Poor quality B&W Film or??

[RmFrase]

As I'm still new to film, and new to Film Development, I'm puzzled about the specks in the negative. Initially, convenced that it was dust specks on the scanner, I throughly cleanded the glass with a lens cleaner and lent-free lens cloth.
I then re-scanned the image and stacked the images together - but the specs were in exactly the same place.
So, I cleaned the negative also, and re-scanned. Still the same specks in the same place.

Film used: Efke 50-ISO
Kodak D76

I take it there's no escape from having these specks on the print?

Your thoughts?

[Brian C. Miller]

A few thoughts leap to mind:

What resolution did you use to scan the film?
Did you look at the film with a loupe (like 22x) and a light box?
Have you used films other than Efke? (like Kodak and Ilford)
You have heard of film grain, right?

Efke isn't known for its quality. I tried some Efke in 120 and 4x5, and there were spots where the emulsion just wasn't there. If, using a loupe, you can see lots of little black spots on the negative corresponding to white spots on the print, then it is oh-so-definitely the film. You might have better results using a different developer. I think these are huge grain clumps.

You can get rid of these using a blur filter.

[RmFrase]

A few thoughts leap to mind:

What resolution did you use to scan the film?
Did you look at the film with a loupe (like 22x) and a light box?
Have you used films other than Efke? (like Kodak and Ilford)
You have heard of film grain, right?

Efke isn't known for its quality. I tried some Efke in 120 and 4x5, and there were spots where the emulsion just wasn't there. If, using a loupe, you can see lots of little black spots on the negative corresponding to white spots on the print, then it is oh-so-definitely the film. You might have better results using a different developer. I think these are huge grain clumps.

You can get rid of these using a blur filter.

What resolution did you use to scan the film?
Scanned at 3200 DPI

Did you look at the film with a loupe (like 22x) and a light box?
Only have an 8x Loop, and don't own a light box.

Have you used films other than Efke? (like Kodak and Ilford)
Have used Kodak, but not Ilford (not yet)
Don't remember Kodak being this bad.

You have heard of film grain, right?
Yes. but this was stated to be "grain free", but I would expect some.

[SergeiR]

Are you sure its actually film and not real spots of sand in grainy structure, that camera registered as sun reflections?

[RmFrase]

Are you sure its actually film and not real spots of sand in grainy structure, that camera registered as sun reflections?

I'm not understanding your statement. I was facing away from the Sun and this image was taken about 5 minutes after sunrise.

[SergeiR]

Sorry. Just like other guy - i thought you had section of concrete or something like that with quartz/sand/glass deposits and you were catching reflections of sun.

However i guess we looking at the sky, are we not?

Its odd.. i use Efke quite a lot, and i do get occasional spec thingies but not a lot. But then i never do scan at 3200, b/c i just overdoing limits of scanner..

[RmFrase]

Sorry. Just like other guy - i thought you had section of concrete or something like that with quartz/sand/glass deposits and you were catching reflections of sun.

However i guess we looking at the sky, are we not?

Its odd.. i use Efke quite a lot, and i do get occasional spec thingies but not a lot. But then i never do scan at 3200, b/c i just overdoing limits of scanner..

No worries.
And yes, it was a selection of the sky.

I'll try a lower resolution and see how that works out.

Thanks!

[Drew Wiley]

Certainly doesn't look like a film problem. Efke film can get missing specks or tiny bits of
embedded whatever from time to time, but it's minor and random. I have heard rumors of
them selling off a bad batch of 100 speed at one time and it being remarketed at ASA50.

[Gem Singer]

Those white specks are round shaped.

Looks like the result of an acid/base reaction giving off CO2 bubbles.

Developer is highly alkaline. Did you use a strong acidic stop bath and/or fixer?

[RmFrase]

Those white specks are round shaped.

Looks like the result of an acid/base reaction giving off CO2 bubbles.

Developer is highly alkaline. Did you use a strong acidic stop bath and/or fixer?

The Stop bath was Water only.
Fixer was Hypo. about 178Grams/Liter Water