Rebleached Film

Chris Settlemoir · April 20, 2005

I am a student at California State University Northridge and I just shot my first film project. The film stock I used was Kodak Tri-X Reversal Film 7266. I dropped it off at the processing place and when I cam back the next day to pick up the film they said that they had made a mistake! Since this is my first film project I am not completely familiar with the process but they said that they messed up with the bleaching part. Apparently it didn't get enough bleach and the film came out with a dark streak along the entire length of the roll. (They showed me the film and I could see the streak.) They said that they would rebleach it and to come back later. When I came back later they had rebleached the film and the streak had been removed. Is this bad for the film? Does rebleaching the film have any effect on picture quality?

Thanks for any help/advice!

Chris

John Pytlak RIP · April 20, 2005

I am a student at California State University Northridge and I just shot my first film project. The film stock I used was Kodak Tri-X Reversal Film 7266. I dropped it off at the processing place and when I cam back the next day to pick up the film they said that they had made a mistake! Since this is my first film project I am not completely familiar with the process but they said that they messed up with the bleaching part. Apparently it didn't get enough bleach and the film came out with a dark streak along the entire length of the roll. (They showed me the film and I could see the streak.) They said that they would rebleach it and to come back later. When I came back later they had rebleached the film and the streak had been removed. Is this bad for the film? Does rebleaching the film have any effect on picture quality?

Thanks for any help/advice!

Chris

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Here is the process sequence for the B&W reversal process:

http://www.kodak.com/US/plugins/acrobat/en....4.4.8.16&lc=en

Process Sequence The following table contains a general description of what happens during the processing steps of typical black-and-white reversal motion picture films.

First Developer Develops the camera-exposed light-sensitive silver halide crystals to metallic silver (a negative image). Time and temperature control are critical for optimum results.

Wash Removes first developer from the film.

Bleach Dissolves the metallic-silver negative image produced in the first developer but does not affect the remaining silver halide.

Wash Removes excess bleach from the film.

Clearing Bath Removes any bleach left from the wash step and prepares the film for redevelopment.

Re-exposure Exposes the silver halide crystals that were not exposed in the camera.

Second Wash Removes second developer.

Fixer Removes any undeveloped silver halide grains. This step should yield minimal silver.

Wash Removes fixer from the film.

Dryer Dries the film in preparation for printing or projection.

The process manual notes:

Bleach?The bleach dissolves the metallic-silver negative image that is produced in the first developer but does not affect the remaining undeveloped silver halide.Occasionally, the bleach can cause heavy density and streakiness to appear in the picture after the second developer. This may result from insufficient agitation, improper mixing, or from an increase in pH of the bleach due to use of the bleach solution beyond its capacity.

Since "rebleaching" would turn your silver image back to silver halide, which would then be removed in the fix, I suspect your lab just "rewashed" the film, which would not have any adverse effect.

Chris Settlemoir · April 20, 2005

Thanks for the information. It helps a lot.

I am pretty sure that they "rebleached" the film because they gave me a discount and next to the discounted price they wrote "film needed to be rebleached."

Chris Settlemoir · April 30, 2005

Does anyone else have any input?

If the lab actually rebleached my film would the rebleaching process take off emulsion that wasn't supposed to some off? Did I get ripped off because I was a student who didn't know any better?

Thanks.

Kevin Zanit · April 30, 2005

Well I agree with John, as far as I can tell it just sounds like they re-washed it. Pretty much John is the end all when it comes to this stuff (look at his signature), he seems to think you are safe, and I would tend to agree with him.

The simplest solution would be to just project it and see if it looks correct. Seeing as Yale is the only company in LA I am aware of that doe?s process normal of reversal, I assume it was them. I have had very good experiences with the lab, and they are always very fair to students (they are their bread and butter). I don't think they ripped you off. They did discount it after the student discount to makeup for their mistake.

You had a lab actually admit they were wrong, that hardly ever happens (and it also hardly ever happens that labs make major mistakes), so I am pretty sure they were strait with you. If there are any problems you missed that were processing related, then a full refund and replacement of the stock is normal.

Kevin Zanit

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · April 30, 2005

He probably said re-bleach because that is what you might do in a similar situation with a negative stock. Not with a reversal stock. He probably just mis-spoke.