Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/08/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Neil and all, The random scratches actually sound like one of the exit rollers either from the stabilizer or from the dryer going south. In the chemical tanks there is enough friction(drag of the film behind the leader card) that the film goes pretty straight and any scratches are fairly straight. However, if the pickup roller at the front of the dryer has a bad gear/tooth then the film will back up behind the leader card and scratches will occur on the base side of the film. If the exit roller to the dryer goes south then film can back up in the dryer with damage anywhere on the film: once the leader card is out the film is pushed out with one or more sets of pinch rollers. Depending on the rollers all kinds of interesting things can happen to film. Abrasion marks and debris on the film are a classic case of very poor film handling after the film is out of the chemistry: horizontal abrasions are from pushing the film into the printer or the film cutter. Debris is a dirty lab and filthy habits. 0.02 Don don.dory@gmail.com On 8/27/05, Neil Schneider <neilsimages@pipeline.com> wrote: > > On Aug 26, 2005, at 5:25 PM, feli wrote: > > > How much dirt and scratches are you folks encountering from C-41 > > processing? > > > > Recently I've had a few lousy runs with film coming back and looking > > like > > it was dragged across the floor a few times for that "newsreel" look. > > And we are not talking about the drugstore on the corner. > > > > Very annoying and time consuming. > > > > I have to admit that is one big advantage that shooting digital has... > > > > feli > > > > I would bet that none of these places clean the rollers when they > replenish chemicals. > This would be the source of the scratches and nubs on the negs. > An old problem going back years, even at the papers I've worked at, & > they should > of known better. Comes down to a time saving factor and inexperience. > > Neil > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >