Why does this expired Tri-X negative have a very dense grey base?
Asked 4/4/2020
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I shot a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 that expired in 2013. It was shipped from the US to Europe, then stored frozen for about a year before use. I exposed it at EI 250 because it was expired. After home developing in Rodinal/Adonal with Adox stop and fixer, the negatives came out with a very dense grey base across the roll. Another black-and-white film developed in the same chemistry a few days earlier looked normal.
What typically causes this kind of uniform grey base on expired black-and-white film: age fog, X-ray exposure, loading/light leak issues, or a fixing problem?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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(Disclaimer 1: This is a bit of a comment-answer, since I'm not terribly confident in it given the information we have so far. But it's too long for a comment.)
Could this be inadequate fixing? I.e. one of the following:
- Insufficient fixing time
- Fixer working solution too dilute
- Fixer working solution exhausted (has had too many rolls of film through it)
- Fixer, or working solution, past its shelf life (regardless of how many films have gone through it)
If you used the same batch of working solution for the Catlabs and Tri-X batches, how was the solution stored in between, and when had it been mixed to begin with? While I can't find the information for Adox, Ilford quotes a working solution shelf life of 1 month for their Rapid Fixer (which ought to be similar) in a half-full capped bottle. If the fixer was near exhaustion to begin with, I think it's possible it got exhausted in between the two batches.
If you still have the working solution, you could test for exhaustion by dropping a piece of film in it and seeing how long it takes to clear.
If it turns out not to be the fixer, then I'd wonder about how the film got across the pond and if it was exposed to any sorts of X-rays – but then, based on what I've seen, I wouldn't expect such a uniform effect.
(Disclaimer 2: The comparison between Catlabs and Tri-X is a bit apples and oranges, since different films have different bases. But I have insufficient experience with Kodak films to judge how far from normal what we're seeing here is.)
Originally by user83032. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user83032
6y ago
0
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A uniform dense grey base is most likely general fog.
With expired black-and-white film, the usual cause is age fog from storage before you received it. Different emulsions age differently, and if this Tri-X spent years at room temperature, 6–7 years past expiry can absolutely produce a heavy grey base. That’s why expired film is often shot at a lower EI: to keep shadow detail above the fog level.
Other possible causes mentioned are:
- X-ray exposure during shipping, which can create overall fog across the roll.
- Light exposure while loading, though that often looks less uniform.
A fixing problem is also worth checking if the negatives seem milky rather than just dark grey. Inadequate fixing can come from too-short fixing time, over-dilute or exhausted fixer, or fixer past its working life. But since another film developed in the same chemistry looked fine, simple age/storage fog is the strongest explanation here.
So yes: this is most likely ordinary fogging, probably from age and prior storage conditions, with shipping X-rays as another possible contributor.
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