Chose a quick dip and dunk dev over a proper rotary tank. Total disaster.

I had a roll of Portra 400 from a trip to the coast and I was SO excited to develop it. My friend told me to use his rotary processor at the darkroom but I figured I'd save time and just do a manual dip and dunk in a tall tank. Big MISTAKE. The film got all tangled up on the reel and I ended up with massive uneven development across like 20 frames. Some shots are totally clear on one side and black on the other. It looks like a weird abstract art project instead of beach photos. I should have just waited the extra 20 minutes for the rotary machine. Has anyone else ruined a roll by trying to rush through hand processing?

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wendy_murphy164mo ago

I actually read a post on Photrio last week where someone talked about the exact same thing happening with a dip and dunk tank. They said the key is to make sure the reel is absolutely bone dry before loading, and apparently even a tiny bit of moisture can cause the film to stick and tangle. Portra 400 is so forgiving in a lot of ways but it seems like it's really sensitive to uneven development too. I've always been a bit scared of manual tanks for that reason, so I just stick with my old rotary tube now even if it takes a little longer. Twenty frames ruined is rough though, that's basically a whole roll of memories gone.

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avery_fox934mo ago

Oh man, twenty frames down the drain. That's rough, but hey, now you have a good excuse to go shoot another roll. Silver linings, right?

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