Yet another Developing issues: Dark Spots

Seems like lately I am having a rash of mysterious developing problems.

Has anyone seen this type of developing problems before? These dark spots are on Tmax 100, 120 negatives, developed in ID-11, 1:1. Same routine technique I normally use but these spots appeared on the top of the film in the sky area. It appeared in three negatives but could be on more but the other negatives did not have a clear sky are where the spot could be seen. If these were some type of light leaks the spots would be light not dark. And I suppose some type of uneven development but I can't see how. ??

Perhaps air bells? Describe your development procedure.

Was the developer freshly mixed? Dark spots on negatives are a sign that the developer was not completely mixed. Some undissolved particles stuck on the emulsion and developed that spot to a greater degree. Air bells would create lighter spots not darker ones.

It's common to mix a developer and then allow it to stand over night. Then filter it before use.

I did a quick re-measure of the amount of develop to see if it completely covers the reel and it does. But not by a lot, maybe 3/16 of an inch over the reel.
This was done in a one reel tank, which I really don't like to use but only had 1 roll to develop.

looks like those areas of the film didn't get enough developer for whatever reason....not enough developer in the tank or reel was misloaded or something. is it a one reel tank?

Michael R 1974 said:

Need some more info. but I'm assuming this was in a manual inversion tank.

If these blobs of lower density are along the edge of the film that was nearest to the top of the tank (as opposed to the bottom), it looks to me like you didn't have enough solution in the tank to completely cover the film when the tank was standing between agitation cycles. The bubbly/foamy layer sitting on top of the liquid could leave underdevelopment marks like this. They would be most obviously noticeable in areas of uniform and/or high density such as bright sky, which is what I see in the posted example.

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I suspect this too. Even though you believe your volume of chemical is above the top of the reels if its foaming too much this can happen. Sure reels absolutely clean? Did you use photoflo with your last development with these reels?

People seem to be misreading the original post or the OP is being unclear. No mention of the problem in prints.

These dark spots are on Tmax 100, 120 negatives, developed in ID-11

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Once again; dark spots on negatives indicate increased development at these sites. So no air-bells or insufficient developer, etc all of which would create lighter areas.

The image in the OP is a positive, so lighter on the neg.
Air bells. I usually fill a tank completely.

For some reason I can not access the sample provided so based my posts on what was said in the original post. If I was in error then my apologies but the post was unclear in its description. I take the following to mean exactly what it says "These dark spots are on Tmax 100, 120 negatives."

My original statement was not clear. I have dark spots on the positive, light spots on the negative. It was a one reel tank which I seldom use. You have me convinced that although I used the prescribed amount of developer, it was not enough to covered the reel and not have foam bubbles prevent development on the edge of the film.

jgbald said:

My original statement was not clear. I have dark spots on the positive, light spots on the negative. It was a one reel tank which I seldom use. You have me convinced that although I used the prescribed amount of developer, it was not enough to covered the reel and not have foam bubbles prevent development on the edge of the film.

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You did not have control over whether the sample photo displayed to all readers. This does however point out problems when such things do occur.

I would suggest reviewing procedures when using this tank.

Have a good day and keep on taking pictures. Jerry

If you use minimum liquid it works well if you invert.

If you brim full the tank inversion is ineffective and you need stirring rod and rubber gloves.

Never had problems with daylight tanks which need frequent half turns. Apart from sore wrist.

Looks like typical bubbles/air trapped in the reel, possibly due to excessive foaming (did you notice any foam build up in the tank?). If the developer didn't foam, it could simply be air trapped between film and reel. I must admit I have this "dark spots" (due to excessive foaming) with Tmax 100 and Xtol 1+1 combo intermittently for more than a year now or so and could not solve it yet.

I had exactly the same thing happen with a roll of 120 processed yesterday. Two rolls of Tri-X in Rodinal 1+50 processed in a Paterson tank. I did a presoak in 1L water and added 20ml Rodinal to 1L water. Agitation processing with 30 secs to start and then 10 secs each minute. I didn't notice if the dev was particularly foamy and I didn't do any tapping or rapping of the tank after any of the agitations. Only one of the rolls shows these marks along one side although I can't say what its location in the tank was as I didn't notice the marks until I was sleeving the film. I suspect air bubbles, the main question is how to avoid it in future?
I'm thinking
1: Add a bit more solution so any foaming is happening in the funnel rather than around the film
2: rapping tank lid and perhaps also giving the tank a swirl after the agitations
3: dev in a tank that allows more solution to be added, e.g. one roll of 120 in a single reel Paterson tank with 600ml dev, or two rolls 120 in a 5 roll tank with 1.2L dev.

Random will be developer not thoroughly mixed or it picked up contamination somewhere. If in the same places on all negs, then there are pin holes in the shutter.