Ghost in the Machine

[Ari]

Not just an album by the Police.
I went out today to do some portraits of the "Occupy Ottawa" happening.
I spent about 90 minutes doing ten portraits.
Came home, processed the film (C-41) and it came out black; all 12 sheets.
I still have another 6 sheets waiting to be developed.

The film was black, but on many of them, you could see a clear edge, the unexposed part covered by the film holder, Grafmatics all.
I've ruled out bellows and the space between camera and film holder.
I've ruled out the lens.
I've ruled out the changing bag.
I've ruled out my wife, baby daughter, brother and dog messing with my stuff.
What remains is film, processing and storage of exposed negs.

Film was the last 18 sheets of a 50-sheet box, loaded today and yesterday; it has always been good film.
I unloaded from holder to empty box, and empty box to processing tank, all in the changing bag. Maybe 15 minutes to do all that.
I processed the film as I always do.
I heated up the colour chems in the microwave.
Temps were kept around 40˚C for pre-soak, developer and blix.
I added 15s to dev. time, 30s to blix time to compensate for the previous usage of the chems.
Washing was done at a gradually decreasing temperature, then stabilizer was added.

Then I looked at the film.

The chems had processed 48 sheets, but the last batch was done two days ago, and was good. The info page for Tetenal says that there will be a gradual decrease in quality, not a sudden decrease.

So, fellow sleuths, have I left anything out?
The film did get exposed, but exposed to a degree where it was black, as if it had lain exposed all day in an open film holder.

I really hate days like this; I feel like I should just take that desk job or go back to school and forget all about this foto bullshit.

[Jim Michael]

Could the shutter have gotten stuck open? Sorry to hear about your troubles, I know that a lot of effort went into that.

[Ari]

Thanks, Jim.
The shutter just got back yesterday from a CLA by my favourite shutter specialist.
I had ruled out the shutter right away.

[cdholden]

I'm far from one to speak on C41, but I do troubleshoot problems for a living.
How big of a deal, logistically or financially, would it be to try again with a batch of fresh chemicals. You don't say how old your developer is, but mention that the last batch was two days ago. Is there a chance it could have went bad in those two days?
Do you have a local lab that could develop a test sheet out of the same batch of film?
If you don't know what the problem is, rule out your possibilities by process of elimination.
Hope it helps.
Chris

[Ari]

Yes, it helps; thanks, Chris.
The chemicals are about 3 weeks old, have gone through 48 sheets, but they're not supposed to drop off suddenly like this.
It could have gone bad in the last 2 days, but it's highly unlikely.
The fact that the film was black tells me the problem wasn't processing, but exposure.

I've already thrown out the chems as a precaution, and will mix new stuff tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I will go and re-shoot everything, if I can, tomorrow.
I'll also shoot a Polaroid before leaving home in the morning.

[Leigh]

I you have clear edges (masked area in the slots) it's not a chemical problem.

Somehow you exposed the film with the darkslide pulled.

Any chance the shutter speed was waaaay too long? Or the aperture was wide open?

- Leigh

[WayneStevenson]

"So, fellow sleuths, have I left anything out?"

Forgot to close your shutter BEFORE pulling the darkslide? Forgot to stop your lens down before exposing?

Your shutter times could be off as well. One would expect a CLA to prevent / fix those issues. But that doesn't guarantee it, and throw human error / overlooking into the mix and a lens could come back to you in worse condition than you sent it in.

[gth]

Ari, I had a sticky shutter on Sunday, worked fine inside but it did not like the cold. IF you're close to your car or warm area so you can develop it, take test polaroid with the shutter cooled down to outside temperature.

[Tom J McDonald]

Did you trust a faulty light meter?

[Ari]

Any chance the shutter speed was waaaay too long? Or the aperture was wide open?

No, speeds sounded good to me, and I checked to make sure before and after shooting.
Thanks, Leigh.

"So, fellow sleuths, have I left anything out?"

Forgot to close your shutter BEFORE pulling the darkslide? Forgot to stop your lens down before exposing?

Your shutter times could be off as well. One would expect a CLA to prevent / fix those issues. But that doesn't guarantee it, and throw human error / overlooking into the mix and a lens could come back to you in worse condition than you sent it in.

I may have had a darkslide malfunction; the Grafmatics can sometimes jam, or you can forget that they're open.
But both of them? Possibly a third as well?
I don't know, I've been using them trouble-free for a few years now.
Thanks

The shutter won't fire if the diaphragm is open, and I am careful about that.
I made that mistake often with 8x10, but only very rarely on 4x5.
The shutter sounded clode enough; I should have slightly over/under-exposed film.
Thanks, Wayne.

Ari, I had a sticky shutter on Sunday, worked fine inside but it did not like the cold. IF you're close to your car or warm area so you can develop it, take test polaroid with the shutter cooled down to outside temperature.

Thanks, Gerth; will try the Polaroid today.

Did you trust a faulty light meter?

My Minolta IVf has been rock solid since day one, and I'd put that near the bottom of my list of things that cold be wrong.
Thanks, Tom.