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[zbvision]

I couldn't really see anything that looked like fog in the images you posted here.

Hey Joe, Appreciate the insight. Let me try to explain in more detail. I am not referring to any light leaks that are effecting the image area, what I am referring to are the small spots and streaks on the border of the film, which should be completely black. You can see more clearly what I am referring to in the image titled "top". In the original post of the negatives, these spots/streaks will appear black, but in the inversion (positive) Alan Klein made, they appear white. I change out holders between Lisco Regal II, Chamonix, Toyo I and Toyo II. These streaks on the border happen no matter what holders I use. Am I inserting the 4x5 film into the holders incorrectly or is it perhaps where the rings of the Jobo 2509n touch the 4x5 film to keep it in place during development?

I do not think it has to do with the camera or the lens or else these spots/streaks would be affecting the image area. I have tried trouble shooting since January and have yet to figure it out.

[zbvision]

Try to make the best print you can from each of the negatives. If there is a tie, choose the negative with the least exposure.

Precisely what I will do once I get my darkroom equipment! In the meantime, these will be drum scanned. Appreciate the insight on choosing the least exposure as that was quite helpful.

Cheers

[Joe O'Hara]

I see the spots now. They are very small! Film can get "exposed" by friction, bending, or maybe sliding into the film holders or developing tank (I'm not familiar with the kind you use), though I've never seen that with TMax 400 (which I use exclusively). If you've ever bent 120 roll film trying to load it on a reel you'll know what I mean. Possibly, traces of developer or alkali on the reel in the tank (if it uses one) could do that too. Aside from making sure that your developing equipment is very clean, I'd forget about it, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

[bmikiten]

I'm not sure why you don't just do some quick actual film testing instead of guessing. As others noted, placing shadows on ZII versus ZIII or IV is a pretty huge difference especially when you are also playing with development times. Why not pick one of the many methods out there (I prefer BTZS) and get real data before spending all that time shooting and then drum scanning. Also, all scanners have different density ranges they can scan so asking generic questions about film density isn't really going to get you great answers. I suspect that even using the Massive Development Chart would yeild better results if you just selected Z IV or Z III for your shadows.

[zbvision]

I see the spots now. They are very small! Film can get "exposed" by friction, bending, or maybe sliding into the film holders or developing tank (I'm not familiar with the kind you use), though I've never seen that with TMax 400 (which I use exclusively).

I have shot TMAX 400 pretty regularly since 2015. I took a break for awhile to buy/sell some large format equipment and now that I have what I want, I am back to photographing more regularly again. I will say that these were the last six sheets in a 50 sheet box that had an expiry date of 08/2020. I do recall touching the edges quite a bit with my fingers and using greater than normal force to get the 4x5 film into the film holders. I never knew film had the potential to become "exposed" by friction, but that is the best educated guess I have heard yet. As you said, if it isn't affecting the image area then there is nothing to write home about.

Cheers

[Larry Gebhardt]

It's pretty easy to judge the exposure if you have access to an image editor like Photoshop. If I invert your image of both sheets and adjust the curves while holding option so that the film base just goes to black you can see there's a lot of small areas in the upper image that also clip to pure black. That indicates to me that the sheet could use a bit more exposure. Contrast is harder to judge from a snapshot without comparing to a known good negative with the same film base.