I keep getting these fairly little "web-like" things of high density on my negatives. I have switched to 67, but that's the only difference from my 35mm gear; tanks, developers, etc., are all the same; and I never had this problem before. It's not the camera or lens, since both have been replaced in the last week (better condition body, and shorter focal length...).

I've lost a few good shots because of them, on the one shot or so per roll on which they appear. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--not the temp. I developed at 68 last night (usually 75-80). --not the fix, happens with F24 and Ilford Rapid.

I use ONLY a water stopbath; could that be it?

Thanks all.

shawn

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000

Answers

"web like things of high density" sound like recirculation, but it wouldn't be restricted to individual negs... it would affect the whole roll I believe.

Maybe a spider spins a web quickly between frames, and the shutter cleans him and his home away... nuh, I don't belive that, just can't think of anything sensible!

Nige.

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@eisa.net.au), March 15, 2000.

...spiders or gremlins, who knows...

it's occasional individual little spider webs, which I guess actually look more like little bomb blasts (?), of about 1/4" at the most. They seem to follow no order, making them more like the droppings of a dizzy pigeon than a bomb blast or a spider web...?

but they have ruined some images whatever they are...

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

Shawn, the description is a little vague, but sounds like it might possibly be static electricity fog marks. Can you confirm or rule it out from the appearance?

-- Bill C (bcarriel@cpicorp.com), March 15, 2000.

I agree with the static electricity theory. Are you photographing in a particularly dry climate?

-- Peter Hughes (leo948@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

Ok. My lips are always dry at home (serious)...so probably yes.

I have no idea what these 'static electricity' marks are, but it sounds like they may fit the bill: the marks stem from a core and shoot out in "licks" or "thin arms". The total circumference of them for core-to-edge-of-lick is usually about 1/4" or less, with occasionally longer licks which get up to an inch (plenty to ruin an image if in a crucial place). Does this help?

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

I have to go with static too. What you are seeing, if this is indeed what's happening, is a record of little lightning bursts across the surface of your film. Dry conditions (winter weather, heated dry rooms, etc) are the prime causes. You know how you get a spark off the end of your finger when you touch the refrigerator door after shuffling across the carpet? Same idea. You can see the spark clearly in a dark room; so can the film.

-- Tony Brent (ajbrent@mich.com), March 15, 2000.

Are you using a manual-advance camera or a motorized camera? If manual-advance, wind slower. The friction of the film inside the camera generating static discharges is probably what's causing those marks.

-- Peter Hughes (leo948@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

Hum, winding could be the culprit. I've broken a few advances, jammed them, from winding too quickly. Who ever said a P67 was slow?

Could the cloth on my shutter be generating it like a rug does (to allude to Tony's response)?...

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

"cloth on my shutter" as the static source; nah! If it IS static, and assuming it's coming from the camera (as opposed to handling in the darkroom), it almost certainly occurs right where the film starts to separate from the roll. An alternate source might be darkroom handling.

To confirm static, you could try rapidly unspooling, rewind, unspool, etc, etc in a dry darkroom and see if this produces lots of the marks. If so, the best practice is to slow down camera advance and darkroom unwinding; maybe to about half speed of what you've been doing.

-- Bill C (bcarriel@cpicorp.com), March 16, 2000.

I agree that it's probably static. It could also be happening when you load the developing tank if the room is very dry (it is winter time...) and you work too quickly.

-- Tim Brown (brownt@ase.com), March 16, 2000.

I've seen sparks discharging when pulling the tape from the film end/spool. It's usually a winter thing... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), March 18, 2000.

One last thought: it has been proven that Heavy Metal music, played very loudly, can cause the marks you describe. Might try switching to Mozart. :)

-- Peter Hughes (leo948@yahoo.com), March 18, 2000.

With Vivaldi, the licks just dance a little more eloquently...And with Leonard Cohen they get really stiff and religious (can't decide what they are...).

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 18, 2000.

spiderwebs

Shawn, Before I bought a changing bag I used to see little sparks of static electricity as I unrolled my film from the take-up-spool, and read, in one of the magazines----un-roll your film SLOWLY and this will correct the problem. In Las Vegas we have some of the driest atmosphere in the country and this is how I learned to combat this problem. VERY slowly. Hope this helps. Dave

-- H. David Huffman (craptalk@mindspring.com), March 19, 2000.

I almost always see 'sparks', or SOMETHING, when I remove the roll from the tape, so it is probably happening in the 'unloading' stage. I'll consider that the culprit-time and see what happens; I'll start unloading very slowly off the roll. Thanks all. shawn

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), March 19, 2000.