Kascade7 wrote:
I don't know...mine was 120 too. No such problem with Ilford B&W or Tri-x.
What I've been noticing is that film has a tendency to curl more in winter than summer; I run a shower to humidify the bathroom but it's really dry here in winter and I suspect the film ends up drying too rapidly and that may explain the curling and cupping I've been seeing this winter. I shot all my Kentmere 400 in 120 during the summer and it always dried flat. But I even had cupping on two rolls of Delta 400 this winter.
I dry my negatives in a small half bathroom with a shower. Before hanging them, I run the shower for a few minutes to steam the room and knock down any airborne dust. I also bring in a space heater with the fan on and keep the shower curtain drawn to hold in warmth — especially helpful in winter since the room is in a cool basement. With this setup I get very minimal dust, processing 4–6 rolls a week on average.
A couple of processing steps that help: I do a two-minute one-shot Perma Wash before my final five-minute rinse, followed by a one-minute Photo-Flo bath using distilled water. My negatives dry evenly without residue or leftover fixer, and streaking has become very infrequent — when it does happen, I think it's usually the result of poorly spooled film on the reel rather than the wash process.
My experience - as far away as possible from a heating/AC vent. In my current case, this is clean basement and simply hanging from a rack where there is not too much air movement. This is actually working better than in shower which is closer to an air vent. And make sure your heater/AC unit is equipped with a newer filter in any case.
ssquires4 wrote:
Photoflow, and then hang them in the shower after you've run it. Don't forget them and immediately sleeve them after about 2 hours, and you're golden.
Also you can always use a scanner with digital ICE/dust removal
I found Fotoflow more of a debit than benefit. Got much better results just from rinsing in the end with distilled water and shaking off droplets before unwinding from the reel. And digital dust removal only works for color negatives/positives but not for B&W.
