X-Rays or Lab error?

[Philip]

Does anyone know what postal X-Ray damage to film looks like? 

I ordered in a box of forty slightly expired Fuji NPS160 from Ultrafine Online, which specialises in bulk-lots of older film. I've bought a couple of batches from them before and they've been fine.  But this is from the first roll of this batch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flipflik/4373083167/

[Sorry -- for some reason I can't make the image come up, so you just have the URL.]

The polka dots extend throughout the roll and, as on this shot, are worse on one side of the film.  This was shot in my "new" Elikon Avtofokus, a Russian clone of the earliest Minolta autofocus camera. Please ignore the lack of focus!

I am hoping that some kind of lab error might cause this, but there are no dried liquid stains on the negatives.

[martolod]

don't look like x ray to me.
i was talking to my photolab guy some time ago as i had some film that came back developed and it it had beautifull sine wave discolouration right along the strip..
he informed 'yep...that's x ray damage...sine wave is a dead give away...usually not really a problem if you expose the film correctly
but can be if you under expose the film....."


those splotches look kinda regular but at the moment i am at a loss to explain them...
may have google it :rolleyes:

[martolod]

this is what iwas talking about


http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/tib/tib5201.shtml#SEC47

[Philip]

Already I'm beginning to feel comforted!  Thanks.

I'm going to try another roll in the next day or so to check it out.

[Julio1fer]

X-ray gives uniform fogging. That does not look like X-ray damage.

[LarryD]

Those look like orbs from the spirit world. Looks like real bad processing... Have you tried to rewash the negatives in distilled water?

[Philip]

Larry, thanks.  I'll give a report.   First, I'll look through the other negatives on the roll to see what messages may be coming through the orbs from other worlds.   They do look like some kind of visual Morse Code.  Boy, if they are ghosts, I've got an important camera here -- there's an awful lot of souls floating around in it.

And then I may try washing the negatives.  But usually, when there is something washable on a negative's surface, you can see it in the light. So far, I can't see anything on the surface of these negatives.


By the way, Larry, have you ever tried the Elicon?  (I keep writing Elikon, but there is a non-Cyrillic transliteration on the lens cover: Elicon.) The camera is post-Soviet, but still very Russian.  Annoyingly 1980s in its technology but with a (traditional?) Industar-95 lens (f/2.8, 38mm).

[LarryD]

No but I have seen them.

[Philip]

I am glad to report that the second roll of that cheapie Fuji NPS160 film that I bought forty rolls of has been developed without any sign of the Polka Dot Pox.  That means the first roll was probably screwed up in the lab.  Whew.  In case you want to see, here's a picture off the new roll. It was shot this afternoon in my little Agfa Compact Electronic Winder.  No polka dots present.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts on the pox.

[LarryD]

That is good. But I did get some bad film from Ultrafine one time and they made good on it.. sent me a new batch free shipping and told me to keep the first batch.