Hi,

I’m new to both large format photography and film photography. I used a Toyo 45AIIL with a Rodenstock 150mm f/5.6 lens (stopped down to f/16) to take 16 photos in Florida. I used new Fidelity Elite 4x5 film holders with Ilford Delta 100 film. I did not use a dark cloth. After taking the photos, I took the film (still in the film holders) to a local lab to have them processed. I scanned in the developed negatives on a Epson V800 and was surprised at the results (they were worse than I would have expected). I have several questions about the different defects I noticed:

1. There seems to be a vertical light leak in some of the images opposite of the notched side of the film (see 4x5_002a for a good example). Is this from not using a dark cloth or just poor technique when taking out or inserting the dark slides?

2. Some of the films seem to have an uneven exposure across them (see 4x5_012a for a good example). Is this from improper developing technique? I read somewhere that this can be due to not enough agitation.

3. On some of the negatives there seems to be many fine granules (see the bottom right of 4x5_002a for a good example). What is this typically due to?

4. What is the large white spot in the lower right of all the images from (about 1/5 of the way in and up)?

5. It looks like there’s a lot of dust on the film in general, is that typical of sheet film?

6. What is the diagonal line in the upper left corner of 4x5_005a from?

7. A couple images look foggy (4x5_007a for example). Is that because they weren’t developed properly, or is that just from scanning incorrectly?

I think the most important question is whether or not I should use another lab in the future. I know that some of the above defects could be wholly or partly due to me, but others seem like developing issues (like uneven exposure, granules, and the diagonal line). So I'm leaning towards trying another lab. In the future, I would like to develop my own film, but for now I want to focus on just learning to use a field camera properly.

Here’s a link to the pictures:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...oy?usp=sharing

Nick