Failure First Attempt

[nray]

http://www.butzi.net/articles/filmload.htm

one orientation's right is anothers left see here for certainty that you are loading correctly

Yes. That's how I loaded them.

[J D Clark]

I can think of one scenario where, if you pulled the wrong darkslide you would get no density on the film: Since you mentioned negatives in the plural, we'll assume you have two film holders. Insert the film holder in the camera, pull the back (wrong) darkslide, trip the shutter (thus not exposing the film toward the lens), pull the film holder out and use the next film holder. I.e., not flipping the film holder to the other side, so you would have one un-exposed film and one completely exposed film in each holder.

However, that's such an unlikely event that I think the problem comes back to your developer, or your shutter. Assuming that when you trip the shutter looking in the back of the camera and see the shutter open, then I believe your problem is with the developer.

I would get a bottle of HC110 (my most familiar) or a package of D76, both nearly bulletproof developers, and for HC110, put 1 ounce of the syrup in 31-32 ounces of water (dilution B) -- if you've got any exposure on the film, sloshing the film around in that for 5-6 minutes *will* give you some density. That experiment will give you the evidence that implicates the developer.

When I need to run an experiment like that (for focus, and other questions), I just set up two 5x7 trays, first with 12 ounces of HC110, and next tray with fixer (2-3 minutes). Wash for a minute or so under running water, and hang to dry for a bit. I don't expect to keep these negatives, but the quick and cheap test can identify problems very easily...

John Clark
www.johndclark.com

[sanking]

Loading the film the wrong way would not be the reason for clear film because the film would still get exposed, albeit with about two or three stops underexposure.


The only thing (at least the main three things IMO) that can explain perfectly clear film is,

1. The film did not get exposed at all, for whatever reason.

2. The developer was not mixed correctly, either in mixing the stock solutions or in mixing the working solutions.

3. The film was placed in fixer before development.

At one time or another I have done all three of these things.

Sandy King

[Brian Ellis]

I am pretty sure. Notch, on top right or lower right side depending on load. Right?

Right. And even if you load the film backwards, an image is usually still produced, just a fairly faint one.

[nray]

I want to order some HC-110 for comparison to determine my failure. Can I use my TF-4 fixer for that? Can I also just use water for the stop bath?

Thanks.
Norm Ray

[RPNugent]

yes and yes

[nray]

yes and yes

Thank you. I did a 15 minute Internet search and couldn't find a definite answer.

[nray]

Well, I did it! I used HC-110. I did not use the Pyrocat because I didn't want to take the chance of losing the church negative. (Still not sure if I mixed the Pyrocat powder kit correctly) When mixing the powders into solution do they have to be in an exact order? I will shoot some more and test the Pyrocat again.

HC-110 12.5ml/388ml water in small trays.
-2 min soak.
-7.5 min @ 68F. (2 min. initial agitation followed by 10 sec./min.)
-1 min bath
-5 min. TF-4 Fixer (30 sec./min. agitation)

I used my D90 for the exposure @400iso. F22@1/125

This first one looks a little over exposed to me.





How do they look to you?

Thanks.

[Louie Powell]

Right. And even if you load the film backwards, an image is usually still produced, just a fairly faint one.

And as I demonstrated to myself recently, the image isn't very sharp.

One of the joys of LF is that there are so many more ways to screw up.

Was this your first outing with LF - new camera, new process (holders), new darkroom techniques, new developer.

Sounds like too many new variables.

[Andrew Tymon]

Congrats! Yes you usually mix solutions in the order they are given(if you did not do this with the pyrocat I would ditch the part A, though the part b will still be good). They look fine on my monitor. I would stick with the HC110 as it seems to work for you.
Andy