Film Problem with dirty negatives/scans

jssaraiva

Top Veteran
Location
Porto, Portugal
Name
José
Hi,

Need some help here...

I'm getting back my scans from the local lab with dirty areas. This is mostly visible on the 120 negatives. Examples below. I want to address this with them, but I'm not sure if this is due to developing process itself, from the afterwards cleaning of even from dirt on the scanner.

What do you think this is?

If it is really dirt (sorry for the lack of better word in English) on the negatives, what is the best way to clean it?

Thanks!

IMG014-XL.jpg


IMG015-XL.jpg
 
Jose, that doesn't look like dirt to me; more like a problem in the developing. Is it definitely on the negatives? Does it happen with more than one film, or more particularly, from more than one batch?

If it's dirt, you should clearly see it on the negatives themselves. If it's a processing problem, that banding ought to be just about visible against the light; you could also try scanning the negative with a normal scanner, like in an all-in-one printer/scanner. If it's not on the negative, then it's a scanning artefact, but I'd have to say that I've never seen anything like that before.
 
Thanks for the reply!

I cannot really tell if it is on the negatives. Been looking again to them again, but this is visible on the lighter part of the images, so darker on the negatives, and this makes it very difficult to reach a conclusion.

Yes, it happened on more than one batch and different sorts of film. I don't have a scanner (only a Plustek for 135) to try it at home.

Looks like I need to start mailing the negatives abroad for processing, but this doesn't make me happy. Have some negatives since latte Summer to develop because of this.
 
I'm with @ChristoR on this: Looks like faulty handling during development - but this may concern the negatives as well as the prints, in fact. I suspect it's caused by rapidly waning skills on the part of the photo shop staff. It's too regular to be dirt - or too thinly distributed to be grease or stains.

M.
 
Actually, the OP has given too little info to accurate diagnose his problem. We need to know the following:
  • Exactly what is he considering the "dirt" on the negs. The only noticeable flaw in the posted images is the brownish "stain" on the left and right edges and a similar thin stain about 1/4 of the way in from the left. It this stain/discoloration the flaw in question?
  • 120 roll film can be shot using a range of different formats. We need to know exactly which format these were (e.g. 6x4.5, 6x6 and then cropped, 6x7, 6x9, ...). If these are 6x4.5 then the discoloration could be from either processing or film handling/storage. If they are 6x7 or 6x9 then processing and storage/handing are extremely unlikely candidates.
  • What scanner was used? How the scanner handles the film and its scanning direction relative to the film could determine if the discoloration is the result of an illumination flaw in the scanner.
My guess is that the images are 6x4.5 and it is either a processing flaw or a film handling/storage/age flaw that has caused the discoloration. That is, if the discoloration is the OP's issues with the images. The discoloration seems much too small to be seen by eye against a negative's orange mask. The discoloration is not dissimilar to that which is caused by age/heat "fogging" typical with outdated/expired film and film stored poorly in overly warm environments and stored too long after opening the factory sealed package.
 
I'm with @ChristoR on this: Looks like faulty handling during development - but this may concern the negatives as well as the prints, in fact. I suspect it's caused by rapidly waning skills on the part of the photo shop staff. It's too regular to be dirt - or too thinly distributed to be grease or stains.

M.
I also believe it is an issue with the lab I've been using. Not that they aren't really keen on keeping film photography going, but I believe some of us are paying the cost of having trainees handling key processes. It will be a bit hard for me to change, but at least color negatives are probably going elsewhere.
 
Actually, the OP has given too little info to accurate diagnose his problem. We need to know the following:
  • Exactly what is he considering the "dirt" on the negs. The only noticeable flaw in the posted images is the brownish "stain" on the left and right edges and a similar thin stain about 1/4 of the way in from the left. It this stain/discoloration the flaw in question?
  • 120 roll film can be shot using a range of different formats. We need to know exactly which format these were (e.g. 6x4.5, 6x6 and then cropped, 6x7, 6x9, ...). If these are 6x4.5 then the discoloration could be from either processing or film handling/storage. If they are 6x7 or 6x9 then processing and storage/handing are extremely unlikely candidates.
  • What scanner was used? How the scanner handles the film and its scanning direction relative to the film could determine if the discoloration is the result of an illumination flaw in the scanner.
My guess is that the images are 6x4.5 and it is either a processing flaw or a film handling/storage/age flaw that has caused the discoloration. That is, if the discoloration is the OP's issues with the images. The discoloration seems much too small to be seen by eye against a negative's orange mask. The discoloration is not dissimilar to that which is caused by age/heat "fogging" typical with outdated/expired film and film stored poorly in overly warm environments and stored too long after opening the factory sealed package.
Yes, it is 6x4.5 and I'm referring to those stains. Scanner was a SP2000, or at least it has been until recent, will try to confirm that. Photos above were with a well stored not expired Portra 160, but happens with all color film sent there over the last 6 months.
 
Jose...I don't know if there is a connection, same camera maybe, but I see similar (but not so severe, and not the same color) bands on your pictures in the Agfa 100 Professional thread.
Yes, same camera but that film was expired. Still, there is some post processing there to minimize that effect. Let me try to find some images with same camera but different lab, I've just remembered I did try that, but result was also not the best.
 
Just a quick update: I did address this issue with the original lab and they informed nobody else reported that. I sent them samples and in fact left another roll to see how it goes. This was already last year. Well, 31st of December.

Will post here once I get the results, but since this will still take a bit longer, just wanted to comment on the status with you guys.
 
Fast forward to April...

The "issue" returned. My usual lab mentioned this could be a light leak. Replaced some of the seals with some foam kit I've bough some time ago, but no change. Finally took it to a local technical guy (young, on his late twenties, which is a good sign for analog photography). Showed him some samples and he told me that it is "clearly light leaks". On closer inspection, he mentioned the foam on the insert was not the proper one ( :hide: ). I do have two different inserts and that is probably the reason why this doesn't happen all the time.

Looks pretty obvious now. :oops:

He replaced all the foam. I've made a new test roll today, let's see how it goes.

Funny thing is, I was really thinking about selling the P645 after solving this, but all these tests made me remind how practical this camera is. So, it is probably staying with me.
 
Glad you've got it solved, José. No doubt you noticed that not one if us here suggested a light leak! Ah well, forums ain't perfect, but collectively we usually do better than this! :2thumbs:
 
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