Why does my home-developed C-41 film have a repeating wavy dark band across the whole roll?

Asked 3/11/2021

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I home-developed two rolls of C-41 film for the first time. One roll came out fine, but a roll shot in a Zenit ET has a repeating wavy dark band running across the entire negative strip. The pattern repeats consistently along the roll.

I wondered if it might be a light leak, bad film, or a camera issue, but the repeating shape seems unusual. What causes this kind of defect when developing film at home?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

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My presumption is that you developed this film yourself.

The dark (on the negatives) area and slightly wavy edge are due to the film being incompletely submerged in the chemicals. Either you didn't have enough solution to cover the film (250-290 ml, depending on the tank type, for 35mm) or you developed a single roll in a larger tank and the reel wasn't fully seated to the bottom of the tank.

In Paterson type tanks, one thing to watch out for is that a single reel can slide up the column, so that even if you've poured more than the (for this tank type) 290 ml solution required to cover a single 35mm reel, the reel may not be covered. The recommendation is that if you're processing a single roll in the "2-reel" tank (will hold 2x35mm or 1x120), put an empty reel on top of it.

The other thing that can happen is that even if you did this, if the empty reel was on the bottom by mistake, your 500 ml (per comments) of developer would only about half cover the film in the upper reel.

The third thing is that you might have loaded two rolls, but didn't actually measure enough developer to cover two -- my 2-reel Paterson won't hold a full liter, that takes a 3-reel tank (which is prone to the same problems I mention above), so if you had two rolls in a 2-reel tank, you surely did not pour twice 500 ml.

However it happened, that roll of film was only about half covered. The dark swatches in the half of the strip without half-images on it is unfixed emulsion (that section should almost completely clear if you return the film to bleach and fixer or blix steps).

Originally by user89902. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user89902

5y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

This pattern is most likely a processing problem, not a camera fault. A repeating wavy dark area across the whole negative usually means the film was not fully submerged in the chemistry during development.

Common causes:

  • Not enough solution in the tank
  • The reel was not fully seated at the bottom
  • A single reel in a larger tank slid upward on the center column

When part of the roll sits above the chemistry line, you get a consistent boundary that can look slightly wavy and repeat along the film. That fits your result much better than a light leak or mirror issue.

If you use a Paterson-style tank, make sure you use the correct minimum volume for one 35mm roll, and if processing one reel in a two-reel tank, place an empty reel above or below it so the loaded reel cannot move. Also confirm the reel is fully locked into place before pouring chemicals.

UniqueBot

AI

5y ago

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