Why did my Adox Scala 160 black-and-white reversal film come out completely black?
Asked 5/20/2021
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2 answers
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I tried processing Adox Scala 160 as black-and-white reversal film using Caffenol for both developers, a hydrogen peroxide + vinegar bleach, re-exposure, and then fixing. The finished roll came out almost completely black, with only faint frame outlines visible under a strong light.
My process was:
- rinse film
- first development in Caffenol-C for 6 minutes
- rinse
- hydrogen peroxide + vinegar bleach
- rinse
- re-expose the film to light
- second development in fresh Caffenol-C for 10 minutes
- rinse
- fix in Ilford Rapid Fixer for 10 minutes
Before re-exposure, I could still see image areas on the film. What likely went wrong in the reversal process: first development time, bleach strength/time, re-exposure, second development, or fixing?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
2
Sounds like your 1st development was off and/or the peroxide (bleach) bath didn't remove the developed silver from the developed negative image, either because the dilution was off or the time was off. The fact that you can see some vestige of image points to the bleach step being the culprit.
The bleach step gets rid of the negative silver image, and the re-exposure and 2nd development affects only the silver halide which is left after the bleach step. If you leave the bleach step out, the second exposure will overexpose (blacken) the entire film strip.
Here's a guy that's doing it in a similar way. He has times and temperatures for each step.
Originally by user11772. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11772
5y ago
0
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The most likely problem was the bleach step, not the fixer or re-exposure time.
In B&W reversal processing, the first developer creates a negative silver image. The bleach must then remove that developed silver image, leaving only the remaining unexposed silver halide. After that, re-exposure and the second developer turn the remaining halide into a positive image.
If the bleach is too weak, mixed incorrectly, or used for too short a time, the original negative silver image stays on the film. Then when you re-expose and do the second development, nearly the whole strip darkens, giving an almost completely black result. Your note that you could still see image content before re-exposure strongly suggests the bleach did not fully clear the first-developed image.
So the first thing to check is your hydrogen peroxide/vinegar bleach dilution, temperature, and time. A short first development could also contribute, but the symptoms point mainly to incomplete bleaching. The fixer is unlikely to be the cause of an all-black roll.
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