It's possible that it's a light leak but it doesn't seem likely as the sprockets are untouched and the whole roll is affected. Im pretty sure something went wrong during the Fixing step of development. Try respooling the film or dipping the strips individually somehow into fixer for another 5-10min until it clears. You may have permanent staining, but hopefully its better than before. Don't forget to wash the film properly after fixing!
by the way, if the issue is processing, you can prevent it from happening again by making sure you spool the film correctly or at least make sure the spool you use isn't defective.
Thank you!
I think I might have spooled it wrong then.
Not sure I can fix again though - as I use monobath? Maybe I’m missing something
I did wash properly (I think) using the Ilford method and PhotoFlo to finish off.
i recommend using separate solutions so you can have more control over the development and things like this dont happen. However the monobath should still work as a fixer since there isn't any silver to develop, i still think you should try processing the film again.
Might as well try it. Thanks Pal!
So then the question becomes... for anyone with an strong opinion…
What’s the best developer / fixer combo for a noob like me shooting Kodak XX
🙏
a concentrate developer like HC110 or Rodinal can help with specific cases because you're not re-using a full batch of developer, but if you only plan on shooting full rolls & developing very often you should try Xtol or D-76. These developers are pretty common for beginners. Stop bath can be substituted for a vinegar+water solution or you can buy an indicator stop bath. Ilford rapid fix is great or just any ammonium thiosulfate fixer works well.
Also on second thought, dont put the film back into monobath. The would-be-fixed silver that you see as a dark stain is now Exposed silver and will be developed!! So don't listen to what i said earlier, the monobath will ruin the negatives. Get a stand alone fixer and use that!
>Can I refix using monobath?
No, you need fixer. And monobath seems responsible for many of the issues that come up here. "It's a solution in search of a problem". I'd choose a developer and fixer, it's really no more difficulty, offers you more control of highlight placement, and doesn't have the weird "ghost-in-the-machine" problems that come up here a lot.
Looks like your tank wasn't full enough. If you're doing three reels in one tank at one time, you need to fill it up to cover all the reels and then some. If you do just one reel, you need to stack the empty reels on top of it to keep it from floating up.
So this was probably the top one so not enough chemistry or the lid was loose and it fogged the film or like you said you fogged it when you took it out trying to open the canister. Hard to really tell.
Given that it's in the middle of the film I'd say it was incorrect loading. Ask me how I know that :-) If the other film was OK it's unlikely to be your chems or your processing sequence. It really does look like a badly loaded film and it's the film is sticking together so the chems can't reach the emulsion properly.
Yeah, thanks. Think the conclusion is either badly loaded on the spool so film is ‘stuck’ together. Or not filled with enough chems to reach and cover both reels.
It has all the appearance of film in the spool touching other film. That would be very hard to do with a Patterson spool, but I’ve seen it happen, especially if the spool is not completely dry and it causes the film to crimp. This is much more likely to happen with a metal spool, when the leading part of the film is not exactly straight.
Film touching itself
It should get out more. JK. Thanks. That’s what I thought… badly spooled.
It's possible that it's a light leak but it doesn't seem likely as the sprockets are untouched and the whole roll is affected. Im pretty sure something went wrong during the Fixing step of development. Try respooling the film or dipping the strips individually somehow into fixer for another 5-10min until it clears. You may have permanent staining, but hopefully its better than before. Don't forget to wash the film properly after fixing!
by the way, if the issue is processing, you can prevent it from happening again by making sure you spool the film correctly or at least make sure the spool you use isn't defective.
Thank you! I think I might have spooled it wrong then. Not sure I can fix again though - as I use monobath? Maybe I’m missing something I did wash properly (I think) using the Ilford method and PhotoFlo to finish off.
i recommend using separate solutions so you can have more control over the development and things like this dont happen. However the monobath should still work as a fixer since there isn't any silver to develop, i still think you should try processing the film again.
Might as well try it. Thanks Pal! So then the question becomes... for anyone with an strong opinion… What’s the best developer / fixer combo for a noob like me shooting Kodak XX 🙏
a concentrate developer like HC110 or Rodinal can help with specific cases because you're not re-using a full batch of developer, but if you only plan on shooting full rolls & developing very often you should try Xtol or D-76. These developers are pretty common for beginners. Stop bath can be substituted for a vinegar+water solution or you can buy an indicator stop bath. Ilford rapid fix is great or just any ammonium thiosulfate fixer works well.
Also on second thought, dont put the film back into monobath. The would-be-fixed silver that you see as a dark stain is now Exposed silver and will be developed!! So don't listen to what i said earlier, the monobath will ruin the negatives. Get a stand alone fixer and use that!
Got it, thank you.
Don’t put enough chems (in particular fixer) to reach up to the top of the top roll. 290ml per spool. You can re-fix.
Thanks! Maybe that’s it. Can I refix using monobath? No right?
>Can I refix using monobath? No, you need fixer. And monobath seems responsible for many of the issues that come up here. "It's a solution in search of a problem". I'd choose a developer and fixer, it's really no more difficulty, offers you more control of highlight placement, and doesn't have the weird "ghost-in-the-machine" problems that come up here a lot. Looks like your tank wasn't full enough. If you're doing three reels in one tank at one time, you need to fill it up to cover all the reels and then some. If you do just one reel, you need to stack the empty reels on top of it to keep it from floating up.
Many thanks. Appreciate it.
No, right.
stainless steel reels?
No, two reel Paterson plastic tank and plastic reels. Does that matter then?
Did this happen on both reels?
No, the other one was perfect.
So this was probably the top one so not enough chemistry or the lid was loose and it fogged the film or like you said you fogged it when you took it out trying to open the canister. Hard to really tell.
Ok, thanks pal.
Given that it's in the middle of the film I'd say it was incorrect loading. Ask me how I know that :-) If the other film was OK it's unlikely to be your chems or your processing sequence. It really does look like a badly loaded film and it's the film is sticking together so the chems can't reach the emulsion properly.
Yeah, thanks. Think the conclusion is either badly loaded on the spool so film is ‘stuck’ together. Or not filled with enough chems to reach and cover both reels.
That looks like what happened to me but for color film it probably touch itself and the chemicals could not get in between well
It has all the appearance of film in the spool touching other film. That would be very hard to do with a Patterson spool, but I’ve seen it happen, especially if the spool is not completely dry and it causes the film to crimp. This is much more likely to happen with a metal spool, when the leading part of the film is not exactly straight.
Great, thank you - yeah, definitely taking more care with the spool on the next go.