What has gone wrong here??

[bc_69]

What kind of bottles are you using for fixer storage?
The insides of the brown plastic photo bottles can flake off if fix is stored for too long.

Fixer was my first thought but the solution is in the original bottle and I only opened it recently, but it is worth a closer look.

As for the water supply it comes via old copper pipes, and I haven't used them for a while. Looking at a sample in a clear bottle there is no sign of sediment that I can see.

[bc_69]

......or in the bellows.

Other than that I am going with a water problem.

Now bellows is something I haven't considered. I'll check that too, process of elimination here.

[lfpf]

If the problem is particulates in the neg, then can a particulate be removed and inspected? Just a thought, but magnification could lead to identification. Can the particle be isolated from the emulsion?

Could be here: http://www.mccroneatlas.com/
Could be in another "microanalytical atlas"
Could remain a mystery.

Sounds like fun.

[Jac@stafford.net]

If the problem is particulates in the neg, then can a particulate be removed and inspected?

As has been mentioned, particulates sticking to the negative would produce white spots on a print, not black
.

[lfpf]

Whether a particle, or not, providing the manufacturer with product and lot number can identify a manufacturing problem.

When not a manufacturing problem, then negative processing forensics can be useful.

Have you seen this since?

[ic-racer]

I believe your negative scan is reversed in the original post, making it look like a positive on my monitor and making it look like some black spots on the negative. I'll bet the areas in question are actually clear, unexposed areas in the negative. What does the inside of your camera look like? Is something flaking off the lining of the bellows?

[polyglot]

That's impressive. When you look at the neg under some magnification, is the emulsion missing outright from the dark bits, or is it still there but has no developed silver in it? Did you by any chance put your film face down on some 40-grit sandpaper and stomp on it a little?

What is the scale, i.e. how much film does that image represent? What film is it?

Only thing I can think of is maybe you had some sheets stick together from moisture and in the process of pulling them apart, ripped some emulsion off.

[djdister]

How about particulates/contaminant stuck to the emulsion in the developer which prevented proper development, leading to clear/clearish spots which appear dark in the print or final scan?

And as an extra bonus, he probably won't be able to duplicate the problem exactly...

[towolf]

Reminds me of the time in Istanbul where a friend wanted to use chemistry he picked up in Bolivia on the street, including clumped together D-76 and some mystery fixer.



Or the other time where some old Tetenal Neofin Doku stripped the emulsion off some 35mm film

[Jac@stafford.net]

Reminds me of the time in Istanbul where a friend wanted to use chemistry he picked up in Bolivia on the street, including clumped together D-76 and some mystery fixer.

That's a good lead - incomplete developer mixture! Could be, considering he did stand development with no agitation, especially if it was flat in a tray.