[Digitalis]

When you say "Poor" agitation, are you suggesting I am over or under working the film?

Possibly, I tend to over agitate in the first 10 seconds of development, stop bath and fixation. This is to ensure adequate coverage of the film by the chemistry.

I do a distilled water stop bath between developing and fixing.

Do you wash the film after the stop bath*? From the way things are looking there is a possibility your fixer or stop bath may be either depleted or contaminated - or both.

*some people do this to extend the life of their fixer.

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Last edited by Digitalis; 11-01-2014 at 04:49 AM.

[Dukeatoakland]

Do you wash the film after the stop bath*? From the way things are looking there is a possibility your fixer or stop bath may be either depleted or contaminated - or both.

I do not wash after the stop bath. The fixer is fairly new (30 days old or so, 6 uses). If the fixer is contaminated, is there another symptom that I might see in the frames that do not show streaking?

To All - Keep these theories going. I'm finding it very educational to really think about what I'm doing at every step - and the consequences of those steps.

[Vendee]

I was thinking about it too, but in this case, shouldn't be affected all the frames on that side? I mean, the problem should be on the frames that are facing and not (or not only) to the consecutive ones.

It won't be a problem on the facing frames because on the reel, the problem frames would be touching the non-emulsion side of the facing frames.

[Dukeatoakland]

All - I did another roll. I took extra time spooling. I increased the vigor with which I agitated the film on the first round. I did a swap during the stop bath. I did a two tank rinse in distilled water before moving on to the flowing rinse. Not only did I not get an issue free roll, I also seem to have gotten better results in general. An inspection of the wet film revealed what appears to be a more subtle contrast profile. I'll know for sure when they are dry and scanned.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed a new step to my process. I really appreciate being able to benefit your experience.

[Vendee]

The most important rinse is the final one and that's the one you should use distilled water for. The object is to ensure that drops of water which dry onto the film don't contain any minerals which will show up as white rings or spots.

I personally do not use a squeegee on my film. I do my final rinse in demineralised water with a small amount of Photo-Flo in it to help the water run off. I also hang my roll at 45 degrees so that the water only has to run a short distance to the sprocket holes, rather than all the way to the bottom of the film.

[Dukeatoakland]

After the rinse, the "dunk" is in distilled with Photo-Flo. I recently started hanging my film at angle. I don't know where I read that tip (probably here), but it has been a great one.

[Vendee]

After the rinse, the "dunk" is in distilled with Photo-Flo. I recently started hanging my film at angle. I don't know where I read that tip (probably here), but it has been a great one.

That's perfect. Hanging the film at an angle really does work

[stevebrot]

Is there any chance poor agitation technique could cause this?

That was my thought as well. I have heard of agitation "waves" when using the swizzle stick style tanks rather than inversion.


Steve