Question... About grainy flaws ...

[Yemme]

Most of the spots are certainly the result of a dirty scanner. Dust and grunge on the slide itself is generally in focus and sharp, not blurred the way dust in the scanner generally is.

A few of the spots could be dust or grunge on the slide. This can get there when handling the slide. It is also possible for small specks to be the result of imporperly filtered and replenished processing chemicals. There is a type of "gunk" that is produced in the chemistry call "tar" that must be filtered out. Poorly maintained chemistry or equipment can let enough be produced to leave specks on the processed film. It if is "tar" is can't be cleaned off.

Dust in the camera settling on the file prior to exposure is EXTREMELY unlikely. Unlike digital cameras, the exposed frame is used only once. Dust settling on it during the exposure affects only that exposure and rarely has time to actually setting on the film surface before the exposure is over. Dust that settles after the exposure has no effect on film. On digital, such dust doesn't affect the shot that let it pass through the shutter but affect all subsequent images until the sensor is cleaned.

With film, by far the most likely source of preexposure dust on the negs it lint or dirt on the felt lip of the cassette. Poor handling of the cassette (removing the cassette from its factory packaging and putting in a pocket or letting it sit "naked" in a camera bag) is generally the cause. Occasionally some cheap house-brand film is supplied by a really bargin manufacturer whose quality control is poor and the felt sheds. In a quarter of a century of dealing with film processing in camera stores I never saw a proven case of flautly felt on name brand film. I did see it on cheap bulk cassettes for hand loading and on a few house-brand rolls of film.

Dust settling on the film prior to exposure will leave a shadow. On slide film, that shadow would be black on the film. Since its actually imaged on the film, it can't be cleanded off.

Thank you for your input Dwig... The chemicals part sounds like that's what it was. I understand though that I do have some dark hair spots that is settling of dust particles. I have a few more slides with smaller blotches.

The reason why I think it was the processing is because I got back one slide and there an indentation concave on the film. It was not a flat surface and I hadn't done anything to them to create that. It was there the second I looked at the slide.

Maybe I might try a different spot to see if it is my camera even after I clean it ... Who knows. Thanks:hug::.

 

[Yemme]

Most likely Yemme had half a roll of unexposed film in the camera (pretty common...)

I liked how you cleaned that up...

 

[Yemme]

A few of the spots could be dust or grunge on the slide. This can get there when handling the slide. It is also possible for small specks to be the result of imporperly filtered and replenished processing chemicals. There is a type of "gunk" that is produced in the chemistry call "tar" that must be filtered out. Poorly maintained chemistry or equipment can let enough be produced to leave specks on the processed film. It if is "tar" is can't be cleaned off.

That was my thought when I saw the photo. I had a few rolls that I sent out that had the same thing, before I started developing my own in the old days.

Hi Joves ... How yah been? Thanks for your input.:hug::

 

[Joves]

A few of the spots could be dust or grunge on the slide. This can get there when handling the slide. It is also possible for small specks to be the result of imporperly filtered and replenished processing chemicals. There is a type of "gunk" that is produced in the chemistry call "tar" that must be filtered out. Poorly maintained chemistry or equipment can let enough be produced to leave specks on the processed film. It if is "tar" is can't be cleaned off.

That was my thought when I saw the photo. I had a few rolls that I sent out that had the same thing, before I started developing my own in the old days.

Hi Joves ... How yah been? Thanks for your input.:hug::

Why I have been fine. Thank-you for asking. Good to see you are shootig again.

 

[Dwig]

...
I'm not talking about the little "hairs" (which I agree - are likely dust on the scanner). I'm talking about that big black splotch which is actually exposed into the film.

The black blotch directly in front of the bust's nose has the characteristic shape of a piece of tar deposited by the processing chemicals.

On Ektachromes and other E-6 and E-4 films you can generally distinguish between tar and some imaged object by examining the emulsion side of the film by reflected light at a high magnification, 15-30x. Tar will usually show as a raised spot and imaged artifacts remain flat like the rest of the image. This doesn't work with Kodachomes as the emulsion varies in thickness with the amount of dye present to form the image. Both imaged artifacts and tar will both be seen in relief.

 

[chris]

A crescent shaped indentation in the slide is probably due to the film being buckled at some point, probably during processing – it can happen if you have problems loading it in a spiral or feeding it into an automatic processor. If the indentation occurred before processing then it can affect development locally and show as a mark on the image.

View the emulsion side of the slide with in oblique lighting; if you can see a small raised lump on the emulsion surface where the black artifact is then it may be a small piece of emulsion that has become detached from the edge of the film during processing. The emulsion is particularly soft and vulnerable to damage while it is wet during processing. If it is this then there is really nothing you can do about it except post process since the scrap of emulsion will be very firmly welded to the surface of the slide. This may also happen if a hair or other debris comes into contact with the film before it has dried.

If you can see anything lying on the non-emulsion side of the film and it cannot be removed by blowing air over it or by gentle brushing then try a clean damp cloth, such as those used for cleaning lens, to remove it. You need to be careful not to scratch the film backing and try to avoid getting any water on the emulsion.

 

[Yemme]

Ok Chris I'll look at them again... all of them, closely. Thanks:hug::.