Look Who it Was Random video

Negative Flaw: Reticulation

1,622 views · Published 31 December 2018 · 3:30 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: David Hancock · 2018 · Howto & Style

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Right now, I’m playing a slideshow of every photos I’ve developed that exhibits reticulation. So why is he screen black? I’ve never had a photo develop reticulation. And believe me, I’ve tried.

Reticulation looks kind of like this. I’ve simulated it, the best that I can, in Photoshop CS6. I left some links in this video’s description for actual samples of reticulation.

Reticulation is one of the film flaw boogeymen, but in researching the video and in trying to cause film to reticulate, I found that I’s nearly impossible with modern stocks. Film emulsions are engineered in such a way that getting them to reticulate is orders of magnitude harder than developing them properly.

Reticulation occurs, in modern film stocks, when the emulsion is heated during developing to within 2 or 3 degrees Centigrade of the emulsion’s melting point. I don’t know what that temperature is for modern stocks, and I’m sure it varies between films, but I would guess it’s hot enough that you’ll need oven mitts if you use a steel tank.

Then, after being exposed to a very hot temperature, put the film into an ice water bath. That causes the emulsion to shrink and crack.

If you super-heat the pre-soak water, your film and tank will be over temperature for the developer and you will over-develop your film. If you super-heat the developer, it will ruin your film by over-developing it to the point that it’s probably a near-perfect opaqueness. If you super-heat the stop, the film will still develop until the stop takes effect, which will result in the film being over-developed. So you need to super-heat the fix. And then use a near-freezing wash. But the fix has to be a precise temperature, and it will require experimentation to figure out that temperature.

So, in a nutshell, reticulation has been so effectively engineered out of modern emulsions that achieving it will be nearly impossible. This negative flaw falls into the category, now, of something that is almost an urban legend.

Links:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/reticulation.161446/
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/create-reticulation-when-film-processing-4639
http://theeyesofmycamera.blogspot.com/2011/02/wrecking-film.html

My Patreon Page:
https://www.patreon.com/DavidHancock

Follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/_David_Hancock_

Gear I used for Filming and Editing:
Video Capture and Film Digitization- Pentax K-3 (http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/k-3/) or Pentax K-1 (http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/k-1/)
Secondary Capture- Sony CX330 (http://www.sony.com/electronics/camcorders/t/handycam-camcorders)
Lens- Pentax 31mm FA Limited (http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-FA-31mm-F1.8-Limited-Lens.html)
Off-camera Audio- Tascam DR-70D or Tascam DR-60D MKII and Tascam DR-05 (http://tascam.com/product/dr-70d/ or http://tascam.com/product/dr-60dmkii/ and http://tascam.com/product/dr-05/)
Video Editing- Sony Movie Studio Platinum (http://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-movie-studio-product-comparison/)
Audio Processing- Adobe Soundbooth (https://www.adobe.com/sea/products/soundbooth/)

My Photography Website:
http://www.5119photography.com/

Follow me on Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+DavidHancock

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