Strange spots white on my scanned negatives

thomasbruce · Feb 15, 2015

Hi

I have a question regarding some strange white spots one my scanned negatives (i assume they are black on the actual negtives. I don't have a loupe so I can't really see them before I scan).

It only happens to some rolls and it has only happened to my 100 iso films like Delta 100 and FP4 plus, not my Delta 400 and HP5+ films. It started about a year ago. After several rolls that were just fine after development of Delta 100 some rolls started having these white spots and when trying to adjust the negatives in lightroom the looked awful and just changing slightly on some of the sliders in lightroom they started to break up/apart.

I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I tried searching online but could not find any good answers. I tried with new chemicals and longer fixing and washing times but nothing helped. I then changed to FP4 plus and the problem was gone until a couple of months ago. Then the same thing happened to the FP4 plus rolls aswell, but not to the 400 iso films (delta and hp5+).

I tried refixing and washing but that didn't work. Same with new and old chemicals.

How I develop my negatives:

(I use the massivedev chart app)

1.Presoak - 1min

2.Develop HC110 - 1+32

3. Ilford/Kodak rapid fixer - 7min

4. Washing - 10-15min

Here is a 100% crop - left side more contrast added:

Hope someone can help me figure out how to fix this from happening again and if there is a way to save the negatives I've already developed.

Thanks for your help!

Thomas

timor · Feb 15, 2015

Nothing wrong with your process.
Now, take a look at your negatives, this spots are actually part of the image or foreign elements embedded in emulsion ?
It is just massive.

dxqcanada · Feb 15, 2015

How are you agitating from start to end ?

thomasbruce · Feb 15, 2015

There were no spots like that in the sky when I shot the image and as I stated above it has happened to several rolls over the last year.

I'm agitating for the first minute rotating and swirling. Then once for ten seconds every minute. I also tap the tank a couple of times to dislodge any bubbles.

Designer · Feb 15, 2015

I'm wondering if it could be an artifact of scanning. High noise to signal ratio.

I got a few white spots in a black area that simply were not in the print, but they came out in two different scans.

smithdan · Feb 15, 2015

Looks like you have worked through your processing variables.
I'm with Designer - might be a scanner issue. If you can, rescan the spotted ones in another scanner and see.
also, spots look larger than grain so should show up visually with a magnifying glass.

480sparky · Feb 15, 2015

How clean is your scanner?

photoguy99 · Feb 15, 2015

Without having some notion of scale we can't tell much. That could just be film grain.

timor · Feb 15, 2015

Your process is fine, agitation will have no influence on anything like that. How long do you develop. In average ? I just wonder, if it is not an effect from physical part of development. But then I never seen that before. Do you have your film from the same source ?

thomasbruce · Feb 15, 2015

smithdan said:
Looks like you have worked through your processing variables.
I'm with Designer - might be a scanner issue. If you can, rescan the spotted ones in another scanner and see.
also, spots look larger than grain so should show up visually with a magnifying glass.

I will try to find another scanner to test, but it's strange that it only affect some of my rolls of negatives. My scanner is pretty clean. bought it under a year ago, an Epson V600. I use an air blower, lens brush and micro fiber cloth to keep everything clean.

photoguy99 said:
Without having some notion of scale we can't tell much. That could just be film grain.

The picture I posted was from a 100% crop and you can see the grain and it's much smaller than the white spots.

timor said:
Your process is fine, agitation will have no influence on anything like that. How long do you develop. In average ? I just wonder, if it is not an effect from physical part of development. But then I never seen that before. Do you have your film from the same source ?

No, my film is from different sources bought online. Film is very expensive where I live here in Norway

480sparky · Feb 15, 2015

thomasbruce said:
The picture I posted was from a 100% crop and you can see the grain and it's much smaller than the white spots.

100% crop of what, though? A 100% crop from 35mm isn't at the same scale as a 100% crop of 6x45, or 6x7, or 4x5......

thomasbruce · Feb 15, 2015

480sparky said:
100% crop of what, though? A 100% crop from 35mm isn't at the same scale as a 100% crop of 6x45, or 6x7, or 4x5......

Sorry. From medium format 6x6. It has happened to my 6x12 aswell and looks the same.

480sparky · Feb 15, 2015

thomasbruce said:
480sparky said:

100% crop of what, though? A 100% crop from 35mm isn't at the same scale as a 100% crop of 6x45, or 6x7, or 4x5......

Click to expand...

Sorry. From medium format 6x6. It has happened to my 6x12 aswell and looks the same.

I guess another factor is what resolution you're scanning at. 2400, 4800, 7200, 9600?

Dave442 · Feb 15, 2015

As it is on some films and not others it does not sound like a dirty camera problem. Might try using distilled water for one batch just to see if it is a water problem. I think it would be good to look directly at the negatives with a loupe just to be sure the problem is there and not the scanner.

tsspro · Feb 16, 2015

These spots have always been present in my scans from any flatbed or Nikon film scanner I've used. I've always assumed they were a result of dirty film/scanner and have spent MANY hours eliminating them from my scans. What gets me, though is that I can print a hell-of-a dirty neg optically and not have any issues, oh well. My advice is to find a method in you post processing that works for you to remove them efficiently and effectively.