Strange markings on film

[spatz]

So i've been lingering around here and i have run into a problem which gives me the perfect opportunity to hide no more!

I discovered strange horizontal markings on my slides. You can discount lab errors as ive used vision imagelab in sydney quite a few times before and never had the problem (they use a refrema dip n dunk). The film in question is e100g but ive seen the same on e100vs. this only started after i started using a nikon FA that i recently bought, leaving my fe2 for black and white. Inspecting it under the microscope at 40x magnification with the shallow depth of field i can tell its on the base side of the film but whats even stranger is the markings can be rubbed off with soft lint free tissue and also it is an often occurring albeit intermittent marking on the rolls of film. also, under the microscope the line markings look very similar to fungal growth or a trail of miniature ice crystals... they run reasonably straight although they do look a bit like a seismometer line recording.

from this i can presume the FA is at fault, but how? its not a permanent marking (no scratch visible after i rub it away).
all i can deduce is that the camera needs cleaning or somehow 3 rolls (how much ive shot with it so far) have had some particle in the felt trap.

any thoughts or suggestions? or am i just smoking something...

[hairydale]

They do look odd but I can't see it's in the camera if the marks can be cleaned off. Also they don't look very straight so I think it's most likely something at the lab although you could try a B&W film in the camera to double check.

In a dip and dunk processor the films would be hung over hooks, film base inwards and then dunked in the chemicals so only the emulsion would be damaged by coming into contact with the sides of the tanks. The base side could, I suppose, pick up debris off dirty hangers but if the lab were any good they'd have noticed it. Were the films cut and sleeved? If so, some sleevers have a wheeled transport which, if dirty, could put marks like that on and I doubt the lab would notice as they probably don't check the films at that stage.

[Worker 11811]

I think the film was rubbing against something in the camera.

If it's done this on multiple rolls of film in factory cartridges, it likely isn't because of some crud in the cartridge opening.
Since it is from factory cartridges, there's no possibility of a problem with a bulk film loader. (These are factory cartridges? Right?)

I doubt that it occurred in processing:
A) You said it was dip-and-dunk.
B) If it occurred in a processing machine, the marks would probably be straighter.

Maybe it occurred during packaging like Hairydale said. Good possibility.

I would still check your camera. Look at the pressure plate, especially, but follow the film path from start to finish and clean/check everything along the way. There could be some crud built up inside, somewhere.

If nothing else, this will serve to eliminate a problem with your camera when you go back to your lab guys to complain.