ruined negative - please help find out why

[andreios]

OK - thanks for explanation - I will take even more care from now on. But anyway, in such a situation it would affect both negatives being processed at the same time and not only one, would it not?

[Sevo]

OK - thanks for explanation - I will take even more care from now on. But anyway, in such a situation it would affect both negatives being processed at the same time and not only one, would it not?

It should - but brand, batch or even exposure differences might cause the silver to precipitate on one of them only. If it hit only a single one off the same batch and subject/exposure, it might have slipped below the other or have been inserted face down so that it did not receive the regular amount and flow of chemistry - just about anything can happen if the film is sealed off the regular flow.

[AtlantaTerry]

Whatever happened was before or after the film was in the sheet film holder. This is because the area of the long sides is fogged where normally the two lips inside that keep the film in place that should be blank shows evidence of fogging.

[David Vickery]

Looks like improperly fixed film to me. The exposure and development look good, but the milky cast is from a lack of fixing. Water on a negative prior to development, that then dries like in your condensation theory would definitely ruin the negative, but based on what you posted, it looks like that sheet did not get properly fixed.
Looks like a great subject to photograph!

[andreios]

Looks like improperly fixed film to me. The exposure and development look good, but the milky cast is from a lack of fixing. Water on a negative prior to development, that then dries like in your condensation theory would definitely ruin the negative, but based on what you posted, it looks like that sheet did not get properly fixed.
Looks like a great subject to photograph!

Thanks, I'll try to refix it again, can't be worse.
as for the subject - I did have a chance to spend few days in France so I visited some old abbeys - the bad neg is the chapter hall of Fontenay Abbey - sadly I did not take 2nd shot there since I was running low on film(holders) (It should not happen again now that I've bought the changing tent )

[AtlantaTerry]

I visited some old abbeys - the bad neg is the chapter hall of Fontenay Abbey

Ghosts...

[Sevo]

Thanks, I'll try to refix it again, can't be worse.

If that does not do it, try clearing it in a solution of 20g thiourea and 10g citric acid in 1l water - that works as a mild reducer both against plain and dichroic (surface) fog. The final attempt to tackle fogging before tossing the film would be Farmer's reducer. These days, you might of course also go the digital route, and see what you can filter from a scan.

[andreios]

So here's the update:
2nd fixing - no improvement
clearing in thiourea&citric acid solution - no improvement
will have to mix the Farmer's reducer next time..

Anyway, I'm not throwing the neg out - will see whether the ghosts will show up in the print :-)

[polyglot]

Perhaps you put one sheet in the drum backwards, i.e. with emulsion to the outside of the drum. Very little developer will have made it to the surface and I could imagine obtaining results like this. It would also be under-fixed and it looks to me like your drum has ribs in it - you can see their effect in the stripes that are fixed more-completely.

The mould-spots baffle me though.

[andreios]

Perhaps you put one sheet in the drum backwards, i.e. with emulsion to the outside of the drum. Very little developer will have made it to the surface and I could imagine obtaining results like this. It would also be under-fixed and it looks to me like your drum has ribs in it - you can see their effect in the stripes that are fixed more-completely.

The mould-spots baffle me though.

Of course, that could've happened, but in that case I'd expect some marks from the walls of the tank and the ribs on the inner walls - but there are none, or - if any they are perpendicular to the ribs.

Anyway, it seems that the "ghosts" suggestion is the best explanation..