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Pale shadows - Delta 100 in Rodinal

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:19 am
by richboyce
I've had a strange result when processing a roll of Delta 100 in Rodinal. The lightest areas of the negatives have turned quite dark (before the reversal given by scanning/printing, so these are shadows and suchlike). This normally includes any people in the scene (wearing black coats normally), turning them into ghostly figures!

I developed with Rodinal, following the instructions on the bottle. These were to use 1+50 dilution for 16 minutes at 20 degrees. Since then I've checked the massive dev chart which actually has this film/developer combination listed at 14 minutes - I'm pretty sure this wouldn't have resulted in the effect I've seen.

I used an Ilford stop bath for 30 seconds, and an Ilford fixer for a couple of minutes. I can't remember the exact timings on these. I then washed thoroughly, at least 5 minutes under a 20 degree running tap, then inverting a few times with water and a few drops of wetting agent.

Any idea where I've gone wrong?

Thanks,
Rich

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:52 pm
by pentaxpete
Sounds like some light exposure during development,giving some 'Pseudo-Solarisation'.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:51 am
by richboyce
pentaxpete: Thanks, I think you might be right. Here's a couple of examples:

http://richboyce.smugmug.com/gallery/70 ... 8u8Ao-A-LB
http://richboyce.smugmug.com/gallery/70 ... mqtvt-A-LB

I was careful as normal during the processing, so I don't know when I would have exposed the film to light. I've had good results from the developing tank before, so I'm pretty sure it's light-tight. Oh well! Thanks for your help.

Rich

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:06 pm
by mr chop
have you tried the same film, dev, time sense this happened?

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:25 am
by richboyce
Nope, but I'm pretty sure I know where I went wrong now. I don't think I mixed the fixer at the right concentration, and didn't fix for long enough. Hence the film got a little exposed when I took it out of the tank.

I've just developed another film in the same tank without any problem, so at least I know there's no light leaks there.