Weird line through TMY-2

[GraemeMitchell]

I'm tentative to ask this, b/c I feel like it must be something obvious, but for the life of me I can't figure it out tonight.

Odd soft line of increased density running through TMY-2. I've attached a jpeg. It's actually on a white wall but I bumped up the contrast so it's easily viewable.

At first I thought it was a strap or something handing in the frame. Then I saw it on another frame, then another roll. Then other rolls from a different camera, different shoot (but same batch of film). It always occurs, from what I can tell, mid roll (in the #20s). Usually one or two frames on the rolls that exhibit it (not all do) It always runs top/bottom in a horizontal frame. Always the same width and sort of line, although different places on the frame. Everything else on the film looks completely normal.

Any thoughts? B/c I can't figure out what it is. ?.

Details 35mm TMY-2, rodinal 1+50, all pretty standard stuff...

 

[rwboyer]

Assuming that you shoot and process other films in the same way (lately) - The obvious assumption is that it is a FLAW. Personally I have been shooting Kodak products for 30 years and could not be happier with the level of quality I have experienced.

Now - if this is the only film you shoot I would say it could be a film flaw OR a really really strange light leak in your processing equipment. I know it is remote but I have had similar but not identically extremely vexing issues like this in the past that ultimately turned out to be a hairline crack in a piece of processing equipment that would only do things like this intermittently. The only way I found it was to replace everything in my processing work-flow to nail it down.

 

[GraemeMitchell]

Weird, just noticed it on the 120 TMY I shot too. Hmmmm...

No, don't think it's a film failure, it's too consistent amongst these rolls and how it's showing up and where on the roll.

I think there's something going on during processing. Let me look at the TX rolls I ran at the same time and see if any of them exhibit it.

 

[GraemeMitchell]

Wow, what bummer, just looked at the 120 TX and it has lines too, but they're super consistent on it. Two lines of the same size and consistency running down the entire length of the film on both sides just in from the edge. Never had the likes of it. But I assume it's all related.

I would say light somehow, leaking where I'm loading or in the tanks, reflecting of the SS reels and exposing the film. That'd make sense for it popping up sporadically like on the TMY, but the TX is really consistent. And I'm talking over 13 rolls.

My retouch quota for the week just went out the window...

As a note, not that I think it matters, the TX was in HC-110. Not rodinal. With that, all of this film TMY+Rodinal, and TX+HC-110, at my temps, had short dev times. Btwn 5:30 and 6:30. The bottom end of safe times...but I'm not sure how it'd do this.

 

[Ronald Moravec]

35 and 120 means it is a process error. Start checking everything with a flashlight in a semi dark room

You can even do a partial roll that has not even been thru the camera.

 

[GraemeMitchell]

Checking more film, and I'm not so far seeing it on any of the TX I did in Rodinal, which has a much longer dev time (12min).

Possible if something is getting accentuated by the shorter dev time of the the combos?

I'm perplexed as to how it can be so consistent over the 120 TX. EVERY roll. But then it seems more sporadic, curve, in different spots when it shows up on the TMY. Assuming it's the same cause.

 

[GraemeMitchell]

Checked the tank and the lid in a darkroom, now obvious light leaks.

As far as a light leak, my guess would on be that there's a leak someplace where I'm loading it that I'm not seeing. Usually after being in the room I use for 5+min and my eyes have adjusted I can see very faint light around the door, but it's always been like that.

 

[gainer]

Check the film frame in the camera for lumps or scratches. It looks like a pressure mark to me.

 

[GraemeMitchell]

Gainer, 3 different cameras though. 2 Nikons and a hasselblad. The only consistent thing was I processed them all on the same day, same tank, etc. The only other consistency was the film was running shortish dev times, which I try to avoid, but even such have never had problems with it

 

[smieglitz]

Can you post an entire frame with image and perforations/film codes? Maybe one each 120 and 35mm.

 

[bdial]

Does it run between the frames, or only in the image area?

 

[ricksplace]

Check the film frame in the camera for lumps or scratches. It looks like a pressure mark to me.

I think Gainer is on the right track. Could be a pressure mark in your loading process. Is there anything that might make a pressure crease during the reel loading procedure? Other than this, I haven't a clue...

 

[GraemeMitchell]

I talked to a fellow here at a great black and white lab who I hoped would have an idea. He said, seemingly w/o question, that they're uneven development marks from using short dev times and active developers prone to doing it. He said presoak and it'd likely take care of it.

With that, it's not really a time problem as an agitation problem, and it's interesting that almost all problems I've ever had running film are related to agitation. Rodinal and HC-110 IME are very very finicky about it, especially if there's even slight discrepancies in the first min of developing. I wonder how cheap tanks and nitro burst systems are going for used these days....