I'm having problems peeling apart the film before I even get it to the paper. I develop the film for 15-20 seconds. Then when I carefully peel it apart, I get globs of the black goo (how's that for proper terminology?) sticking to the positive and the negative is of course also compromised because there's no emulsion in some of the places where it should be. I have tried two packets of film both of which have been stored in the fridge and allowed to come to room temp prior to making the transfer and have almost a year left before they expire. I am using a DayLab Jr and 669 film. Is this a film problem?

-- Mary Sharman (sharm@methow.com), October 13, 2000

Answers

Mary, Usually the problem you're describing is caused by having too many dark areas in your image. I can't remember what the typical processing time is for 669 but I do know that you don't want to let it fully process. If you let it fully process all of the chemicals are transferred to the positive. If you think your slides are not too dark or "contrasty" then try to reduce your exposure of your slide to the 669 by half and see what happens. You can also drop your process time by 3 seconds and see what that does. I usually figure I'm going to waste 1/2 to a whole pack of film to get my exposure and processing right. Start with trying to print one good positive before you make a transfer. Then try to do a transfer by cutting your process time in half. I think that if transfer appears too light you've let it process too long. Once you get a medium contrast slide to look right the rest of your slides should use similar settings and time. Good luck. Todd

-- Todd Walker (twalker@archvision.com), October 13, 2000.

Hi Mary!

I really don't know why you are getting Black Goo and it has never happened to me but Kathleen Carr mentions something in her book that sounds similar so I will just quote that. It is on p36.

"A thin layer of brownish developer appears on areas of the positive. Polaroid calls this problem "goo-stick". It prevents the dyes from transferring, leaving matching white areas on the trasnfer. The main cause is prematurely separating the positive and negative, so extend the developing time another 5 seconds. Also, if the goo-stick is at the pod end, you might not have pulled the film straight out of the film holder. When you pull the film through the rollers at an angle instead of straight out, the chemistry isn't spread evenly between the positive and negative. There is much less developer on the leading tab edge, so it is affected the most. To prevent this, pull both tabs firmly straight out - not up, down, or to the sides."

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Angela

-- Angela Winholtz (angmaywin@hotmail.com), October 16, 2000.