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Thread: C41 developing / negative marks

  1. #1

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    C41 developing / negative marks

    I just scanned in this Portra 400 negative. Developed with the Rollei Digibase c-41 kit and fresh chemicals. I haven't seen marks like this on my previous color negatives. Is this a developing/developer issue or are these marks on the negative from something else like handling and lots of dust? I have no clue how that much dust could happen. That is worse than my negatives from Great Sand Dunes National Park that got blasted with sand and this film holder was in a case in my backpack since it was loaded. Colors seemed to be well developed. Colorperfect had no problem with it and gave me a great conversion. I have another negative to scan soon so I'll see if that one is fubar too.



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  2. #2

    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    35mm? Which reels/tank did you use? Were they clean/dry?

  3. #3

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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    4x5. BTZS tube.
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    "There is little or no ‘reality’ in the blacks, grays and whites of either the informational or expressive black-and-white image" -Ansel Adams

  4. #4

    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    4x5? Really strange. Never used those tubes, my weapon of choice is a Jobo 3010. Also use Digibase and those chems last a while. Fluid contamination? Badly damaged film even before insertion to holders? It does look really bad.

  5. #5
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    Check the quality of your water supply; or maybe you mixed one of the chemicals at the improper temperature, giving you particles in your solution.

  6. #6
    Daniel Stone's Avatar
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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    My vote is for unclean water, are you on city/off the street supply or from a well? Either way, I'd recommend that you filter your water before mixing up chems. Even running it through a brita filter will greatly aid in removing particulate.
    Looks(to my eyes) quite under-saturated, especially for that warmer light(long shadows) part of the day.
    If the marks are black, that means that the dust/particulate was on your film at time of exposure. If its WHITE, then its on the film during the scanning process(just like white spots on wet-lab enlargements).

    the single-use coffee filters can work well, just make sure they're not too loaded w/ chemistry.

    you can also use the lab-grade paper filters and fold them into the necessary cone shape and pour your chemistry through them after mixing:
    http://www.amazon.com/Filter-Paper-Q...8655368&sr=1-2

    -Dan

  7. #7
    westernlens al olson's Avatar
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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    I have seen results like that before when I have accidentally splashed water onto the film (and print paper as well) before putting it into the developer. That long streak on the left looks like a drop that ran a little bit.

    Make certain that everything is dry when you are handling the film before development: hands, gloves, tubes (before pouring developer), any place where you might set the film down, etc.
    al

  8. #8

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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    Thanks for the comments and ideas on what it might be. I've been using the same tap water since I started developing a few years ago. Al, you may be on to something. I think my hands might have been very slightly damp. Doesn't the pre-wash negate that though? Tube being wet may be possible as well. The second negative looks better though still quite poor. They are white-ish spots on the negative and I can see them on there so it's not the scanner glass. Thanks again! Really sucks having very poor quality 4x5 negatives.

    Also, saturation is quite low. Colorperfect conversion and curves were both very muted. I thought temperature on chemicals was very good but you never know...
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  9. #9
    photobymike's Avatar
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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    Bad water or air bubbles on film.... You spend thousands on the camera take at least several hours taking and developing your film and you cannot spend 58 cents on distilled water? This looks like you have chlorine in your water it will form bubbles on your film where the developer does not have direct contact with your emulsion surface. Could be that you have stabilizer on your reels.. it sticks like PhotoFlo and causes bubbles and low saturation with contaminated developer... I have been developing film using C41 for years and only seen these problem here. i follow some guide lines when i do all my film...First and most important DISTILLED WATER! Pre-Wash your film before hitting with your developer... i pre wash for 5 minutes on all of my film. Third use only reels that are not contaminated with photoflo or stabilizer. And last use only fresh film ... spend all that time and money and then you waist your time using outdated or film that was not stored properly.

    This looks like your community switched over to Choramine water additive..... actually nasty stuff that will kill your your pets and make some people sick.

    but what the heck you have only dead germs in your water...

  10. #10

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    Re: C41 developing / negative marks

    Well I went out and got distilled water and was remixing my chemicals and noticed small black debris in the bottom of the fixer bottle, some caked on some floating. I had let the last batch of mixed chemicals sit for too long I believe since I hadn't been shooting color negatives. Some of the debris transferred to the stabilizer as well. Hopefully that was the problem. New negative is drying.
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    "There is little or no ‘reality’ in the blacks, grays and whites of either the informational or expressive black-and-white image" -Ansel Adams

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