# Streaky Film



## Helter (Oct 6, 2012)

Hello, I just developed my first roll of film ever and to my surprise actually turned out quite nice but it is kind of streaky is that normal? Should I clean the negatives with something before scanning them? Will the streaks show in the scan? Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks.


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## unpopular (Oct 6, 2012)

my guess is that you have dirt or snags in your camera, though I have seen streaky effects by poor agitation.

if teh streaks are just water marks, wash in photoflo. No photoflo? Try MiraLax!


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 7, 2012)

No Photo Flo or MiraLax, do what I do and use Jet Dry!


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## unpopular (Oct 7, 2012)

Jet dry would be cheaper than MiraLax.

But does it help with the artistic constipation?


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 7, 2012)

My Caffinol mix says...no


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## unpopular (Oct 7, 2012)

Oh Caffinol - there are so many other, more interesting developing agents than Nescafé worth looking into...


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## Helter (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks everyone, the negatives look great I can't wait to scan them, I'm just happy it worked and I'll experiment with ways to get it " un-streaky ".

I have got photo flow and, after dumping the fixer out, I just poured water in the tank and took the funnel part out and then poured a tiny bit of photoflow and swished it around like fancy people with wine do in movies. Should I just try rolling the film back up in the spool and try that again or is there another technique you photo-flo users are talking about you wouldn't mind sharing.

Thanks again everyone,
Brad


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## Helter (Oct 7, 2012)

Also forgot to mention, I can't be sure but I don't think its a camera problem unpopular, I've gotten prints and negatives from drug stores and they always look fine. I just wanted to do it myself for fun.


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## unpopular (Oct 7, 2012)

well, be sure to scan them in and post! if the streaks are in the negative, rather than just "on" in the negative, i'm sure we can help diagnose the problem.


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## ann (Oct 8, 2012)

don't take the film off the spool, leave it on.  Use a few drops of photo flo with distilled water, or a "few drops with tap water. Too much photoflow will create even more issues with the film


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## unpopular (Oct 8, 2012)

Isn't the stock solution for photoflo like 1ml per liter? I'd just follow the stock recipe. Both jugs and photoflo are cheap.

And yeah, like any detergent, it can leave a residue if too highly concentrated.


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## ann (Oct 8, 2012)

I use it as a one shot process. A few drops in 16oz of distilled water. If developing more than one roll of film I use it again,but when finished with the run I discard the solution.  Keeping it usually results in strange things growing in the bottle 

Also, I use LPN rather than photoflow, as i like it better. I bit more expensive but I feel it does a better job.


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## amolitor (Oct 8, 2012)

I always use filtered or distilled water for the photoflo step. Just some cheap bottled water from the store.

My experience with tap water is that it has a surprising amount of grit and crap in it -- but this is mostly or entirely rinsed off by that that final photoflo step.

Also, do NOT over agitate the photoflo solution. This is basically a very very powerful soap, and it'll foam up easily and leave dried bubbles all over your film. Gently gently.


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## unpopular (Oct 8, 2012)

I never used to agitate on photoflo, just pretty much dip and remove. There really isn't any need, provided that your solution is pre-mixed. It's just there to lower the surface tension so that there is no visible residue left behind.


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## unpopular (Oct 8, 2012)

and btw - it works like a powerful soap, but it's actually polyethylene glycol - an emulsifier. I don't remember the exact molecular weight ... i think it's something like 2200 g/mol.

Soaps are typically the salts of fatty acids that work as surfactants.


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## Helter (Oct 10, 2012)

They all didn't turn out as bad as I thought. See the line right above the apple logo on the mac. 
(Also, please don't C&C these, total test shots. I just got a box of chemicals and wanted to jump into developing so unloaded a role in my bedroom )


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## bhop (Oct 10, 2012)

Helter said:


> Thanks everyone, the negatives look great I can't wait to scan them, I'm just happy it worked and I'll experiment with ways to get it " un-streaky ".
> 
> I have got photo flow and, after dumping the fixer out, I just poured water in the tank and took the funnel part out and then poured a tiny bit of photoflow and swished it around like fancy people with wine do in movies. Should I just try rolling the film back up in the spool and try that again or is there another technique you photo-flo users are talking about you wouldn't mind sharing.
> 
> ...



Wait.. did you wash the film after fixing or did you just go straight to photo-flo?  Because your description here seems like you didn't wash the film..


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## unpopular (Oct 10, 2012)

that's actually kind of odd. is this in or on the negative?


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## Helter (Oct 10, 2012)

Nope bhop, I didn't wash it after the fixer, I just put water in the tank and then a drop of photo-flo. Your saying I should have put water in agitated, poured the water out. Then, pour more water in and add the drop of photo-flo.
Also, unpopular, I think it is ON the negative because if it was IN I think the other shots would have had the same strange line? Although, I can't seem to clean it off. I just wanted to thank everyone again. 
I can't see any lines in this one for example:


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## amolitor (Oct 11, 2012)

You should follow the instructions for using your fixer.

Generally there is a pretty thorough wash after fixing, a few minutes of running water. Otherwise residual fixer remains in the film and does.. well I don't know what it does, but it's apparently not good. There's a product called hypo-clear, I think, which is yet another bath for the film, which cleans fixer out and reduces the necessary washing time. But there's still a wash.


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## bhop (Oct 11, 2012)

I wash my film for 20 minutes in running water after the fix.  I'm guessing that's your problem, or part of it maybe..

Do you use a squeegee to help dry your film?  The 'streak' in your mac pic looks like a scratch to me.


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## unpopular (Oct 11, 2012)

NEVER squeegee film. That's the point of photoflo.

If you're having trouble with dust, it makes more sense to get a utility cabinet and put some desiccant in the bottom, or rig up some kind of filtered air flow or use an ionic air purifier if the dust is really bad, like it is around here.

Roll film is really delicate wet.


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## Canuk (Oct 11, 2012)

I have been using the Ilford method of washing film, fresh water - 5 inversions, fresh water - 10 inversions, fresh water - 20 inversions, I usually do another 20 inversion rinse w/ fresh water as well. Then do 30-60 sec in photoflo before hanging to dry. This method uses a lot less water than other methods, but gets good results. I was a little sceptical of this method as it is fairly fast compared to others, but found a lot of supporters of it on the Range Finder Forum.


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## Helter (Oct 11, 2012)

I think not washing it in running water was probably the main problem. A scratch! How didn't I think of that. It is really likely actually because being my first time developing some surprises made me handle the film a little rougher than I would have liked.


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## ann (Oct 11, 2012)

Thank goodness this is a test roll because these negatives are going to go south "fast", not washing is a huge mistake as now the negatives are heavy with chemical products and are going to suffer from deterioration


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## Helter (Oct 11, 2012)

ann said:


> Thank goodness this is a test roll because these negatives are going to go south "fast", not washing is a huge mistake as now the negatives are heavy with chemical products and are going to suffer from deterioration



Oh yikes. Thanks for mentioning that. I'll make sure I toss them.


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## bhop (Oct 11, 2012)

Helter said:


> ann said:
> 
> 
> > Thank goodness this is a test roll because these negatives are going to go south "fast", not washing is a huge mistake as now the negatives are heavy with chemical products and are going to suffer from deterioration
> ...



You don't have to toss them, just be aware that they will probably deteriorate in some way eventually.. could be years from now..


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## Helter (Oct 11, 2012)

Oh alright, I kind of wanted to keep them considering it was my first development. 
-Just developed roll #2 today though and it's drying right now, let's hope it isn't streaky.


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## amolitor (Oct 12, 2012)

Is there any reason an underwashed roll can't simply be re-washed?

If you've cut them up, washing can be a pain in the butt, but you should just be able to wash them again thoroughly. Probably have to wash a bit more, since the emulsion has dried out and will need to be re-wetted before washing will really be effective, but a couple minutes of soaking in clean water, followed by a thorough wash should be fine.

Am I missing something here?


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## amolitor (Oct 12, 2012)

I agree with the "never squeegee film" theory. I have no idea where this squeegeeing thing came from. Does it work if you have proper technique or something? Is it a holdover from the days much thicker and I suppose maybe tougher emulsions?

I try to avoid touching the emulsion at all times, but especially when wet, and use photoflo.


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## gsgary (Oct 12, 2012)

When you take the film from the roll do you hang it up straight away ? i was taught to take an end in each hand and pull hands apart about 7 times and it shakes most of the water off


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## bhop (Oct 12, 2012)

I squeegee my film because I almost always get water spots if I don't, but I accept that there could be scratches.  I usually don't get any though, possibly because I rinse my squeegee blades with hot water and clean the blades with my finger each time I use it... *shrug


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## Josh66 (Jan 8, 2013)

unpopular said:


> I never used to agitate on photoflo, just  pretty much dip and remove. There really isn't any need, provided that  your solution is pre-mixed. It's just there to lower the surface tension  so that there is no visible residue left behind.



I agitate for 20 seconds, wait another 20 seconds, then hang it to dry.  If I leave it in the photo-flo too long, it seems to do more harm than good.



bhop said:


> I squeegee my film because I almost always get water spots if I don't, but I accept that there could be scratches.  I usually don't get any though, possibly because I rinse my squeegee blades with hot water and clean the blades with my finger each time I use it... *shrug



I usually squeegee color film, because I always seem to get water marks from the stabilizer if I don't (and I mix everything with distilled water).  B&W, I just hang up and let it drip.  As long as I don't leave it in the photo-flo too long, I never have issues with B&W...

I take care to keep the squeegee clean too - so far, no scratches - lol.


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## unpopular (Jan 8, 2013)

^^^ agitating photoflo may introduce suds which can leave residue on your film. There really isn't any reason to agitate photoflo.

You agitate anything which needs to actually "do" something, things which need to penetrate the emulsion evenly. Photoflo, as I said, is just a surfactant.


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## bsinmich (Jan 9, 2013)

Why not just put the roll back in the fixer for 2-3 minutes and then rinse like it should have been done.  I think that would disolve any fixer left into a soluble solution again and just wash away.  I just found some of the negatives from 60 years ago and I guess I did them right because they are still printable.


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