Yellow and Purple Lines on Film Negatives

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

Hello! New here on the forum but I've been shooting film for quite a while now. Recently, I just got an Epson 3170 scanner to scan my negatives and save some money. Here's an uncropped, unedited example scanned at 300DPI. (Don't mind the horrible bokeh from the scanner, just using it to archive my negatives.)

Problem is, there are these straight purple and yellow lines that just cross the entire negative and its in the majority of my negatives. Sometimes, the lines would just trail off and disappear in some negatives but usually, it could be clearly seen. Here's a closer look.

And another one.

I thought it was the rollers of the machine that was processing them so I got them developed dip n dunk to another lab but the negatives still had them. Did the lab lie to me about the dip n dunk or is it my camera? My camera is an old Canon F-1 so there might be something scratching it while shooting. Can anyone help me?

480sparky · Jul 30, 2015

Maybe the film is scratched in-camera, or by the felt in the light trap of the cassette.

dxqcanada · Jul 30, 2015

looks like a scratched neg

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

If it is my camera, would it be something to do with the pressure plate? The felt seems highly unlikely since I've been trying out a lot of different film stock and every roll had it.

480sparky · Jul 30, 2015

Then I'd suspect the camera. Maybe the pressure plate. May be a roller is stuck.

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

Alright, I'll thoroughly cleaned my pressure plate with a microfiber cloth and also the rollers. Gonna shoot a roll and see if there's still any scratches afterwards. Any other way of cleaning it besides wiping the heck out of it?

480sparky · Jul 30, 2015

Did you try to feel for anything that might scratch the film?

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

I looked at the pressure plate and there's a tiny tiny small thing that took a bit of effort to remove. Whether or not this was the cause of the scratch, I don't know but rollers are all smooth and the area near the shutter is also clean. Here's to hoping. Thank you for your help!

TCampbell · Jul 30, 2015

While I suppose it's possible that it's the pressure plate, the pressure plate is sliding against the back-side of the film -- not the emulsified side. I would think this is something scratching at the emulsion.

Are these single-use film canisters or are you using reloadable film canisters and loading it with bulk film? If using reusable canisters with bulk film, I'm wondering if the canister is scratching it.

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

I use single-use film canisters so I know that its not that. Is it possible to tell if its scratching the emulsion side...? Here's another example. Crappy image, I know, but this one shows it more clearly. Since I noticed its the same exact spot, I'm thinking that if I just place it against the film transport, I can find where its scratching it.

limr · Jul 30, 2015

Do you have a loupe? Can you look at the negatives closely to see if the scratch really is on the film? Look between the frames as well.

Judeamarco · Jul 30, 2015

I do not. But what do you mean if the scratch really is on the film?

wfooshee · Jul 31, 2015

Judeamarco said:
I do not. But what do you mean if the scratch really is on the film?

Looking at the negative through a loupe or some other way of magnifying it would let you see if these lines are on the negative itself, rather than a scanning artifact. In the negative for that last image you posted, you'd look for a light line in the dark area of the negative that is the sky. If it's on the negative, it could be the camera, but if it's only on one roll, it may have happened in processing. If it's on everything you shoot, and in the same place, it's the camera.

It's possible the scanner has a dead pixel in its scan head. If that's the case, it would be on anything you scan, not just on negatives, so that's easy to rule out. Scan some documents and some prints and look for the line. Use the same area of the glass (i.e. the centerline down the long dimension) that the adapter uses for placement of the negatives so you'll be using the same part of the scan head.

limr · Jul 31, 2015

Judeamarco said:
I do not. But what do you mean if the scratch really is on the film?

I just mean to rule out the scanner definitively. Check the negatives to see if there is a scratch. If you don't see one, then maybe it's time to look at the scanner. If no loupe then use a magnifying glass if you have one to help you get a really close look.

The reason I am not dismissing the possibility of a scanner error is because of that yellow line on the first picture. Doesn't look like a scratch to me. Maybe there is a scratch as well, but it might be worth inspecting the scanner glass carefully as well as the film.

Judeamarco · Jul 31, 2015

Thank you guys so much! I narrowed it down to the scanner by scanning the second image with the same settings on another part of the scanner. This time, it didn't have that brutal purple line right down the middle. Now I just gotta find out what's wrong the scanner. Considering I did get it on a classified ads on the internet for $20, I should have looked at it as well for the problem. Thank you very much!