What's wrong with this?

[photophorous]

Hi Everyone,

Please let me know if you have any idea what could have caused the darkness in the middle of this frame. One other had the same problem, but not as bad. The rest of the roll looks fine. It's 120 film, these are frames 4 and 5, and I developed it myself.

Thanks,
Paul

[Photo-John]

Looks like it might have gotten fogged. This usually happens when you're loading it in the reel. How light-tight is the space you're loading your film? It's critical that it's completely light tight for film.

The next potential trouble area is agitation. Are you agitating consistently when you're developing? If you don't you could end up with one part of the film not getting developed as well as another. My guess is still fogging when you're loading. But check your agitation, too.

[photophorous]

Thanks for the reply John. Seems like agitation is more likely the problem, since the two bad frames were 4th and 5th. The ones at either end were fine. I probably did mess up the agitation. I'll pay closer attention next time.

Thanks again,
Paul

[another view]

I'm guessing agitation too. If it was fogging or if the reel was loaded wrong, the problem would be even worse IME. Not that I've done a ton of it, but I do know how to make mistakes.

[Photo-John]

Yeah - when the reel is loaded wrong you usually have undeveloped emulsion left on the film. It is easy to have problems loading 120 film, though.

How do you agitate? It's good to be really anal about it. It's so critical that changing your routine a little bit can totally change the look of your film. It's also important to give the cannister a good whack to get all the bubbles out.

[almo]

Coming from 3 years of ProLab experience, this is fog. Ueven aggitation has a different look to it.

[photophorous]

Thank you all for your comments.

This photo is from the first roll through a Yashica-MAT 124G, I bought recently. Any ideas how the film could have gotten fogged? Could it be a problem with the camera? What confuses me is that only frames 4 and 5 were affected. I'm sure the camera didn't get opened. It was in it's leather case the whole time.

Thanks,
Paul

[almo]

You could have light leaks around the film door/back. Could be a leaky prisim. All kinds of things.

Check this link for more info:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/leaks.html

[another view]

Medium format roll film needs extra care - more than 35mm canisters - when handling. Since it's not the edges that show this, then I'm guessing it didn't happen in the camera or when the film was loaded/unloaded. My guess is that it happened when you were loading the developing tank.

[drg]

First I'm only seeing one photo so my data is limited.

I believe everybody is right, it is fogging, but it looks like chemical fogging which isn't exactly an agitation problem. Once in a while when loading a reel the film will buckle slightly, particularly bad with MF film, and the film develops little pockets and sort of holds the chemicals in one place too long. PJ suggestions of tapping (or pounding perhaps!) the tank to break up bubbles also helps with this usually.

The only other suggesion is to make sure that your reel is not bent in one spot, and that it is clean. Crud (an important technical term) can build up over time even on stainless and will make the film ride over it and if catches an edge or production notch and will buckle. Even slightly will be a problem. The film should smoothly go into the reel. Sacrifice a roll or use a developed uncut roll that is thoroughly dry and load the reel in bright light and make sure it doesn't hang up anywhere.

I've seen this in the past on adjacent frames. If the camera is hanging up, it usually just gets worse and worse.

There always the flashlight test. After loading the camera in a dark room, shine a flashlight around all the 'openings' film door, magazine slide (N/A this is a TLR right?), through the lens on the shutter and so forth. Then advance the film without making an exposure. Use most of the roll and towards the end do the same thing. If you have a light leak you'll find out in one roll.

Other wise its a developing issue and may save a trip to the repair shop.

Good luck and let us know !