spot/mark on my film photos

[heshanj]

i was just going thru some of my shots taken on my last film roll, which was scanned and developed at a lab. taken on my nikon FM2n film SLR, and 50mm f1.8 AI lens

today, i noticed this speck on one spot on the images. it doesnt show on some images coz of the nature of the photo, but on all places where it could be visible, this mark is quite visible. ive only seen it on this roll. im attaching 3 examples here

i checked this lens many times before buying, and after buying.. and i really do not see much dust in it.. and definitely no scratch marks etc.
and usually, dust on the lens shows on when using small apertures, right? the last one of the flower was, as u can see, shot at a very wide aperture. ive so far only noticed this mark on this one particular film roll.

my previous roll (b/w film) has no such mark in that particular area
(the faint 'mark' on the image below is cloud, i think.. and its not on the same spot as the others)

continued in next post

 

[heshanj]

continued...

however this shot has some marks on the edges which i dont notice on any of the other pictures. it was taken as the same roll as the above two b/w shots. and theres no mark on the area that the color shots had the mark

im kinda lost as to wats going on.. firstly, i can hardly see any dust, or mark, that would cause such a large spot. i think my canon DSLR lenses have more dust than this old lens. this is a film camera, so theres no sensor, so it has to be dust on the lens? can it be anything to do with the film, or developing, or scanning? any help would be great! thanks

 

[oceanpriest]

buy a loupe and check your negatives. if it's not there, then it's the scanner.

 

[azzurri]

the mark on the colour shots are pretty consistent and if it doesnt appear on all the shots, it could be the scanner. is there a pattern to the mark? for example it appears after every certain number of shot?

for the b&w shot, it could be due to developing. i do get similar marks when i don't presoak film like tri x

 

[heshanj]

thanks guys! i dont know where to get a loupe or wat to get, or how much one would be and i also cant check the scanner coz its at the lab.. but i AM planning on buying a flatbed film scanner (canon 9000f) next week, so i can scan these same negs n see if i get the same mark or not.

i cant really tell if theres a pattern, coz on most shots, if theres a subject with more colors, it really doesnt show. but thanks for the help, im starting to feel its the scanner, and im already feeling quite relieved. people always say not to worry about a bit of dust in a lens coz it doesnt affect IQ, so i was like, woah.. wats this then? lol

about the b/w shot, i see.. thats probably wat those marks are then.. coz those marks are definitely not visible on any of the other shots.
i'll rescan these pics as soon as i get myself a scanner.. and probably shoot a new roll n get it developed n scan it myself, just to check it out.. thanks again

 

[foxtwo]

Can pick up a loupe at Ruby or just invert your 50mm.

 

[heshanj]

Can pick up a loupe at Ruby or just invert your 50mm.

thanks, i'll try inverting the 50mm!

 

[heshanj]

so, i have an update, and a rather confusing one, haha

i examined the negs with my 50mm inverted.. worked quite well, thanks for the tip! the water spot or other developing process mark show, on the one b/w image that i posted here. so i guess i can safely say that that was from the developing process, nothing else

however, the important mark.. the one in the color photos.. i just cant spot. so i was gonna safely say its a scanning problem.
then i dig out some of my first film shots, which i got prints, not scans.. so, unless they got me prints by scanning and then printing the scans.. and not by wet printing (i think thats the term), im quite lost. i also notice that they show only in my color prints, not b/w prints.. same with the scans. the mark shows only on color

and it gets more confusing.. the prints that im referring to.. were taken using my first lens, not the one im using right now. for a moment, i was thinking if there's a spec of dust on my SLR mirror or something, then i realized that that shouldnt show on the photos.. and the film camera has no sensor, so.. if its not the lens.. it has to be the scans? and the prints have to have been made from the scans, not wet printing? argh, so confusing! apologies for all the complications, but please help if u can! thanks!

 

[heshanj]

and i dont mean to go on and on about this, but i also noticed this little mark on the edge of some photos (not all) on the same film roll. the other film rolls, the other color ones even, and all the black n white ones, do not have this mark. when i viewed the negative with my inverted lens, this mark shows, like a little scratch
the thing i found interesting is that the mark is not identical on each photos.. its a bit fainter on some.. and the shape is different

let me know if u have any idea how this little scratch couldve been made on the negative (i really doubt its from the lens.. on some shots its clearly not there)

 

[heshanj]

so i got myself a flatbed film scanner, and did a bit of scanning myself. no such marks appear on my scans, so that is obviously a scanning issue

the little scratch in the above post doesnt appear on any shots taken with the same camera either.

however, i did notice a long thin line (appears to be a light scratch) running through the entire negative strip. it doesnt show up in all the scans, and in some scans it does show up and can be fixed.. but in some, its quite strong and not easily removed.. not sure if im using the digital ICE dust removal thing properly or not - maybe if its used properly i can use it to get rid of the line.. sometimes, wiping the negative firmly with a soft cloth removes or lessens the line

but that scratch/line appears in some form on negatives ive taken using 3 different cameras.. so im guessing its my photo labs equipment causing it?

 

[losheng]

but that scratch/line appears in some form on negatives ive taken using 3 different cameras.. so im guessing its my photo labs equipment causing it?

You may want to show the damaged films to the lab and ask when it was the last time they maintain the rollers in their film processor Together with the scanning issue, it sounds like the lab is pretty sloppy with their equipment maintenance. You may want to take the business to somewhere else

And for your earlier question regarding scanning marks appearing on the prints - with the current minilab systems, prints from films are indeed made by first scanning the neg first.

 

[one eye jack]

thanks guys! i dont know where to get a loupe or wat to get, or how much one would be

You can get magnifying glass and loupes at Kaichin on 3rd. flr Sim Lim Tower in front of escalator.The products are on the roller racks
in front and outside of the shop.There are a few models but I recommend the pull out jewelery loupe 30X magnification and with LED light source about $12 I think.Shop is closed on sunday.

 

[heshanj]

thanks for the info. yes i'll definitely be looking for a new lab for developing color film. started to process b/w film myself.. and scan too

 

[doug3fflux]

I hope TS doesnt mind me adding a "related" issue here.

Some of my developed negs returned with a foggy white-washed look. Its like a grey tone grainy layer thing that covers the whole frame. This only occurred in some exposures and not all.

I made this observations through the digital scans of the negs, but looking at the negs themselves I cant tell if its caused by the scanning process or the initial exposure.