Development problem, had been the fixer outdated or too little?

[mongole]

Hi, I just developed six sheets of T-Max 100 in a Jobo CPE 2, with the six sheet reel. Don't know the name or number...

This is the reel:
175322

Anyway, I used X-Tol 1:1 at 20 degrees for 8m:45s, citric acid with water as stop bath for about a minute and 1+4 tetenal superfix plus as fixer for about four minutes.
Nothing much differnent as the last time, which is half a year ago (and another year the time before... ).

The first two slides came out perfectly fine, the next two seemed a bid cloudy to me, but when I saw the last ones, I know there is something off.

Here the slides in the same order:
175323175324175325
to be continued in the next post...

[mongole]

the next three images:
175326175328175327

they are in the order, I took them out of the reel. The three in the first post, had been on one side. First outermost, second in the middle, third most inner slot.
The images in the second post, same order first outside and so on...

The last two images are completely cloudy, nothing to see on it. The middle two of them seem to be a bit foggy, but could be ok, as the border is quite clear. And the first two look really fine. except from the lower boarder of the first, which touched the plastic thingis, you have to add for flow maintainance or whatever...

All the images had been taken in last October and had been stored in the film holder in the camera bag. So no different treatment here.
My guess now, is the newly used fixer didn't do it's job properly on them, as the boarder as well is fogged. Or maybe it got light leaked. But on both shots? Had been on the same location, though.

Somebody any other ideas? I am worried, I did not fix them enough and the other shots could suffer on that. Especially with the first two of them I am really picky, as I drove up to Ireland for them! :D

[Gary Beasley]

The film borders are clear execpt for the fifth negative, looks like its been fogged while not in the holder. It looks like the fix is good, I dont see any milky looking areas. The images do look a bit thin on the last frames, looks like exposure problems.
Are you sure you had enough chemicals in the tank to keep the fiilm evenly immersed during agitation and to fully develop before exhaustion? That is usually the root cause of uneven appearance barring any exposure problems.

[jp]

That middle one in the 2nd post had some extra exposure somehow.. The border is not neat and even. It's been fogged with light somehow.

Film looks fixed OK. First photo has a little pink at the bottom meaning it might have had a small area covered in the fix. Tmax film will lose it's pink stain as it fixes. It's an effective but crude indicator of how the fixing is going moreso than milkiness.

[mongole]

There should have been enough emulsion in the tank. It says 270 ml, normally I put a bit more around 300.
Two points I don't think it was too little developer are:
* The third slide (line of trees in the first post) had been most inward.
* The fourth slide (first in second) had been most outward.
Both of them look very consistent.

I guess you are right, it must have been an exposure problem. These also had been the first LF shots I have done since ages. Who knows, what I have done! :D

I also used ND Filters on all of the shots, could be they had been a bit underexposed anyway.

Gary, thanks for your input. Will let me sleep much better tonight!

[mongole]

jp,

do you suggest I should dip the first slide a bit longer into fix to avoid problems later on?

I can't do anything wrong by refixing it once again, can I?

Is it enough to just dip the lower edge, or should I cover it completely?
I would guess completely would be better...

[jp]

No harm in a refix, just wash and dry as usual after.

[mongole]

ok, good to hear.
Just fixed them with a new fixer for some more minutes and washed them. currently drying without extra pink strips on the edge.

Thanks for your comment!

[Gary Beasley]

I have found that hypo clearing bath- I think its sulfite - will clear out any remaining pink tint as well.

[Fred L]

I don't see how fixer can be the source of these issues since three sheets came out fine. Like others guessing, something happened between exposure and processing.

[Light Guru]

Definitely NOT an fixer issue.


The first two slides came out perfectly fine
Please note those are not slides they are negatives. Slides have a positive image.


There should have been enough emulsion in the tank.
Do you mean there should have been enough developer in the tank? Emulsion is on film.

[koraks]

Maybe you removed the darkslide before closing the shutter on those black/vastly overexposed sheets. Or perhaps you planned on shooting at a small aperture but forgot to stop down after focusing and before making the shot. Either way, the problem is massive overexposure, likely by more than 6 stops.

[Doremus Scudder]

Definitely not a processing problem. You have a couple other issues, however. I'll go through your negatives in the order you posted them.

1. Nice exposure, edges are clear except for the bottom (top of the filmholder), which has some fogging on the edge, likely from the light trap in the holder. Try to keep the light trap covered when shooting.

2. NLooks good. Notice that the rebate is very small at the bottom of the image (top of the holder), which means the neg is sliding down in the holder a bit before exposure. Not a big problem, but make sure you have the film all the way into the holder when loading and close the flap (which has a raised area to hold the film in the right position in the holder. Some holders, however do allow the film to slide down a bit; you may just have some of those.

3. Film rebates are clear (so definitely no fixer problem) but the highlights (less-dense areas) in the neg look a bit fogged, which points to a possible light leak. This could just be overexposure of a flat scene, but look for pinholes in your bellows near the front as well as holes in your lensboard, etc.

4. (Next post) Note that the borders of the image are skewed. This is a mis-load. You missed getting the film under the guide rails when loading the film allowing one side to stick forward. I'll bet you had a problem reinserting the darkslide on this shot. I still mis-load a holder occasionally, but I'm down to hardly ever now. After inserting the film into the holder all the way and before closing the flap, lift up on both corners of the film gently to make sure both sides are under the guide rails.
You've got the same expoure problem here as #3 above.

5. Bad mis-load and light-struck, possibly from pulling the back away from the camera when wrestling the darkslide back in, since the film was likely in the way. In any case, the rebates are fogged, meaning the film was not in the holder correctly or the fogging occurred outside the camera. I'm seeing a skewed rebate, however, which points me to mis-loading holders.

6. The film rebate is straight, so the film was correctly loaded. However there is no image I can see due to fogging. So, the film got heavily fogged in-camera somehow. Not stopping down or forgetting to close the preview lever before pulling the darkslide can cause this, as can pinholes in the bellows or lensboard or pulling the back away from the camera body when pulling the darkslide.

Conclusions, you have more than one problem here. The film was mis-loaded in three of the cases. The fogging, however, may not be related to this. I'd be checking for light leaks to be sure in bellows and lensboard as well as making sure the camera back seats well (easy to do; dark room and bare-bulb flashlight inside the camera). Also, you may be pulling the back away from the camera when pulling/inserting the darkslide. Pinch the spring back to the camera body with one hand while pulling/inserting the slide with the other to prevent this.

Good news: Your processing looks fine.

Best,

Doremus