Black and white development problem

Doremus Scudder said:

Determining the best amount of developer and the right agitation with 120 film always seems to be a problem. Experiment with different development amounts and agitation schemes till you find a combination that works for you.

For me, making sure the reel was completely covered in developer, but that there was still a bit of room in the tank for the developer to slosh around in helped as did more vigorous agitation that I was used to. Your results will likely be different. Just keep at it.

Good luck,

Doremus

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pentaxuser said:

If you mean the tank when you say cylinder then the tank needs washing in plain water after you empty out the fix but this will happen anyway when you remove the remains of the fixer from the film by filling with the tank with water, then agitating the tank several times and then dumping the water.

I assume that after emptying the fix that you wash the film on the reel in the tank? I use the Ilford process which involves filling with water, agitating 5 times then dump. fill with water agitate 10 times then dump, filling with water agitate 20 times then dump. To be sure I have washed the film I actually do 15, 20, 25.

In case there is any chemical now stuck to the reel use a toothbrush with warm water and scrub the reel. If you now follow the full process of develop. stop, fix and wash there should not be any need to use a toothbrush again

pentaxuser

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pentaxuser said:

So these later shots you have shown us show the spots on the opposite side to the first shot of the woman with a block of flats in the background.

If you are sure that the reels are covered with a little more developer to spare so say 580 mls for a tank which says 550ml for a film and you have cleaned the reel as I suggested and use the Ilford or Kodak agitation process and the Ilford wash and dump for the routine I suggested then I am at a loss to explain the problem in terms of the way you have processed the film

We seem to be concentrating on the formation of foam and agitation and whether the solution is a figure of eight inversion as opposed to simple inversion. All I can say is that I used the Ilford agitation when I was using an Ilford developer and switched to the Kodak agitation when I used a Kodak developer but I have every reason to believe that either agitation method would have worked. I always have foam in the top of of my Jobo tank every time I process a film and in 15 years have never seen a foam problem

I think you may have to look elsewhere for the problem such as others have suggested, that is backing paper, moisture forming if the film is taken out of a refrigerator but not given time to come to room temperature before loading in the camera

Was it fresh film and can you be sure that the seller stored the film correctly before selling it?

pentaxuser

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Bruno Dias said:

I inverted the picture of the woman with the buildings in the background ie in the same place always on the right side on the top edge below. My tank gives about 700mml or so, the next roll I will do with 650mm and I will do the rotations as it should be

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