Water spots - even after photo flo

[titrisol]

After washing (in my case 4 or 5 changes of water) do 2 changes of water with distilled water (don't bother with photoflo).  That normally takes the spots away.

There were some people that used to soak the film in rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl) or spray it over  the film for fast spotless drying but I have never tried and can not recommend such method

Last night I put the 3 frame strip with the spots into a tray of 20 degree C water for about 3 min, with some agitation. Then added Photo-Flo, and some more mild agitation, the spots are still there. (I hung it to dry overnight) ...I think I will get a print made so I can scan and share.

I certainly am having fun developing...my problem is getting time to shoot, especially when the sun is setting earlier and earlier...today will be 7:24 pm. I get home at 6, and usually finish dinner at about 7. That leaves the weekend....or I gotta get more night photography going. (and/or faster film)

[Conrad Hoffman]

I hesitate to offer this advice, as I'm completely incapable of following it myself, but the light can be just excellent early in the morning. If you can get up a bit earlier, and maybe make a detour on the way to work, you can get some nice shots. Since I like to stay up till 2 a.m., this technique doesn't work for me  

[ImageMaker]

I certainly am having fun developing...my problem is getting time to shoot, especially when the sun is setting earlier and earlier...today will be 7:24 pm. I get home at 6, and usually finish dinner at about 7. That leaves the weekend....or I gotta get more night photography going. (and/or faster film)

Seems to me you have your priorities fouled up.

Photography when there's light; you can always eat after dark.  

[Andre Reinders]

Here are the dreaded spots! :evil:



This was the worst frame, but there were some on the last 3....

[Dean Williams]

Andre, these don't look like water spots, to me.  Each of these spots would be a less dense area on the film, and that's why they are dark on the print.  Possibly air bells?

Water spots look like an area that shows up lighter than the rest of the print, and are shaped more like a drop of water, (sort of a tear drop shape). Or, in the case of a long streak of water, it will look like a small river running through the print that is slightly lighter than the rest of the tones.

These are mostly completly round, and on the neg would be less dense than the rest of the shot.  If it is airbells, it's from tiny bubbles on the film during part of the development.  The area where each bubble is gets less development, resulting in less dense areas on the neg.  This causes the print to show them up as darker than the rest of the print.

This can also happen from tiny drops of fix hitting the film before development.  In that case, though, the spots would probably be almost completly black on the print.

Only other thing I can think of would be a film defect, but I don't think that is too likely.

Do you tap your dev tank on a solid surface as soon as you have poured in the developer?

[Mike Kovacs]

I think Dean may be onto something.  My developing sequence always includes a sharp rap on the counter after every inversion sequence to eliminate air bubbles.

[Andre Reinders]

Do you tap your dev tank on a solid surface as soon as you have poured in the developer?

I did not on the first few rolls I developed - but I did start to....

I may not have done it fo this roll though - thanks for the education. Your comments on the shape certainly make sense.

[titrisol]

Those look like air bubbles indeed.

Drying marks would prints white

TO make sure, look at the film with a loupe and see whether the spots are "ON" the film or are "IN" the emulsion.

[Glenn Thoreson]

They look likeair bells to me. Look at them closely with a loupe to see if there is an almost imperceptible ring around each one. It doesn't always show up but if it's there, it's proof positive they are bells.

[Dean Williams]

Andre, I have an example of a water spot here.  This is on 35mm film, and you wil see that it is quite a bit larger than the spots on your film.  Airbells can be so small, in some cases, that you can't see them on a neg untill you enlarge it to a print.  Water spots are usually plainly visible with the naked eye, and they will show a slight sheen if you angle the negative in the light.  

This one is fairly small, but can still be seen on the neg.  It's very obvious at 8x10.

A scan of the print;



And a blow up of the area with the spot.



The density of the entire area will change, more or less, depending on the minerals in your water.  Most noticable at the edge of the spot.