C41 Development Issue

[spacegoose]

I've been having this issue recently. Sort of wispy blue streaks on my negatives. Initially I thought it was my cool/dry drying environment e.g. my poorly heated apartment kitchen. It's around 65F or less (Kodak's minimum recommended drying temp is 75F.). Photo of Orange was dried in cool kitchen. I thought the rapid curling of the film as it dried in this environment caused water to arc and later dry into streaks.

This time (church photos) I dried the negatives in a humid bathroom, it did lose humidity and the film did eventually curl a little (much less), I saw no arcing water (in fact negs looked perfect to the eye), but I still had streaks upon scanning.

The minimal curling did not happen until the film was much drier as compared to the cool kitchen where it curled quickly while still very wet.

I've been developing in a two roll metal tank (with black plastic top), though only one roll at a time, with enough chemistry for two rolls. Using a metal reel ...

I'm wondering if this is an issue with my tank filling or agitating technique, # of rolls in tank, the way the film is on the reel, or light leaks when spooling film onto reel in my changing bag, or when developing the film in the "daylight" tank?

Appreciate any info. Might go back to my plastic Paterson tank with plastic reels to see if that helps.

Thanks,
Bill


69693

69694

[false_Aesthetic]

Sure signs of global warming.

[Ari]

Are you pre-soaking?
I had streaks as well, and I was pre-soaking for one minute.
A member suggested two 30-second pre-soaks, and it worked very well.

If that doesn't work, try the plastic tank/reel.

[timparkin]

Definitely needs per soak. I use 4 minute (recommended figure is quite high to thoroughly wet emulsion right through)

[Daniel Stone]

When I was doing my own C-41, I did (2) 30s pre-soaks at 105F. That helps to "prepare" the emulsion for development. I found that I got more consistent development from batch-->batch, and my color tones were much smoother, with less apparent grain(for some reason, IDK exactly why). Especially with 4x5 and 8x10 sheets, this proved CRITICAL to attaining the best color negatives I could(using 4x5 reels in a Jobo tank, rotary agitation), and a 3005 drum for 8x10 sheets(same rotary base).

I now outsource my E-6 and C-41 to a lab which gives me almost the same results. I simply do not have the time anymore to do my own color processing, so the small increase in cost is defintely worth the time saved mixing chemicals and souping film. And since Kodak killed the 1gal "ready mix" C-41 kits, breaking down the 25gal kits gets to be a real pain, real quick, especially for those who hate math like myself :)

-Dan

[polyglot]

Pre-soaks should be for about 5:00 total and include at least two changes of process-temp water.

First one actually has two problems: the blue splash (fresh developer hitting dry film maybe?) and the pale worm, which looks like a water drop from your drum has dribbled down the emulsion before development.

[spacegoose]

Thanks for the replies. I did not pre-soak. The instructions (http://www.kodak.com/global/plugins/acrobat/en/service/chemicals/cis211.pdf) don't mention it. I'll try pre-soaking next time.

Thanks again,
Bill

[photobymike]

Do you put the Stabilizer in the tank? or do you Stabilize in a separate tray off the reel?

[spacegoose]

I put the stabilizer in the tank.

I solved the problem by preparing the stabilizer with distilled water! :)

Picked this and other great tips up from the following article:

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/darkroombrprocessing-medium-format-c-41-film

which also says do not pre-soak:

"Pre-Wetting Color Film. Don't. Don't ever. It's a no-no. Pre-wetting is a valid technique of dealing with the excessive agitation of rotary drum processors when processing black and white film. The Jobo AutoLab processors automatically include a pre-wet cycle when processing black and white film. Those processors do not provide for such a cycle when processing color films."

[polyglot]

"Pre-Wetting Color Film. Don't. Don't ever. It's a no-no. Pre-wetting is a valid technique of dealing with the excessive agitation of rotary drum processors when processing black and white film. The Jobo AutoLab processors automatically include a pre-wet cycle when processing black and white film. Those processors do not provide for such a cycle when processing color films."

Completely contrary to Jobo and Fuji instructions but whatever.

If you don't presoak, you will load up your developer with antihalation dyes for a start and you run the risk of dribbles on the film unless you dry the tank perfectly, not to mention it's really really hard to get the temperature right without a presoak. I always presoak my colour films (in Jobo) and they come out perfectly.

[LF_rookie_to_be]

C-41 4x5s in a 3010 hand-rolled, 3' drum preheat, two 30" presoaks. Negs came out perfect. Do presoak.

[koh303]

I gotta say, i have yet to have seen a C-41 manual that calls for a pre soak... (tetenal, champion, fuji...)
Maybe this is a thing of small volume rollei style kits? do they actually say to pre soak color negatives?
I had a friend (well she wasent really a friend, more like an acquaintance), who used to get very magenta velvia sheet film when running in our communal ATL3 machine (which used to run 18 hours a day X6 days with near perfect results in c-41 and e-6), so she heard about pre soaking films, and how when you pour out the presoak water it has a color to it, and when she did that with the velvia the water came out pinkish. when i asked her what she was doing she said "im taking some of that magenta out of my films...".
but i guess you should do whatever works for you, this is all a has been. the films are old, the machines are old, the chemicals are wrong all around, and every person makes up the rules of physics as they go along.
If any thing, moisture, let alone full on water in the tank before the developer hits it can cause steraking, where the emulsion has expanded more and will absorb the developer slower.

As for your samples, the white\foggy stuff might very well be water sediment from uneven drying, however, what looks like a drip of higher density on the image on the left is moisture\liquid running on the film, and sitting there for a few seconds before the film was hit with the developer.