NEED HELP! All my negs are empty!

[Jac@stafford.net]

35mm and 120 film are the only two formats I know where film/frame info is "written" with light along the edges and developed out. Am I missing something?

No, you are not missing something, but I was. Thanks for the correction, Mark.

[Leigh]

35mm and 120 film are the only two formats I know where film/frame info is "written" with light along the edges and developed out.

The 4x5 b&w that I shoot all have edge imprints.
That includes Fuji ACROS and Ilford FP4+.
The OP said he's using FP4+.

- Leigh

[jpheneger]

When you look at it, its clear. When you scan it, it gets inverted - therefore it'd be all black.

[jpheneger]

Thanks for these suggestions - I've tested this camera thoroughly, and it seems to be working properly. The exposures I've made in daylight came out properly, but the ones with studio strobes are not. I need to test again with constant lights to be able to isolate the flash sync as the problem.

I'll add that I did, in fact, remove the darkslide when exposing. On one of them I nearly forgot to replace it.

[jpheneger]

That usually indicates that no developer touched the film, regardless of the lens cap being on or the darkslide in place. In those two cases, film edges should still show the markings.

You certainly would not be the first of us to muck-up development chemistry.

Keep the faith!

I develop my 4x5 using a Yankee Agitank, so I develop 12 sheets at a time. In the last batch where the 4 studio shots were "clear", the other 8 negatives developed properly. These were shot outdoors, and with a different camera. I am confident that the development process was followed properly. I used Rodinal at 1:25 @ 9:00 @ 68°F, Ilfostop, and Rapid Fix.

[jpheneger]

Regarding loading the film backwards:
I loaded that film today, with the notches on the right side of the holder when loading.

[Lou Baleur]

Stumped!
You can try to open the shutter on "B" then pop the strobe, then close the shutter. Just test to make sure your "B" setting works. That way you ensure to get the full power of the flash pop exposure (plus a little extra ambient light exposure). If that works, then maybe synch is an issue--but can be still worked by using the "B" setting as described.

[Mark Sawyer]

TThe exposures I've made in daylight came out properly, but the ones with studio strobes are not...

To make a quick check without using film, take the back off the camera and look through the lens during a flash-synched shutter firing. If you want to make it extra-obvious, point the strobe directly into the lens. You'll be able to tell whether the strobe is firing when the shutter's open.

BTW, is the shutter sync set to X for electronic strobe? If it's set to M, (for flash bulbs), that may be the problem.

[Mark Sawyer]

The 4x5 b&w that I shoot all have edge imprints.
That includes Fuji ACROS and Ilford FP4+.
The OP said he's using FP4+.

- Leigh

Never noticed it on FP4 before. My bad!

[Merg Ross]

Sounds like a strobe sync problem. As Mark notes above.