Trials and Tribulations of Tmax

Tmax (TMY-2) defect example

Tmax (TMY-2) defect example- close up of backing
(see the 10) and mottled pattern

I bought a bunch of different emulsions about a year ago to try out in my Mamiya C-330. I got some Fomapan in 100, 200, and 400 speeds (under Freestyle's Arista.edu label,) a pro pack of my old favorite Fuji Acros, and a propack of both T-Max 100 and 400.

Just having developed a roll of the T-Max 400 I had a bit of a surprise. The good part of the surprise was the new emulsion's tonality looked great when I pulled it from the hangar. But on closer inspection I was a bit concerned.

I thought I could see some modeling or splotchy pattern. I convinced myself it was because I was looking holding the lupe to a window and I must be wrong. But a quick scan on a Epson Perfection v750 scanner confirmed my fears.

I figured at first I must have done something wrong - perhaps my development technique was to blame?

But further examination led to a different conclusion.

The strange thing was that the most recent photos on the roll suffered from the blotchy pattern, not the photos taken months ago! Numbers from the paper backing were visible in some of the negatives in addition to the blotchiness. I knew that it wasn't a light leak, one of the two uses I had for the Mamiya setup was for long daylight exposures. I've been putting really dark neutral density filters on the taking lens and making multi-minute exposures in broad daylight.

Later I scanned a few negs I'd developed months ago. I hadn't looked closely at the TMX roll until now, So I don't recall how long the film sat in the camera partially exposed. But clearly there is a big problem here too- the letters Kodak are visible in the frame along with blotches.

Tmax 100 (TMX) defect sample close-up
showing Kodak logo bleeding into frame

Contact sheet showing which photos were effected

Comments

Linhof Serial Year List - Salomon Says

Recently I've acquired a few Linhof cameras. I got a 5x7 view camera from Oakland Museum's White Elephant Sale. Later I stumbled upon a Color Kardan 90 Jahre Jubalaeum edition on Craigslist. And more recently, I found a "baby Technika" 2x3 (6x9) at Oakland's East Bay Depot for Creative Re-use. Not knowing much about Linhof large format cameras, I tried getting more info online, and came across a strange thread on the Large Format Photography Forum . Basically on this thread various Linhof owners ask a guy named Bob Salomon what year their Linhof was made. And the thread is over 100 pages long! Sifting through that thread is mindnumbing. Why Bob doesn't just publish the list of serial numbers is beyond me. Maybe it's just nice to feel needed. So I started compiling a spreadsheet of the serial numbers and the answer Bob gives. If you don't feel like spending a couple days reading this thread to get a hint as to the age of your Lin

Should I ditch my Sony a6500 for a A7r IV?

Recently, I bought a Sony a7r IV. The main reason was for stock photography. The high resolution along with improved focusing and biggish buffer would allow me to make better people (and other) stock photos for my various stock endeavors. The Sony system has treated me well. I own two A7r II's for stock and other work, and two a6500's for event photography. The A7r II's aren't ideal for events for a couple reasons. The focus tracking is pretty good, but maybe not enough for fast paced people on stage. Another reason is that silent shooting is only available on single shot mode. And (admittedly a first world problem,) the files are much bigger than needed. Well, the last problem, too big files isn't an issue with the A7rIV if you use it in APS-c mode. The files are effectively the same size as the a6500: 24 mp. Focus with the IV is even faster and more effective than the very capable a6500. And with those smaller files, the IV has no problem with buffer overflow. So

From the Archive: Obsolete Film Data Sheet Scans - ORWO Information

Here's a sheet I got from writing ORWO Technischer Kundendienst back in the 1980's. It lists development times for all the ORWO Black and White films sold for export at the time (NP15, NP22, NP 27) combined with western developers Microphen, Atomal, Rodinal, Refinal, D-76, & ID-11. A little bit of ORWO history- Germany's big photo film/paper manufacturer up until Germany's losing WWII was AGFA (short for A ktien G esellschaft F ür A nilinfabrikation - or corporation for some sort of plastic manufacture.) Germany was occupied by the winning powers USSR/USA/GB/FR and the rift between the USSR led to some complications for industries. Depending on your view of history the US and western allies were much friendlier to the land they occupied (remember the USSR lost many millions of their citizens to the NAZIs which made them much less tolerant.) In any case, some factories in the east moved to the west with many key employees. Most photo enthusiasts know of the t

Lensbusters.com

Search This Blog