4x5 sheets totally clear

[Kleiny41]

Last night I developed 4 sheets of 4x5- 2 Ilford and 2 Rollei. I shot them Sunday, and I know for certain I removed the dark slides. I used a newly purchased Nikon 90mm f/4.5 in a Copal shutter. I know I heard the shutter open and close all 4 times. All of my sheets were clear but for the Pyro stain. I used Pyrocat HD in glycol 1:2:100 in a Paterson tank with Mod54. Developing time was 8 minutes. Is their any phenomenon that could occur with a cable release that could create a fake shutter firing sound? I’m a little baffled. I used the lens/shutter the weekend before with great results. The Pyrocat is not old and I used it also the weekend before. Can older fixer erase an image? I used TF-4 but it wasn’t that old, 5 minutes.


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[Bob Salomon]

Have you looked through the lens while tripping the shutter to make sure that the blades open and close?

[Richard Wasserman]

I hate to ask, but could you by any chance have fixed the film before the developer? This is something many of us—by that I mean me— have done.

[Sandro]

If there are no marking on the film border, the film has been fixed but not developed.
If there are markings, development is there, but there was no or not enought exposure.

In the first case, is it possible that an acid solution compromised the developer?

[Peter Lewin]

Ilford HP5+ 4x5 sheet film does not have any markings on the borders, it is simply clear. (I specify HP5+ because that is what I use all the time, cannot speak with certainty about other Ilford sheet films.) The only obvious causes I can think of would be gross underexposure (as Greg suggested) or putting in the fixer first (which I did once). I have also gotten blank sheets (with pyro stain) when I forgot to pull a slide (but thought I had merely forgotten to reverse it when replacing) although the OP is sure that didn't happen. The only thing left is to fire the shutter at the speed that was used to take the images, and watch the shutter either from the front or through the GG.

[esearing]

Check your shutter and aperture as suggested.

I had 9 month old pyrocat HD that failed quickly. It was sold by Photographers Formulary 4 years after being mixed, sticker on the bottle was #186 which was 2013, sold late 2017. Usually I get a couple of warning sheets that are thinner than they should be.

Other possibility - you developed the wrong holders.

[Michael Kadillak]

I have a suggestion. The developer is not bad or exhausted because of the glycol. The shutter operated mechanically as it was operated to provide an exposure.

You unintentionally mixed two parts of the "A" component hence the presence of the stain. IMHO using deductive thinking there was no carbonate present to activate the developer.

[koraks]

Without carbonate, no stain forms.

A shutter can make a tripping sound if the cable release is too short (ie the extending bit that actuates the shutter) or if the cable release is not screwed into the shutter properly.

Apart from a shutter error, I can only think of forgotten Darkseid as the culprit. Even gross underexposure should show some highlight detail. You may want to have a very close look at your negatives again to verify this.

[Kleiny41]

I have a suggestion. The developer is not bad or exhausted because of the glycol. The shutter operated mechanically as it was operated to provide an exposure.

You unintentionally mixed two parts of the "A" component hence the presence of the stain. IMHO using deductive thinking there was no carbonate present to activate the developer.

That’s possible.


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[Michael Kadillak]

That’s possible.


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As we get older it is not uncommon to get distracted and make unintentional mistakes. The darkroom is no different.
Start eliminating variables. Watch the shutter trip and when that checks out make a careful test exposure and double check your negative development process and let us know what you uncover. I would bet you are back in the saddle with a smile on your face.