loading IR in the light? use a tent?

[eddie gunks]

here is the second shot

[DaveOttawa]

okay, some scans i found. maybe it is no the PP.

the first is the worse. it is the longest expired stuff. the second is the same batch just taken earlier last year.

...i thought i was on top of this by just ordering new film...

eddie

Oh dear. These are the worst HIE pinholes I've ever seen. The pattern looks random to me = NOT the pp.
As far as I can tell from the scan exposure looks like something you can work with though.
New film will probably be a lot better if it's been stored cool since purcahse and is processed promptly after exposure, so far your results seem to point to aged film as a factor.
Personally I've shot w Nikon F601 & FM2, Voigtlander R2 & L with no problems I could connect with the camera, students have used all sorts of SLR's old & new with no cam problems (other than the known Canon counter issue).

[keithwms]

Shooting IR with a rangefinder is a real pleasure. I never cared to do it with an SLR, I tried but found it too cumbersome.

Anyway, just for comparison, here are some hole-patterns seen by Walter Ash in aged HIE:

http://www.lightcafe.net/forums/view...hp?f=39&t=6334

(Walter hope you don't mind...)

[PhotoBob]

I have used a Harrison tent quite a bit and have not had any problems with my IR film, i.e., loading and unloading.
However, I have my tent set up in my garage and not outside.

[winger]

I've used a darkroom, a dark closet, and a changing bag (not rubberized, but in shade) to load HIE. Each has worked fine. I've also used HIE a year past its exp date (fridged the whole time) and not had spots like those. Maybe I was lucky?

[DaveOttawa]

Maybe I was lucky?

Yes, fridge probably helped too.

A thought: earlier on in thsi thread the lack of anti-halation layer on HIE was mentioned, maybe that IS a factor in causing pinholes. Not through any optical effect but because the emulsion is in contact with the uncoated film base (Estar I think in this case) rather than an antihalation layer as in typical panchromatic films. The exact mechanism I could not guess at (even though this the internet...) but but maybe it is a factor.

[keithwms]

I think it's probably a combination of the low-energy sensitization of the film and the static issues that make HIE more susceptible to cosmic ray damage.

In the past when loading IR films (not HIE but another one) I actually saw static flashes in the dark! Uh oh! This is perhaps relevant because ionizing cosmic radiation will probably be more likely to seed defects in a more staticky film.

Also, in school, I recall seeing pinholes in film taken up in a weather balloon, and this was attributed to ionizing radiation. I can't find an example online, that kind of demonstration precedes the internet; nowadays people take up solid state detectors. But I guess NASA still uses silver halide film for dosimetry:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/...radiation.html

Perhaps an antistatic and/or antifogging prewash might help. Any high-altitude recon guys or gals on here? They must have faced this issue at high altitude when using IR film.

[eddie gunks]

thanks guys. i will spring for another roll from my local rip-off-shop (read $15/roll) to test to put myself at easy. my friends/clients really want IR shots so i do not want to F it up on something as simple as old film.

as you can see the images were from SE Asia and an airplanme was used to get there....and it was hot theree.....and....and ...and

thanks for all the help. i will post again as i learn from my tset tomorrow and i will post again after Sat. wedding.

cheers

eddie

[DaveOttawa]

I think it's probably a combination of the low-energy sensitization of the film and the static issues that make HIE more susceptible to cosmic ray damage.

In the past when loading IR films (not HIE but another one) I actually saw static flashes in the dark! Uh oh! This is perhaps relevant because ionizing cosmic radiation will probably be more likely to seed defects in a more staticky film.

Also, in school, I recall seeing pinholes in film taken up in a weather balloon, and this was attributed to ionizing radiation. I can't find an example online, that kind of demonstration precedes the internet; nowadays people take up solid state detectors. But I guess NASA still uses silver halide film for dosimetry:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/...radiation.html

Perhaps an antistatic and/or antifogging prewash might help. Any high-altitude recon guys or gals on here? They must have faced this issue at high altitude when using IR film.

Sorry old bean but none of the above seems to apply at all to the OP's stated and shown (see scans) problem. He is observing black spots on prints/white spots (holes, lack of density) on the neg emulsion, you are talking about various effects which would lead to extra density on the neg.

[Cor]

I have used quite few rolls of outdated HIE, and never observed this problem. I do store my film in the freezer (-20degC).

It has been reported in the past that the sheetfilm version (HSI) was plagued with pinholes (as can be seen in the photograph of above link), it was rumored that that was one of the reasons Kodak quited making this film (another was the declining sales to the army), and it indeed resembles the problkems of the OP

Best,

Cor