Why is my developed 35mm color negative film green instead of orange?
Asked 5/20/2020
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I’m home-developing 35mm color negative film and scanning it on an Epson V600. Most rolls come out with a green/blue base instead of the normal orange mask, and those frames scan with a strong color cast. On some rolls, the last few frames look normal and the film base there is orange. What causes a greenish film base on developed color negative film, and is this a development problem or something else?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
1
The film is light struck. The cyan/green coloration is because the yellow-forming and cyan-forming layers of the film are the first two at the surface, while the (Fuji only) green-forming and red-forming are below them, so a faint light falling on the surface of the film will preferentially expose those layers (also, the cyan dye is much stronger, visually, than yellow, so it'll show more).
The image areas in the portion of the roll that's affected likely also have a cast that will scan or print as yellow/orange. If the unaffected frames are at the end of the roll, there may have been an accident with the back of the camera that exposed only the film that was already out of the cassette. Since this is happening with a majority of your films, you might also look for things like a wristwatch with a light that can come on automatically (in the changing bag), pulling your arms out of the bag sleeves while the film is open, or other sources of small amounts of light while you're loading the film into the processing tank.
Originally by user89902. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user89902
6y ago
0
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This is most likely not a chemistry issue. The green/cyan look points to light-struck film.
When color negative film is accidentally exposed to light, the upper emulsion layers can be affected first, producing a cyan/green cast in the film base and in the scanned images. If the unaffected frames are at the end of the roll, that suggests only the portion already pulled out of the cassette was exposed.
Likely causes include a camera back being opened accidentally, a camera light leak, or handling/loading issues that let light hit the film. Since it’s happening on multiple rolls and with two cameras, also check your loading and handling workflow, not just the cameras. If only one camera does it, inspect its door seals and back. If both do it, look for something common such as how the film is stored, loaded, or removed.
So: the odd green base is probably from unwanted light exposure, not from normal color development itself.
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