second is another very consistent source of scratches but may be harder to identify since it doesn't happen right away. It usually takes a while for the squeegee to begin to wear and begin causing the scratches. The way to cure this is to toss all squeegees and use your fingers, or nothing at all.

The third is far less likely in my experience. I usually have cassettes with 8 or more reloads that show no trouble with scratches. In fact, in my experience, I usually start to see some odd light leaks that clue me to a worn cassette, but not scratches.

You have the "felt light trap" style bulk loader. I had used those, but don't anymore. Why? Cause they scratched my film and it took me sometime to figure that out. I went to the "open and close slot" style like Alden's and a few others and my problem stropped. John W

JW PHOTO said:

You have the "felt light trap" style bulk loader. I had used those, but don't anymore. Why? Cause they scratched my film and it took me sometime to figure that out. I went to the "open and close slot" style like Alden's and a few others and my problem stropped. John W

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In the meantime you could probably use some canned air to clean the felt trap and see if the problem abates at all.

APUGuser19 said:

In all my 40 years of using a Lloyd's loader, I've never had a scratch, knock on wood. Some people are just lucky that way. I've never had uneven development, air bells or any other developing problem either. To my knowledge, I've never had any of the film problems I read about on the internet all the time. I HAVE had my share of my own stupidity, but that's about all.

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ditto strange that and I've had loaders for 40 years too
the time I had two non parallel scratches it was Kodak film...
the time I had two parrallel scratches the camera pressure plate