Uneven Development? Dirty?

[nayvin]

Hi All,

New to the forum and not sure if this is the appropriate place for this question. Please direct me if I am wrong.

Anyways, I have began developing my own film at home, 4x5, in trays and been experiencing what seems to be uneven development but only in the skies. It may be in other areas but I cannot see it. It is very apparent in the skies. I presoak with constant agitation in the developer. I am running out of ideas. Any input will be greatly appreciated!

I have attached an example. I brought down the highlights and raised the contrast to exaggerate the problem.

Thank you!

[Nodda Duma]

C-41 or E-6?

Can you clarify “presoak with constant agitation in the developer”?

Do you mean you presoak, and then constantly agitate during development? I believe you are agitating too much.

[chassis]

Looks like carryover of chemicals from one bath to another, or contaminated chemicals to me. Or humidity on the film during it's lifecycle.

Skies in color film are challenging to execute well.

[nayvin]

C-41

And you are correct, that is what I mean. am I not letting the developer do its job when I am agitating too much?

Thanks for the reply.

[nayvin]

C-41 or E-6?

Can you clarify “presoak with constant agitation in the developer”?

Do you mean you presoak, and then constantly agitate during development? I believe you are agitating too much.

C-41

And you are correct, that is what I mean. am I not letting the developer do its job when I am agitating too much?

Thanks for the reply.

[nayvin]

Looks like carryover of chemicals from one bath to another, or contaminated chemicals to me. Or humidity on the film during it's lifecycle.

Skies in color film are challenging to execute well.

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't there always be some residual chemicals clinging onto the film when moving developer into blix? And is there a reason humidity only affects the sky and not anywhere else?

[Mark Sampson]

The problem is just more apparent in areas of smooth tone and higher density, i.e. the sky. It is in fact all over the neg.
All my long experience with C-41 has been with roller-transport processors, so I can't help much.
But: Where did you learn your tray-process method? Does Kodak suggest this anywhere?
I doubt that agitation is an issue, the presoak seems questionable, dev carryover into the bleach might be a problem. IIRC the bleach need aeration to work properly.
Not an insoluble problem but I hope there are real experts to chime in.

[nayvin]

The problem is just more apparent in areas of smooth tone and higher density, i.e. the sky. It is in fact all over the neg.
All my long experience with C-41 has been with roller-transport processors, so I can't help much.
But: Where did you learn your tray-process method? Does Kodak suggest this anywhere?
I doubt that agitation is an issue, the presoak seems questionable, dev carryover into the bleach might be a problem. IIRC the bleach need aeration to work properly.
Not an insoluble problem but I hope there are real experts to chime in.

Interesting. I am following the directions given on the developing kit. Should I also have constant agitation in the blix step?

Thanks

[Mark Sampson]

Yes, I would definitely agitate continuously in the bleach (or bleach-fix if that's what you're using.) Remember that the process and the films were designed for high-volume machine processing; with gas-burst agitation, or agitation by the continuous movement of the film through the processor. Might be good practice to emulate that idea.