Friday Tip - Airbells on Your Negative? A Strategy to Stop Them.

Today's tip is a strategy to stop airballs forming in your skies. They can be so hard to get rid of and can even ruin a negative so here I show you how I deal with that possibility.
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John Finch
Pictorial Planet
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[@raybeaumont7670]

I always, always, always use a water pre-bath. Even for stand or 2 bath development. NEVER had a problem with air-bells - from 35mm to 4x5 sheets. But your tip is superb for those who encounter such problems. Cheers John!

[@mnoliberal7335]

Yes this has been helpful to me. Been processing 35mm for decades and never thought about where the sky is in the tank.

[@randallstewart1224]

I consider this one of the two most consequential film processing channels on YT. For that reason only, I'll limit may comment to saying that suggesting that poor processing technique be addressed by hiding the damage rather than correcting bad practice is appalling. I suffered airbells twice, in 1959, when I was 13 years old. Once I learned what was happening, it never happened again.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes, that was an old negative of mine and I agree that hiding bad technique is not the way to deal with it but I still think it's better to put the sky at the bottom of the tank :) You are very kind in your comment! Thank you!! Who's the other channel?

[@azadpeymaparham]

@@PictorialPlanet there's no other channel as informative, structured and educational on YT.

[@alanhuntley55]

What a great tip, John! I rarely get air bells, but I'm definitely going to start loading my film into the tank as you described.

[@Vintage35MM]

Hi John. I’m using a hybrid system of developing B&W negatives, then scanning. A side benefit to this is that in editing software one can use something analogous to a healing brush and easily fix the air bells. However all exposure edits have to be done first, otherwise the healing edits will show up as lighter or darker spots. But that said, this is a good tip of putting the sky to the bottom of the tank.

[@naturelvr123]

Good point for those just starting out . Well, maybe for the old timers too! Cheers :)

[@gregpantelides1355]

Great Tip!!! Thank you, John!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks, Greg!

[@NazeemDollie-pd4rs]

Excellent tip sir. I can also suggest to fix the centre spindle in place first with the flange on the same right hand side to where the sky would be on the film cassette. It means you will always put the reel in the right way.

[@LJ45Chimera]

I've never had these bubbles. After agitating the tank I swirl it clockwise then anticlockwise then tap it. Seems to work for me :)

[@garysamson1291]

Often, airbells are caused by Photo Flo or other wetting agents that remain on the plastic developing reel after processing. The Photo Flo wetting agent is reactivated the next time the reel is used causing this problem. Even if the reel is completely rinsed, some wetting agent will remain. Film should be removed from the reel and placed in a container, (do not use the film tank) with fresh Photo Flo. You can remove this build up of Photo Flo by pouring boiling water on the reel and using a toothbrush to scrub the reel. I encountered this problem many years ago when my students were in the habit of placing their developed and washed film into Photo Flo while the film was still on the plastic reel. Fuji Acros 100 is particularly prone to this problem by the way.

[@lilkngstr]

Interesting keeping track of orientation of the negative into the tank. Perhaps you should look onto why you are getting them. Based on my experiences, I no longer photoflo in the dev tank. It leaves residuals that carries over and makes everything more bubbly. I tend use more than the min recommended volume so any bubbles that do form stay away from the reel, in addition to pounding and gentle agitations.

[@alvarosuareztrabanco5400]

Thank you for this video. Every tip is a gem!

[@stephendeakin2714]

I do it that way around for another reason, there is a circular chamber in the reel which I believe if the central black spigot is inserted blocking, means when tipping fluid out, quite a bit gets carried over, whereas if done the way you show, it's open and empties away easily. How much actual difference it makes I've no idea, but I prefer doing it that way around. Never thought about the sky aspect. Years ago I fussed about experimenting with dislodging air bells and found that at least three taps on work surface needed, I also briefly, once the tank is standing still drum my fingers on the outside of the dev tank, that really makes sure air bells are dissipated. And it's also a reason to use the twiddling stick for intermediate agitation.

[@StuartLowPhotography]

Sorry, but this is nonsense. This was a hack that did the rounds decades ago and made no difference whatseoever. The biggest culprit for bubbles is tap water that has not been left to stand long enough or modern taps with aereated flow reducers. i.e. air is disolved as smaller bubbles that form into larger bubbles over time/temperature. The only sure fire way to eradicate bubbles is to use a pre-soak, tank tapping and proper agitation.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Well, we know that good agitation technique and tapping helps, I talk about them in many of my videos. Pre-soak is not as important. From experience I only use a pre-soak in winter to bring up tank temperature and I don't get air bells in summer or winter. No, this is for people, like me, who want to help ensure that should an airbell occur it'll be on the bottom of the frame where it's less noticeable than on the top. It's insurance. I would not call that nonsense.

[@torcklom]

What about 120 film?

[@PictorialPlanet]

@torcklom You need the video after this one. BTW, welcome.