pin pricks in negs

[Don Wallace]

On the weekend, I noticed that I got some "pin pricks" in my negs, i.e., tiny dents in the neg. I didn't get a chance to print yet so it may not cause any problems, but does anyone have any ideas as to what causes this? For this session, I was developing FP4 4x5 sheet film in HC-110.

I know that this has been discussed somewhere but I couldn't find it with the forum search.

[davidb]

What kind of stop bath do you use?

[Don Wallace]

Ilford I think. I make it a little more dilute than usual.

[Kevin Crisp]

I'm not saying you're mistaken, but I did complain about this to Kodak once and they asked me to send in negatives and they told me it was dust specs from the film holders looking like pin holes. And ultimately I concluded they were right. If you can see physical damage to the emulsion then it is something else, obviously. If you're already diluting the stop, then I'm out of ideas.

[JW Dewdney]

i had that before too.. also dust. That was in 1984... I haven't had dust since (i made damn sure of that!)

[Kevin Crisp]

No dust in 23 years? Really? You must shoot only Readyloads.

[Brian Ellis]

Highly concentrated stop bath can cause pin holes in film, or so I've read, it isn't anything I've experienced. Are these really dents that you can feel, e.g. by lightly rubbing a finger across them? If so I would assume something mechanical caused them but I have no idea what. My guess though is that you're seeing dust spots and not dents or holes.

[Nate Battles]

I have seen this on color film when I worked at a lab. It was caused from dirty rollers in the developer that were caked with silver, and also in the film rinse rollers that were also dirty. But that was a roller transport, C-41 machine. This, I dunno. Honestly, I've never heard of stop bath doing this, but I've never run into this situation. I've seen BW negs that were incorrectly washed with really hard water that left nasty stuff on the negs.

[JW Dewdney]

No dust in 23 years? Really? You must shoot only Readyloads.

No - I shoot film only in holders. I HATE readyloads. I use the 'vacuum technique'...! Anyway- I won't say NO dust - but certainly nothing I've noticed...!

[Michael Alpert]

No - I shoot film only in holders. I HATE readyloads. I use the 'vacuum technique'...! Anyway- I won't say NO dust - but certainly nothing I've noticed...!

Okay, I'll bite. JW, please explain your technique. I am also quite careful, but I have not been able to eliminate occasional dust problems. I'm convinced that some of it is caused by air movement when I pull the darkslide (dust in the camera attaching itself to the film). I have no idea what to do about that other than keep my camera as clean as possible. Anyway, any information about your "vacuum technique" will be appreciated.

[jetcode]

Honestly, I've never heard of stop bath doing this, but I've never run into this situation. I've seen BW negs that were incorrectly washed with really hard water that left nasty stuff on the negs.

I did some developing tonight using TFX-2 and the instructions specify to not use Acetic Acid in the stop bath because it causes pin-holes in some films after development. I use water instead. As far as I can tell there are no issues in the negs I just processed.

[Don Wallace]

I did some developing tonight using TFX-2 and the instructions specify to not use Acetic Acid in the stop bath because it causes pin-holes in some films after development. I use water instead. As far as I can tell there are no issues in the negs I just processed.

What is TFX-2?

[jetcode]

What is TFX-2?

Developer produced by Photographers Formulary. It's a high definition derivative based on Crawley FX-1 developed in the 60's.

www.photoformulary.com/uploads/01-0090.pdf