Blank Negative Help

tschovelday01 · Dec 15, 2012

This is my first posting on this site. I am relative new to film processing and I would like some advise on what I am doing wrong.
I've seen threads which do explain what I think is wrong, but i have a few variables i'd like to mention.
Im shooting with a pentax me with 400 HP5+ with TMAX 1+4 developer at 72 degrees at 6 minutes. When i hung my negatives to dry, i noticed that the last half of the roll was blan, and the first half appears to be exposed as nomal. The edge numbers are intact which according to previous threads indicate
the issue isnt with the development process but something in camera causing a non esposure to the negative. During the last half of the film, I changed to other lenses trying them out. Does anyone have any adivse on what I am doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Andy

Mully · Dec 15, 2012

shutter not right

lens not opening at time of shot

Try "dry firing" the camera while looking through the lens. Put the camera through all the shutter speeds and listen. Camera may need a cleaning by a camera repair

dxqcanada · Dec 15, 2012

Have you used these lenses before without issue ?

bsinmich · Jan 4, 2013

Were you useing flash? If you use the wrong shutter speed with a strobe you will not get light when the shutter is open. I have several Pentax SLRs and they have various speeds for sync.

Josh66 · Jan 5, 2013

Were the markings on the rebate (film type, frame number, etc) all there and normal looking?

Even if you were using flash and it didn't fire, with 400 speed film you would probably see *something* on at least a few of the frames. If it were a sticky shutter, you would have been getting partially exposed frames before totally blank frames (you would have noticed that). With no film in the camera, open the back and fire off a few shots with no lens mounted - you will be able to tell if the shutter is sticking. If it is a sticky shutter, there will also probably be a tar-like substance on the shutter.

How did the sprocket holes look? Were any of them ripped/torn? My guess is that the film wasn't advancing... If the film got wet (condensation) then dried, it could have gotten stuck and stopped advancing. If that happened, there would likely be damage to some of the sprocket holes (and the film, where it got stuck to itself).