Streaks on Fuji CA II paper using drums

igmirien · Dec 20, 2020

Just done my first session of printing, I came across this issue, these lines here.

I'm processing in a 8x10" drum unicolor unidrum II with a rotary base, pre-wash 40 seconds, develop 2 minutes, blix 2 minutes, then rinse and wash a couple times. I'm using the Tetenal RA-4 kit.

I'm using Fuji CA II paper.
Enlarging with an LPL 7700 PRO
I also tried without pre-wash, with a dry drum.

Any ideas what might be causing this? Thank you!

koraks · Dec 20, 2020

Just to be sure - you're handling the paper in absolute darkness?

Any chance of posting some better photos? It's really hard to see on these what's going on.

BMbikerider · Dec 20, 2020

In the absence of other information the usual cause of streaks when using roller processing is usually incomplete rinsing the drum between chemicals and then drying, or in some cases just the lack of drying where any remaining water dilutes the developer so making the development uneven.

igmirien · Dec 20, 2020

Thanks guys! I solved the problem! It was the way I was pouring chemicals into the drum. The paper is also fogged from some light coming from the back of the enlarger. Now I have another problem, Newton rings, how do you guys deal with that?

koraks · Dec 20, 2020

Yes, that makes sense; it's nice to hear you solved the issue.
Re:Newton brings, personally I only use glassless carriers, but not everyone considers this a viable option due to film flatness issues. AN glass is the obvious solution if you want to stick with glass (no pun intended...)

brbo · Dec 21, 2020

If your negatives are relatively flat and you only have glass holder you could make a "spacer" from a thicker non-translucent paper so the negative doesn't get into direct contact with the glass.

I use ANR glass that goes on the top of the negative, but need to use such a spacer for some films on the bottom glass. For me Ektar will always form Newton rings even on emulsion side when in contact with glass in my holder. Portra 160 and some other films only occasionally.

koraks · Dec 21, 2020

brbo said:
For me Ektar will always form Newton rings even on emulsion side when in contact with glass in my holder.

Yes, that makes sense. Some films (particularly Kodak's) are very smooth on the image side. In B&W, Tmax 100 is such a film, in sheet film format. Its image side is just as smooth as the non-image side which can be a nightmare in terms of Newton rings.

igmirien · Dec 21, 2020

For now, I just took out the 2 glasses from the universal holder that LPL 7700 PRO has and enlarging without.

DREW WILEY · Dec 24, 2020

I wonder if those are development streaks at all. Looks more like a light leak issue to me. But I note you already discovered the source of that. As for your other question, every one of my enlargers is equipped with carriers having anti-newton glass on BOTH sides of the film. I can't imagine life without this. I do this for every format, 35mm all the way up to 8X10 sheet film. Getting truly sharp prints without a tight glass sandwich is nearly impossible. And in my climate at least, avoiding rings can only be consistently done with true anti-Newton glass on both sides. Done correctly, there will be no visible pattern in the print itself, or any loss to fine image detail. Recently I got a new set of AN glass for my 8X10 cold light enlarger from ScanTech in southern California. Nice product. They can custom size anything you need, and carry plain enlarging glass as well.

igmirien · Dec 24, 2020

Thanks Drew!
I just bought one AN glass, I thought only one is enough to put on the top

DREW WILEY · Dec 24, 2020

Just see how that works out for you. Humidity might make you use AN glass both sides. I'm also near the coast here in the SF Bay area, and there's fog much of the year, making Newton rings a real problem with plain glass.

Streaks on Fuji CA II paper using drums

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