Weird spots on negatives

[HakonJ]

Hi

During my last development, I got some strange spots on my film. They don't stand out as much as the picture shows, I exaggerated contrast/clarity to make them appear more clearly. The center has a tiny black dot, with brighter areas around them, and a distinct bright edge around the whole spot. Could anyone tell me what could cause this? Silver precipitation in my well used fixer maybe? I really have no idea, so I would appreciate some input to learn how to avoid this. Without heavy digital retouching, the images are useless. I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously, but I couldn't find any similar issues.

About my development routine: The film is Fuji Neopan Acros 100, developed in Adox Adonal 1+50, 17.5minutes, water as stop bath with 4-5 changes of water + agitation between to dilute the developer, fixed with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 6 minutes. I use tap water for rinsing and developer, but I haven't had any problems earlier. Our tap water is pretty clean. I develop in my bathroom and hang the negs to dry in the shower.



Appreciate any comments. The image shows about 20 % of a 6x6 negative.

Håkon

 

[bsdunek]

Did you use a wetting agent (Photoflo, or similar)? These may be water spots surrounding some sort of particles. I always use a wetting agent, usuelly diulted more than normal, and a gentle wipe with a photo sponge.
Let's see what others think.

 

[HakonJ]

No, I haven't used any wetting agents. If what you say is the case, could a re-rinse + wetting agent do the trick? What do you think the particles could be?

 

[Rick A]

Re-wetting and using a wetting agent MAY work, depending on what the particles are and how imbedded they are in the emulsion. It's worth a try, Iwould definitly use distilled water with the wetting agent. Soak for a minimum of several minuted, followed by vigorously shaking excess water off prior to hanging the film.

 

[David Lyga]

This is interesting. The first thing that came to mind is that there are tiny metallic particles in your water that are remaining on the surface as the film dries. It is hard to determine otherwise. Tap water CAN suddenly change slightly as long as it remains potable. Or your pipes might be slightly rusty? - David Lyga

 

[gone]

They look like nothing I have seen before. Almost like blood or something under a microscope. I have a technique that I learned from someone here that helps w/ this (for in the future). I think a pro photographer showed them this. Use photo-flo and do the usual soak for the usual length of time. When you get the negs out, take one end and snap it like a whip a few times. It throws off a lot of excess water and the negs dry in my place in about 1/3 the time they used to. Nary a spot. I also filter my chemicals thru a funnel in the top of my gradients, a coffee filter, and some marble chips from the yard (to help w/ the pouring). Negs look very good now.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Particulates imbedded in the emulsion which held water droplets when the film was drying, leaving water marks.

Use a wetting agent in distilled water for a final rinse and you will eliminate these. I don't know if re-washing and lightly running the film through your fingers will remove the particulates or not, but you will likely not get rid of the rings... Maybe though, so give it a try.

Oh yes, filter your tap water if you can as well!

Best,

Doremus

 

[HakonJ]

Thanks for all your replies. I had been using unfiltered, heated tap water (20 C), and I think this is the problem. I just learned that the apartment building I'm living in has had some upgrades to the water pipes. Today I saw tiiiny little particles in the heated tap water. I processed a film today, and filtered this (heated) water through a coffee filter before mixing it with the developer. Stop bath and the first couple of rinses were done with unfiltered heated tap water with particles, but I gradually cooled the film down and ended up using cold water for the final rinse. Couldn't see any particles in this cold water, and the film turned out just fine. No spots at all. I ran a squeege over the negative as well without problems. A bit silly introducing the squeeging as a second variable, though. Now I don't really know whether it was the use of cold water for the final rinse or the squeeging that did the trick, but I really suspect it was the water. This was just a quick test roll from a camera I might buy, so I didn't bother getting hold of any wetting agents before developing. I'm a bit more relaxed now, but maybe I'll buy some next time I'm in the shop.

For the next time, I'll pour some cold tap water in clean bottles, let it heat up to room temperature and use that water for the developer + final rinse. Thanks for all your clues about how to resolve this problem.