was the film fresh when you bought it, or a partial box ?
was the film fresh when you bought it, or a partial box ?
Last edited by jnantz; 17-Sep-2022 at 05:00.
I'm not convinced that wiggling the film holder is a good way to ensure the holder has been properly inserted. From my own experience, I've done exactly that, and know that it isn't reliable. I use both regular film holders and Grafmatic holders, and I now do a visual check as well as the wiggle check. It's easy on my Linhof backs, since they have an end stop that prevents you from pushing the holder in too far. I always do the visual check that the film holder is all the way to that end stop. I've surprised myself several times by discovering that the film holder was nowhere near the end stop even when I was certain that it had been installed properly by feel.Originally Posted by cirwin2010
I'd suggest creating some sort of secondary visual check for your Chamonix, but it will likely be different from what I do, since the Chamonix has a different back style. Unfortunately, you can't see if the film holder ridge is in the camera back groove, so you'll have to find some other visible indicator. Take the spring back with ground glass off the camera, and put the film holder in place with it's ridge in the camera back groove. Then check for something you can use as a visual reference point for proper installation.
I say this since you've pretty much ruled out other causes, other than the defective film holders/dark slides as Doremus Scudder pointed out.
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Rebates are fogged...so the fogging happened when the film was not in the holders.
Developing tanks changed with no difference. Film in box okay.
Fogging therefore occurs while handling film while loading and/or unloading the film from the film holders...
...or into the developing tanks.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
A few years ago when I finished construction of my darkroom, I seemingly randomly got fogged areas on some of my sheet film. At first I thought it was caused in-camera. In maybe one out of four developing sessions I got random fogged areas. Finally narrowed it down to what was happening... I have a hung ceiling in the darkroom except for foiled covered ducts. On the other side of the wall that the foil covered overhead air ducts come through is my worktable. Above my worktable is the foil covered duct with 4 foot LED hanging light fixtures on each side of the duct. Where the foil covered ductwork came through the wall, I studded the opening just a wee bit larger than the dimensions of the foil covered duct, and then used black caulking to seal 100% of it, or so I thought. Probably a mere 2% was not sealed and that was the problem. If the LED lights over my workbench were off, no problem. If they were on... problem. Light from them "light piped" along the foil covered duct and shined down onto the counter where I loaded and unloaded my film. Loading and unloading film on the right side of the counter - no problem. Loading and unloading film on the left side of the counter - big problem. Now here comes the clincher... since the 1970s I have always closed my eyes when loading and unloading film. Proved to be my Achilles Heel... I never noticed the light leak from above. Only when I had the LED lights above my workbench on, and I went into the darkroom and acclimatized my eyes to the dark did I see the light leak(s) shining down on to the counter.
Has the film been through any airport X-Ray scanners since you've had it? The general fogging could be caused by an X-Ray scanner, but I don't know how some sheets could remain unaffected. Maybe the sheets closest to the X-Ray source absorb most of the energy, and the sheets underneath are progressively less affected. I don't know if that's true, I'm just guessing. Another thing to consider anyway.
X-ray damage doesn't seem to look like that
maybe there is something that glows in the dark in the OPs dark space
Is it possible you have a bad light trap in one or more of your holders?
That would account for the random nature of the leaks as it would only happen when you use one particular side of one particular holder.
Might also mean that the you might have a trap that is 'good enough' in shady conditions or turned away from the sun but leaks if the sun shines directly on it.
I have had marginal light leaks that only reveal themselves in certain conditions but not in others. For example if you remove the slide and wait for the light the leak shows up, but not if you make an exposure and replace the slide quickly it doesn't.
Try making sure you drape your dark cloth over the camera when taking pictures - it is is a good habit to get into that will save you if a fault develops in field that you don't know about.
Other than fogging by light, there's also the possibility of chemical fogging.
How are you handling and mixing developer? Is there a chance for contamination of batches?
The E6 process uses an aggressive fogging agent prior to the color developer (or in the color developer, depending on the type of kit). There are other things that could contaminate developer, but we're starting to grasp at straws here.
I guess the key point is that you've made 3 test shots where you "intentionally" tried to recreate the problem, yet they showed no unexpected problems at all. You've got to figure out what was different about the entire process for those shots.
Changing bag story from long ago...
Some time in the late 1980's Photoflex sold a changing tent that poped up with internal supports and all. Looked like a R2D2 robot set up. This "light tight" changing tent had twin layers of "light proof coated frabic, dual layer zippers, elastic sleeves and all.. Worked ok when new, after some time this changing tent developed a light leak wrecking more than one sheet of film.. Add to this dust and similar undersiable residue on the film and migration of this stuff into the film holder was just not worth the "convenience" of having a portable darken space to deal with film... Gave up on the thing..
The better solution proved to be simply load and carry as many film holders as needed, in a seperate film holder case if needed.
Loading and unloading film into the developing/post process system in space specific to these needs are a far better way than a changing tent or similar device.
Bernice
On a road trip I might have thirty loaded 8x10 holders, a dozen 5x7, and a half-dozen 11x14. I go thru film slowly, so that's a couple weeks worth of traveling...usually not photographing all day everyday. Don't want to spend the rest of my life developing film...and I already have more negatives than I can print.
All fogged examples show a light even fogging from the notch end downwards, the decreasing quickly. That might tell you how it might have fogged the film in the loading tent. Was there a time when only the notched ends of the film would be more suseptable to fogging than the rest of the film?
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
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