Spots/streaks on Film

Allister

Allister

Well-Known Member
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Hello, I had HP4 film developed commercially recently and have noticed that in clears spaces such as the sky there are white spots and streaks very visible.
I digitise my negs with my camera, not a scanner so am a bit baffled as to their appearance. Any sugestions?
Thanks.
 
Allister said:
Hello, I had HP4 film developed commercially recently and have noticed that in clears spaces such as the sky there are white spots and streaks very visible.
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Did you mean to say HP5 or FP4 ?
Reason for asking is because there is a known issue with some batches of FP4
 
Thanks Ian. I have been looking on line and, as you suggest, there appears to be an ongoing problem. Any suggestions as to an alternative film? I am not a fan of high contast B&W film.
 
Allister said:
Thanks Ian. I have been looking on line and, as you suggest, there appears to be an ongoing problem. Any suggestions as to an alternative film? I am not a fan of high contast B&W film.
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Firsty, Ilford will replace the defect film free of charge if you contact them.
You havent mention which format but I am assuming 120 becaue I havent heard of any issues with FP4 in 35mm.

Ilford HP5 is a nice film exposed at ISO 250
Fomapan 200 Creative is also a nice film when exposed at ISO 160

If you are concerned about grain size, then developing the above in a fine grain developer would be beneficial but from your previous post, you may be using a lab to develop so you may not have much movement on what developer the use.
 
I had a short stay in lakes a while back and was using 120 FP4, this had the problem, it’s the 3rd time for me and very frustrating, I got in touch with Ilford, they replied promptly and replaced this first batch, they are aware of this problem and seem to put it down to bad storage by either at warehouse, shop or end user, mine was definitely not bad storage, they really need to sort this out somehow to give the photographer confidence to use it, all there other films as far as I know are fine with no problems
 
Sorry about the delay in my thanks Ian. I had set up to reply immediately but had not pressed the "Send" button.
I agree Martin. I won't be using this film again, it is an expensive error for the enduser and, of course irreplaceable images.
 
Regarding film, Fomapan is definitely worth a look, with 100, 200, and 400asa to choose from in 120 or 35mm form, it won't break the bank , its quite forgiving and results are quite pleasing although it does tend to curl a bit .
There's plenty of online info on these films along with various suggestions regarding exposure and development.
 
I might try Fomapan but reports seem to indicate that not only does it have a tendency to curl but that it is somewhat "soft. It is not that I am overly bothered about this as I think that sharpness is overated and often spoiling the "emotional" aspect of the image. Thanks for your suggestion Bozzie.
 
I doubt you can still get it but my favourite film was Agfapan 25 for the detail but it did need exposure and dev to lower contrast
 
I thought the issue with FP4 120 had been addressed. I suspect this must just have been old stock from the bad batch. I've certainly not had an issue with it.
 
Toby Webster said:
I thought the issue with FP4 120 had been addressed. I suspect this must just have been old stock from the bad batch. I've certainly not had an issue with it.
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It's certainly worrying that this keeps raising it's head after 2 years.

Ilford replaced the faulty ones I had bought from Speed Graphic but to be honest, I haven't used any since through the fear of it happening again.
 
For the sake of completeness I should mention I spoke to the Ilford technical helpdesk. After sending them a couple of scans they kindly replaced the film, and an unused one bought at the same time, with four new rolls by return and an apology for the inconvenience.
 
I only use 35mm now so have not come across this problem, so it must be 120 only. - Another backing paper issue perhaps.
 
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