Weird flare object

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'm looking for some diagnostic help with this- I have a strange flare in the middle of this frame. It is the only frame on the roll that has it, and the frame is from the middle of the roll, so it's not an in-camera light leak or the roll leaking.



Camera is a Rolleiflex 2.8E, with a Rolleinar 1 attached. Film is Fuji NPS160.

 

[mts]

You didn't mention the film type. It looks like a processing or a film problem, not a camera or subject problem. Could it perhaps be a pressure mark?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I did mention the film type- it's Fuji NPS 160. Rolleiflexes take 120. It's always possible it's a processing issue, but the lab that does my C41 for me runs dip-n-dunk, so it's unlikely to be a processing issue. I suppose it COULD be a problem with the film, as the film is about 11 years out of date. But that wouldn't explain why it happened to the middle of a single frame in literally the middle of the roll.

 

[Eric Rose]

I'm leaning towards a film pinch, probably during processing.

 

[bdial]

To me it looks more like a processing or film problem than a light problem too. Does the mark extend all the way to the left edge?

 

[Worker 11811]

What would a "comet" from an air bell or a drip of developer/chemistry look like on color film?

That's what I'm reminded of but I've only seen them on black and white but not color.

If it's not that, I'd also say it's from a buckle in the film.

 

[John Weinland]

Only a guess, but I can imagine someone in the processing room (checking temps, adding replenisher) when the dip 'n dunk was up in the air between dips, and dripping something from their arm onto your film. Or as I've actually seen with my own reel/tank processing, perhaps a piece of solid matter temporarily adhered to the film, thus changing the development characteristic. Anyway, 11-year-old film is a crap-shoot.