Hello, I hope you(the reader) may be able to help me- I am trying various film/developer combinations and when I finished with this roll I could see streaks, faintly, but of course, printing revealed them. I could observe with the naked eye that the streaks went fron edge to edge on the film, not just the frame. I prewet the film, used Tmax developer for 7 min. for ei100, short rinse prior to stop, short rinse post-stop, fix with Ilford Universal fixer for 10 min, and continuous rinse for 35 min. Photo-flo was attempted twice. Any thoughts?

-- Mike DeVoe (cameraservice@gci.net), January 30, 2001

Answers

Edge to edge streaks would send me in search of light leaks, probably gummy crumbly foam on the hinge end of the back door.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 30, 2001.

If the streak runs from the first frame of the film to the last:

on 35 mm, it might be some dirt or debris lodged in the felt of the canister,

35mm or other formats, dirt or a nick on a roller in the camera,

if it's top to bottom on 35mm, or across the narrow size of the film, and only appears in one frame, it might be a defect in the film, a light leak, something abrasive on the dark slide of a medium format film holder, etc.

Tell us the format, kind of camera, etc. to help narrow it down.

Another possibility is static electricity, though I wouldn't expect it based on your description.

Was it every frame on the roll, just one or two?

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), January 30, 2001.

I work at a repair shop for a 9-5 as a non-tech, but I have access to foam, parts, etc, and I am very familiar with my nikons (yup- 35mm). I'm sure that static would normally be a concern, but I've seen examples of that, and this isn't static. It covers the entire emulsion side of the film, so light leak may be a possiblility. If it helps any, non-US Delta 100 was used, so I will try both repeating my process, complete with (possibly) too many rinses, with the same stock and some US-Delta 400 (change in dev. time, of course at ei 250), and see if I can replicate the results. The most offending areas were near the sproket holes(advantage to 120?), so maybe stricter mixing and agitation will be in order. If I don't see any change despite, I'll start eliminating rinses.

Thanks for the replies- Mike

-- Mike Devoe (cameraservice@gci.net), January 31, 2001.

Could be heat or X-ray fogging.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 31, 2001.