Wavy line on C41s

[Misko78]

I developed couple of films in my Jobo CPE2 with Fujihunt C41 kit (fresh).

There is a problem that first showed up on a Portra 400 (look at the attached picture), at first i thought that it was a problem with uneven development as i never used prewet just dry preheat. Ok changed my routine and switched to prewet 2x30s as PE suggested. Same deal with couple of other films. Does anyone have an idea what seems to be a problem.


P.S. These are cuts with marks from hanger and with stuff on left film is a reflection.

 

[BMbikerider]

It looks to me a bit like a stray hair, but how it would get there I have no idea.

 

[Misko78]

No, it is not stray hair, it's on 7 different films, developed at different time and it's on whole length of film.

 

[Photo Engineer]

They are either scratches or coating defects. My bet is on scratches. You can actually see the scratched away material as tiny heavy density marks in some of the defects. Coating defects usually don't leave anything like that behind.

PE

 

[Misko78]

Huh? 3 different people shot these films in different cameras. Different films Porta 400, Portra 160 and Ektar. This is from Ektar. Only this is similar is that everybody bought film in the same shop.

Could this be from a water stop i use after developer bath, i used it always but recently I've moved.

 

[Photo Engineer]

The streaks going top to bottom in your first photo are indicative of a bad process. All else is probably fallout from that.

Coating defects can mimic that, but from Kodak the streaks would go from the center outward in both directions. And, there would not be small pieces of emulsion hanging to the film.

Of course, you say that these marks are from a hangar, but I can't be sure of this at this distance. There is no way to tell when they took place. If they took place early on in the handling then the rest might, as I said, derive from that.

This is unusual but often happens with handling errors as you load the film onto reels in which the film is changing in orientation as you handle it. Kinks can show up like that. It is also possible that solution flow was uneven.

A wash after development is NOT advised. Development is very rapid and water is NO stop.

PE

 

[mshchem]

OK, first picture both films have got some clear white lines, if I understand, these lines are scratches in the emulsion from the hangers (film drying clips) you used to hang the film to dry?
In your original picture you have circled in red a oval shaped subtle area. Is this the defect you are referring to? It does look like there is a oval of some sort.
In your second picture you posted I see your red circle but I can't see any defects on my screen. This looks like an unexposed frame is this correct?

If you are having trouble loading the reels (Jobo reels require trimming the corners before loading ) it could be from bending the film?

If the film is buckled and in contact it can cause defects, it is easy to do if you don't trim the corners with a Jobo reel.

As PE states with high temperatures and 3'15" developing time you want to get right to the bleach. Water won't stop the development instantly.
I use the same process with a CPP2. I have always used a presoak to get tank up to temperature. Never had an issue.
Best Mike

 

[Misko78]

Yes, white lines are from film drying clips, I have that on all of my films. I don't have this issue with E6 and B&W, so I think my loading technique is ok. On second picture I provided, the line is barely visible but it is there. You can see it on scans. One other thing I've noticed, I always dilute concentrates to make 1L and I reuse chemicals, I know it's not advisable but I was getting nice results so far, developer for 10-16 rolls, with time compensation provided by Fujihunt, bleach and fix for 20 rolls, after 10 rolls I change time from 6:30 to 8 minutes. When I developed roll on a second picture I accidentally changed bleach time to 8 minutes. Could this be a bleach issue? I've tried to rebleach and re-fix without any luck, but I've read somewhere that if a film has been in a stabilizer bath re-bleach won't work.

 

[Photo Engineer]

The use of a stabilzer or a final rinse has no effect on rebleach efforts if you need to use this method. The final step is inert to previous steps except the developer and the final step must be reused if you rebleach wash fix and wash.

PE

 

[Misko78]

But is rebleach always successful or not?

 

[Photo Engineer]

If bleach or fix activity is the problem, then rebleach is always successful. That is, provided the bleach and fix are good.

PE

 

[Misko78]

Then could this be a problem with pouring developer into the tank, i measured the time and i need about 5-7 seconds to pour developer in and to attach the tank to the processor and start rotation. When i pour out developer i need couple of seconds more. Also if i understand things correctly developer won't affect unexposed parts of film. One of the films was not exposed at all, friend played with mirror up mode on RB67 and as he was using camera for the first time he got only one exposure on film. But that line is all over the unexposed areas of film.

 

[Misko78]

This is what a scanned image look like from the first film (Portra) and the second film (expired superia) . If anything matters this is also visible in 135s but much much less. It is visible only in shadows.

 

[Photo Engineer]

This is hard to diagnose. It looks like it might be streaks caused by initial contact with something such as developer or the step after development. It does take up to 8 seconds to pour in the solutions. It is hard to do uniformly if you don't have a correctly assembled tank with a light baffle and an internal cup to hold the solutions as you see in Jobo tanks. In non-rotary processing tanks, it is often useful to pour in the solution and then put the reel with film into the tank.

PE

 

[Misko78]

OK, I used 2% acetic acid stop bath, with wash afterwards, and then normally used bleach and fix. No problem with negative at all, even I think the orange base is now vivid orange.

 

[Jeff L]

I followed the advice of PE I added a stop bath step to my C41. My results are consistent and much better now.