After I have washed and air dried 120 Fuji Neopan 400 film, a line of hardened "droplets" is left on the non emulsion side of the film. My usual procedure after washing the film is to give it a final treatment in demineralised water with 2 drops of photoflo (I used to use 6 drops but found that this left even more droplets on the film after drying). I have never experienced this problem with Kodak, Agfa or Ilford films using the same washing treatment. Can anyone suggest ways to prevent this?

-- John Stewart (stewartj@hotkey.net.au), September 02, 1999

Answers

Use a photo sponge to remove the excess water. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), September 03, 1999.

I usually remove all surface water from my films by putting the spools in a salad spinner and rotating them for a while. I described the procedure in detail in a post to this list some time ago.

To remove the stains from the films, try washing them again in deminerlised water or dilute acetic acid, if necessary. If you use acid, be sure to wash the film in water again afterwards.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), September 03, 1999.

Also some people have found that Photo Flo works best if mixed according to the directions. Using a lot less may actually make spotting more likely.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), September 03, 1999.

Now that I read your complaint I remember seeing simular spots on my recently air dried neopan roll and guess I need to change the photo flow mix . the spots did come off with a soft cotton wipe but should not have collected in the first place. A chamioux wipe while wet is in order. Russ...

-- Russell E Brubaker (brbkr@macs.net), September 03, 1999.