Pyrocat HD and FP4 query

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Tommy

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I have developed a 120 roll of FP4 in Pyrocat 1:1:100 for 16 minutes with 1 minute agitation followed by 1 inversion every minute. Stop bath was plain water for 30 seconds. When I scanned the negatives I noticed a strange mottled effect, like little white dots, in the sky in a couple of the negatives. You can see it clearly in the photo below. Any ideas what may have caused it?
17691769
 
How was your film stored prior to exposure?

There are reports that film that's not stored properly can show mottling in even-toned areas such as skies.

I've seen it myself on FP4, regardless of the developer used.

Mike
 
As Mike says that's a storage issue. On a factory tour a few years ago Ilford told us that most of the quality issues they saw were caused by incorrect storage and often from freezing film. They don't recommend freezing and say if you do it must be allowed to thaw very slowly place in a fridge first for a day or two before allowing it to reach room temperature.

The issues are more apparent with 120 because both emulsion and backing paper have some moisture content. I've never had a problem like this, it can affect film from any manufacturer, but then I don't cold store my films (except SFX & DELTA 3200).

Ian
 
Sadly, i have a number of 10-packs of FP4 120 that were frozen a number of years ago and allowed to defrost over weeks, but i can't trust that film anymore because of the mottling that we're seeing.

Fresh FP4 is fine (though i have reported seeing very fine filaments appearing post processing, which look like remnants from the slitting process).

Mike
 
My films are kept in a fridge, some have been there a few years, I take them out the day before using and never had a problem. I think Ian has a valid point about 120 and it backing paper, what is confusing is the fact it happened on two frames out of a full roll
 
Many thanks for taking the time to comment, it is very much appreciated.

The film in question was loaded in my Zero Image pinhole camera for about 10 weeks without any photos being taken. The camera was stored in a cupboard along with my other cameras. Since returning to film I have never stored it a fridge or freezer as I just buy packs of five as I just need them and stored in a cool(ish) room.
I have literally used hundreds of rolls of Ilford film over the years all developed in HC110 without any problems but decided to give Pyrocat HD a try after reading really good reports on it.
Hopefully just a one off.
 
I've stored all manner of film in both the fridge and the freezer for 40 years, and I've never had this issue. As a matter of fact, I do the totally not recommended: pull a box of film from the freezer, let it thaw for a day, load some holders, then put the remainder back into the freezer. On occasion, I've pulled some 120 film out of the fridge/freezer, not used it for whatever reason, and returned it to cold storage; never had any issue with this, either. Not that any of this really amounts to a hill of beans... ;)
 
The problem is I think there's now only one main supplier making 120 backing paper and they made changes to the paper, it affected Foma and Kodak in particular.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
The problem is I think there's now only one main supplier making 120 backing paper and they made changes to the paper, it affected Foma and Kodak in particular.

Ian
Click to expand...

Good to know. It is true that all the film in either my fridge or freezer is stock that I bought years ago. Honestly, at my age I probably have enough to last the remainder of my photographic life. ;)
 
Tommy said:
I have developed a 120 roll of FP4 in Pyrocat 1:1:100 for 16 minutes with 1 minute agitation followed by 1 inversion every minute. Stop bath was plain water for 30 seconds. When I scanned the negatives I noticed a strange mottled effect, like little white dots, in the sky in a couple of the negatives. You can see it clearly in the photo below. Any ideas what may have caused it?
View attachment 1769View attachment 1769
Click to expand...
I had the very same problem. I held up my stock developer to a light, I could see bits in my solution. After filtering the developer through a paper coffee filter the spots have not been present on any more negatives.
 
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