Welcome to Phototrio! Very sorry that poor quality Kodak film led you here. I wish you arrived in happier circumstances.
I know I'm late the the party, but I just had several rolls of 120 Kodak film display this same issue. Different cameras and different batches of film. In fact, it was a search about the problem that led me to this site in the first place. My question is; can the negatives (or prints) be repaired so the work isn't ruined or at least still able to be used in some way? I can easily fix the issue in a scanned negative in photoshop, but if I want to make an enlargement in the darkroom (which is what I want to do of course), what can be done to save these images?
Any help would be appreciated.
Bill
Thank you to all who answered. I've been looking at the prospect of 'repairing' the negatives prior to making enlargements. As others have pointed out, that doesn't seem to be a feasible solution. I like the contact print idea (although I've never done it!). If I'm going to go to that length, I'd rather just do the fix to the scan in PS and print the digital image. That's "cheating" I know, but I can't see myself just throwing away all the effected negatives.
Thanks also for the warm welcome. I'm not a 100% film shooter. I bounce around shooting mostly digital, of course, but 'get back to basics' when I want a change. I do still have an operating dark room set up and was really hoping to dust it off with these new photos. Hopefully future film won't have this issue - although future film will probably not be Kodak (sadly).. Thanks again everyone!
I can easily fix the issue in a scanned negative in photoshop, but if I want to make an enlargement in the darkroom (which is what I want to do of course), what can be done to save these images?
Any help would be appreciated.
Bill
Bill - I am very sorry to hear about your terrible problems with Kodak 120 film. Others have provided some good ideas about your question. I was hoping you could share the film types, along with the respective emulsion numbers of your problem rolls. The emulsion number on Kodak 120 film can be found printed along the edge of the film just past frame 11. I wish you the best of luck.
PE - That's an interesting thought. It immediately brought to mind the masking system techniques available from Lynn Radeka.I've been giving this some thought and it might be feasible to make a positive of the paper backing and then use it as a mask to remove the negative image of the paper from the affected negatives. Anyone have any thoughts?
PE
Please be aware that this 120 paper backing issue has been an ongoing affair for quite some time. Kodak TMAX100 has been unavailable for over a year and we continue to get posts by people who have been burned by TMAX400 as well as Portra color films.
What film did you find the problem with?
For replacement films, I recommend Fuji Acros 100 and Ilford Delta 400. Both are exceptionally good films and do not suffer from paper issues.
Bill - I am very sorry to hear about your terrible problems with Kodak 120 film. Others have provided some good ideas about your question. I was hoping you could share the film types, along with the respective emulsion numbers of your problem rolls. The emulsion number on Kodak 120 film can be found printed along the edge of the film just past frame 11. I wish you the best of luck.
Thank you! I'll check into it.PE - That's an interesting thought. It immediately brought to mind the masking system techniques available from Lynn Radeka.
William - I'd suggest you contact Lynn Radeka to see if he has any helpful ideas regarding masking your negatives to eliminate your issues. It's been my experience he's readily accessible via email and glad to help if he can. Here's his website with links to his email at the bottom of the page (also many links into his system are there). I also think John Sexton might help.
I just had a look at a roll of TMY I have and the number is about 1/2" to the right of the 11 frame number on the bottom of the film strip. It's quite a bit fainter than the frame numbers. Hold the negative against a white piece of paper or strong light and you will see it. The numbers are very "computer" not like the frame numbers. See the photo of a neg strip, the emulsion number is visible.I looked on all the rolls effected, all along the edges but saw no emulsion number. (?) The only number that appears after the 11th frame is the 12th frame.
I just had a look at a roll of TMY I have and the number is about 1/2" to the right of the 11 frame number on the bottom of the film strip. It's quite a bit fainter than the frame numbers. Hold the negative against a white piece of paper or strong light and you will see it. The numbers are very "computer" not like the frame numbers. See the photo of a neg strip, the emulsion number is visible.
View attachment 189786
Please do contact Kodak Alaris at profilm@kodakalaris.com and request replacement film.
It is quite possible that your old film was produced right in the middle of the period where the problem was most intense.
And FWIW, after receiving replacements from Kodak Alaris, I've exposed a few rolls of the T-Max 400 from the identified problematic batches. On one I shot a few months ago, I could see very faint signs of the problem when I scanned the film at higher "resolution" settings on a flatbed scanner that really doesn't offer that high a resolution. The problem wasn't visible in darkroom prints.
For two of the films which were exposed and developed recently, I see no signs of the problem either in darkroom prints or middle resolution scans. There are, however, very few areas of smooth tones and minimum detail in those latter films.
All of which merely goes to show that the problem is both maddeningly unpredictable and sometimes hard to detect.
I'd sure like to think we could assume this problem is a problem of the past for Kodak TMAX roll film, 'cause I'd pretty much decided to standardize on TMAX and Perceptol for 35mm and wanted to continue with that in 120. But now... if this really hasn't been put in the past, I'm tempted to think otherwise and push back to HP5 and/or Delta 400 for my 400 speed film. (FP4 is my favorite 100 ISO range film). Everything I'd read here until a week or two ago was that this was attributed to some old batches that predate my affiinity for TMAX. Maybe that's true and what we are reading about is old stock either from a slow moving inventory shelf or a freezer somewhere.... but otherwise, if it ain't ready for prime time, I'll just not go there for 120 (though I have been building up my own stock!!!). FWIW, I haven't seen this problem buying my TMAX new in the last two or three months from B&H.
So which is it?
I seem to recall that prior to some point in time that emulsion number was actually stamped in that same location with a sort of knife-edged die and not optically printed. In that case, reflecting light at an angle off the surface helps. (But I believe rolls that old were not exhibiting the problem.)WOW, I sure didn't see that. I held the strip up to the light, but I'll try putting some paper behind it. Thanks!
I just had a look at a roll of TMY I have and the number is about 1/2" to the right of the 11 frame number on the bottom of the film strip. It's quite a bit fainter than the frame numbers. Hold the negative against a white piece of paper or strong light and you will see it. The numbers are very "computer" not like the frame numbers. See the photo of a neg strip, the emulsion number is visible.
View attachment 189786
Thanks Paul. I'll dump the Tmax 100.Alan, these are the known affected batches:
Kodak T-Max 100
Emulsion 0961 through 0981
Kodak T-Max 400
Emulsion 0148 004 through 0152
I would say your T-max 100 is definitely on the list of suspect/bad rolls, but your T-max 400 should be safe to use.
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