Horsch
Hello,
Until recently, my development process involved shooting around 6–8 rolls of film and then processing them all using a stock solution of A49. I’ve now decided to work a bit more precisely and to be able to develop fewer rolls at a time, so I’m bottling the stock solution and developing the films individually in diluted stock solution. As I unfortunately don’t always have time to develop film, I was looking for five 200ml laboratory bottles into which I could divide the stock solution. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any in your catalogue or in any others.
So I would like to know:
1. Where could I get hold of 200ml laboratory bottles?
2. Is it possible to fill a 1-litre bottle with A49 and use up the solution over 3–4 months, naturally using Protektan, without the last residues of the stock solution becoming unusable?
FrankJBeckmann
Hi there,
You can get suitable glass bottles at the chemist’s, and they’re not even that expensive. What’s more, the A49 culture will keep for several months in a glass bottle if you use Protektan. One way to tell that the A49 is dying is that a sort of tar-like substance starts to settle at the bottom.
MirkoBoeddecker
We have glass bottles, but we don’t post them.
In the shop, they cost between 20 cents and 5 euros, depending on the size and whether they have a glass or plastic stopper.
I can’t say whether the last residue of A49 will go off, but if you leave 200ml or more, airtight, for 6 weeks and then use it up after opening, there shouldn’t be any problems.
However, 50 ml at the bottom of a 1000 ml bottle will definitely go off over several weeks, even with Protectan, and opening the bottles repeatedly to remove the concentrate also speeds up the deterioration.
In that respect, your idea of using 5 x 200ml bottles is definitely the best.
Do wait a few hours after mixing before bottling, and give it a good stir beforehand to ensure everything is thoroughly mixed and dissolved before bottling.
Best regards,
Mirko
cfb_de
Hi Mirko,
And if the photographer doesn’t live near your shop, a quick trip to the chemist’s to buy some ‘Aponorm bottles’ will do the job just as well, for just as little money.
Just a tip for those of you who live outside the capital.
Pharmacy doesn’t necessarily mean “expensive”. Sometimes they have quite useful stuff for us photographers for very little money. Including, for example, precise lab thermometers for C41, E6 and other colour film stuff.
Best regards,
Franz
