Hi,
I'm a year or so into 4x5 and am still getting problems on my negatives, and am not sure what the problem is. I've been developing my own B&W for 20+ years and have never had an issue getting good results.
Previously I used a Jobo ATL1500, but it was stolen last December. Luckily the tanks and reels weren't. I've developed 4 sheets on each reel (there's space for 3 sheets on each side of the reel for 6 sheets in total, but I'm not convinced that they won't stick to each other and end up being ruined, so I've been loading 2 on each side, one in the inner and one in the outer groove, leaving the middle groove open) in the smallest tank, everything seemed to work fine and the negatives looked ok. That was a few days ago. So far so good, but that's been a trend here, things look great and then they don't, then everything looks ok again, and I can't seem to identify where I'm changing my routines or causing the problems I'm seeing.
Tonight I loaded up 2 4x5 reels into a large tank (MultiTank 2553) and developed some test shots - Arista EDU Ultra 100 and 200 of the same subject, both at EI100 (wanted to compare the two directly with the same exposure and development). I used a 4 minute pre-wash (turquoise blue water came out), 8 minutes in Rodinal 1+50 @ 20C, 1 minute stop bath, and 5 minute Agfa RapidFix with a 10 minute rinse in water at the end. A quick dunk in photoflo solution and hung up to dry.
2 of the 8 sheets look normal, all of the others have major issues. Some look almost like double exposure, or as if some of one negative has "rubbed off" on another. I'm 99.9% certain they aren't double exposures, the shots are only from a few days ago, I don't recall making any mistakes (and I've made most of them by now, lol!) and was very careful and methodical in my approach. Others look like maybe they did stick to each other, but appear darker in spots - if developer wasn't able to get to a spot on the film I would expect it to be clear, not dark. One of the shots looks like the dark slide wasn't all the way out when I took the picture, as 1/3 of the frame is black. But I remove the slide completely before firing the shutter in order to turn it around when I replace it.
All of the holders are brand new Toyos, I load/unload film in a black double layered cloth changing bag, the Jobo tanks are light-tight, I'm really at a loss to see where I'm messing up. But I must be, somewhere. At least I can see that my film loading is improving, almost all sheets have a perfect symmetrical border around them.
While I'm enjoying more and more the slower pace and contemplative approach LF offers as well as seeing more opportunities and learning to use movements for more creative control, I'm also getting more and more frustrated by so many ruined shots (at least this particular film is cheap, which I why I'm practicing on it before I go back to Velvia and other more pricey ones).
I'd post a few scans, but the negatives are hanging to dry now. If anyone has any initial advice or thoughts about what may be the problem (or more info is needed), please reply.
Thanks!
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