Re: Pinholes?? In MY negatives?? Update

[Geoff McAuliffe <mcauliff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear IR List:

> Geoff McAuliffe wrote:
> >     I have been shooting HIE on and off for almost 30 years. Never have I
> > encountered the pinhole problem often discussed on this fourm. My usual
> > developer is straight D-76 but I decided to try Xtol (diluted 1:1) yesterday.
> > Many frames have small white (clear) spots of varying sizes, which I assume are
> > the dreded pinholes. The rest of my processing technique was unchanged, dilute
> > stop bath and Kodak Rapid Fixer. All chemicals are made in distilled water.

    I called Kodak, their opinion was that air bubbles were the most likely cause.
They suggested dropping the loaded reel into the tank containing developer in total
darkness and doing the usual 'bang the tank on the bench top' routine. They also said
if the problems continue that I could send them some film and they would analize it.
    I showed the film to a guy at our local pro lab who has experience with HIE, he
said pinholes which he has experience with.
    A close examinatio of the film show two of the pinholes are just off the edge of
the frame (emlusion) which means ?
    Now that I think of it, the roll in question did sit in the camera longer than
usual but that has never been a problem in the past.
    I am going to change my stop bath, usually 0.75% acetic acid, to a sodium
acetate-acetic acid formulation recommended in the "Film Developing Cookbook." This
has a higher pH but lots more buffering capacity than plain stop bath and does not
generate bubbles.
    I will shoot some more film of a different batch and develop in Xtol as before.
If I still get pinholes I'll try a second roll from the same batch with D-76.

Geoff
--
**********************************************
Geoff McAuliffe, Ph.D.
Neuroscience and Cell Biology
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854
voice: (732)-235-4583; fax: -4029
mcauliff@xxxxxxxxx
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