K-40 and Blue Specks

[kbrady]

Over the past year or so I am seeing
uneven quality from Kodak K-40 and their processing....lots of blue
specks and even blue spots on frames over entire reels. My
cine-transfer service (CinePost) has seen it on other K-40 film also,
and also on processing by Dewayne's, who I switched to isolate the source of the blue specks...so I'm wondering if we're in the final
days of Kodak really paying attention to this product. Anyone else experiencing this?

[jefury]

I get it a lot. I suspect it's when the people are pulling the film out the cartridge. Doing so, the film gets scratched in the process and as a result, the finished product makes blue lines, or dots visible.

There isn't much demand for k-40 or super 8 as it is, that's why even though it's a cheap medium, I can barely afford it. MiniDV and video and the main consumer medium is just taking over. Anyway, I assume that since it's not so popular as others, the people who develop it don't get much pay or something and they just don't give a damn when they process the film.

It could also be the quality of the film being manufactured today.

Jeffery

[Jon P]

This happened on the first reel of K40 I ever shot and it is through some really nice slow mo stuff! Originally I thought it was the camera scratching the surface of the film at high speed but the later stuff I have shot in slo mo is fine. Will anyone be writing to Kodak about this?

[Skyliner]

This sound a lot like static on the film as it runs through the camera. Tiny sparks are bright enough to expose as blue white dots. If you use negative film then you will get black dots which are not so conspicuous. (Dont know how to stop it though!)

[BolexPlusx]

I just got a roll of K-40 with this blue spottiness back myself. Just by luck the scenes where it was severe enough to be annoying are ones I'm not using anyway. It was a humid July day along a river, so the air should have been moist enough to hold static electricity down inside the camera.

One interesting thing is I ran a second cartridge after I finished this one and just sent it for processing after finishing it two weeks later. It will be interesting (and maybe disturbing) to see how it comes out.

Who at Kodak/Qualex do we gripe to about this?

[sharonhardy]

I've also been seeing these blue specks on K40 film I got processed at Kodak. So I contacted Dwayne's to find out if they had seen this. This was their reply:

Thank You for your question. Yes, we have had some people calling to complain. What you see is static fog and has to occur before the film is in the first developer. The cases we are seeing lately are from the Super 8 cartridge itself. Kodak had this same problem about three years ago. The cartridge produced Chatter and as the camera moves the film through the gate a small static charge is created and fogs the film. You see that fog as a blue dotted line that runs parallel to the perforations when the film is
processed. I would try a film with a different expiration date. Please let me know if you require additional assistance.

[BolexPlusx]

Well, that's just dandy! The cartridge in question was from the same March, 2004 expiration date as the other nine in my fridge, and the two I have at Kodak right now. (as well as about ten I've used in the past year.)

-Think I'll shoot some black and white for a while!

Sharon, thanks for the info.

[Scottness]

I thought this was also caused by the film changing temperature too quickly - perhaps tha could be afactor in static charge as well - apparently 16mm day light reels do this too

Scot

[BolexPlusx]

Interesting possibility.

The roll in question was taken out of my refrigerator that day and allowed to warm up inside the package maybe two hours before I opened it up. It was July 4th and very hot.

As far as you know, does allowing the film to warm up too quickly produce a permanent change in it or just temporary? If other words: if I waited a few more hours before I exposed the same roll of film that day, might the problem still be there?

[BolexPlusx]

Just as a follow up:

I began a second cartridge the same day I shot the one with the blue spotting, I finished it two weeks later and sent it in just as I got the problem cartridge back.

1) Same film (K40)
2) Same Expiration Date (March 2004)
3) Same Camera (Bolex 150 Super)
4) Same environment (Sticky, hot Long Island July day along the Carman's River)
5) Same Lab (Whichever mystery lab is doing Kodak's prepaid processing in North America these days, Dwayne's, Switzerland, France....whatever theory appeals.)

The second came back pristine, perfect, beautiful.

What's the difference?:
1) The second one got about two hours extra out of the refrigerator before I opened and exposed it.

2) The second one was processed about two weeks later

Draw your own conclusions, or just remain baffled like me.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 01, 2003 10:58 PM: Message edited by: BolexPlusx ]</font>