What can cause TINY TINY white spots on a neg?

[ericantonio]

I bought the Fomapan 100 because I read many good things about this film and wanted to test it. I processed several exposed sheets in Pyrocat M and saw the spots on the film with a loupe. I ran another test developing the Fomapan film with Ilford FP4+ film, the Fomapan had spots the Ilford film was absolutely clean. I also processed the Fomapan in Kodak Xtol and in Rodinal, same results. It's a defect in manufacturing.

ARghhh!!! I'm bumming. Stores are out of HP5+, next batch August 1st.

[Two23]

I bought the Fomapan 100 because I read many good things about this film and wanted to test it. I processed several exposed sheets in Pyrocat M and saw the spots on the film with a loupe. I ran another test developing the Fomapan film with Ilford FP4+ film, the Fomapan had spots the Ilford film was absolutely clean. I also processed the Fomapan in Kodak Xtol and in Rodinal, same results. It's a defect in manufacturing.

This is what I was suggesting. The clue was his 120 film came out clean.


Kent in SD

[ericantonio]

This is what I was suggesting. The clue was his 120 film came out clean.


Kent in SD

Right! I had to do a little more testing. bumming man.

[grat]

I knew the Foma 100 had a history of emulsion issues, but I hadn't heard of it striking the Arista Ultra 400 until now.

Might want to contact freestyle and see if they'll send you another box. I've got a box that I'm halfway through, and it's been fine.

[ericantonio]

I knew the Foma 100 had a history of emulsion issues, but I hadn't heard of it striking the Arista Ultra 400 until now.

Might want to contact freestyle and see if they'll send you another box. I've got a box that I'm halfway through, and it's been fine.

I will try that today. Although, I don't know how to begin a conversation with someone at Freestyle regarding the matter. Guess I can ask if the emulsion # on box has had some call-ins regarding it.

Wish me luck!!

[earlnash]

Another possibility is microbubbles formed by the acid stop bath. I've always used a water stop bath for this reason.

[ericantonio]

Another possibility is microbubbles formed by the acid stop bath. I've always used a water stop bath for this reason.

Thank you, yes, I've heard of that. I haven't used acid bath in over 20 years

[grat]

While I personally would rather stop the developer, rather than coax it gently off the film, I was doing some reading up on this, and one cause could be hard water, or particulates in the fixer.

If you run your fingertips across the negative, can you feel the spots? I would think if it's an emulsion failure, you should be able to feel it. Of course, particulates might also feel like that. I have no experience with this, so I admit, I'm guessing.

[ericantonio]

While I personally would rather stop the developer, rather than coax it gently off the film, I was doing some reading up on this, and one cause could be hard water, or particulates in the fixer.

If you run your fingertips across the negative, can you feel the spots? I would think if it's an emulsion failure, you should be able to feel it. Of course, particulates might also feel like that. I have no experience with this, so I admit, I'm guessing.

I can't feel it with my fingertips. But thank you for the suggestion.

I called Freestyle and they said they will talk to someone about it. They took my info and I gave them the emulsion number and expiration date. Hope this works out.

[ericantonio]

Just an update on this problem. I talked to a couple of people at Freestyle and finally the manager who was great. They talked to the supplier and wanted to know more. So I am adding the images to a dropbox link for them to see. I also scanned one as a color positive so they can see the purple dots. It really is purple!! So bizarre. I figure if they have the .tif file it shows that I'm not manipulating anything and you can really see the difference on the spots vs scanner dust.

I am packing it up for Priority mail to them. I live in SoCal so they should get it by End of Week. And they will send me a new box! Faith in Humanity and help from an old book I read years ago....How to win Friends and Inflluence people. Never call mad and demand a refund. That's just never going to work.

Thanks all for all your help and suggestions. Also, I learned that I couldn't take a photo of the neg on the lightbox to show the purple and I kept thinking "how would Winnie the Pooh do this?". Ohhhh scan it as a positive and then you can see the purple!

If anyone wants to see the purple spots, send me a DM and I can send you a link to the Dropbox .tif files

FYI, it was Arista Edu 400 film, expires 2021-09