Canon-AE1
Hi everyone.
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I have a question about fixing times:
Is it possible to fix a film for too long, so to speak? For example, if you’re using a 1+4 concentration but, say, because the instructions aren’t clear, you use the times for a 1+9 solution? I know it’s a silly question, but I’m a bit unsure.
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Thanks, best wishes
Lichtjahr
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.
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During fixing, the unexposed bromide silver—which wasn’t darkened during development—is removed from the film layer.
Once it’s gone, it’s gone; that’s as far as it goes. Using fast fixers only saves time; the result remains the same.
So it makes absolutely no difference whether you fix for 5 or 10 minutes. Stick to the manufacturer’s instructions and you’ll be on the safe side.
It’s important to perform adequate washing for long enough to wash out the dissolved bromide silver and the fixing chemicals.
However, fixing for too long can lead to discolouration in the emulsion. It’s never happened to me, though; I’ve only read about it in the technical books.
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Regards, Edi
Urnes
You can test the development time. Just place a piece of film with exposure in the fixer and see when it becomes completely clear. Then double that time and you’ll have the correct development time.
Best regards, Sven.
TR
If you fix for too long, you can end up removing things that are actually meant to stay (highlights in the positive; shadows in the negative). It then acts like a bleaching agent, though this only happens after very ‘heavy-handed’ use. The term ‘fixer’ is actually completely misleading. Nothing is fixed at all; quite the opposite.
Wolfgg
Hello,
In a figurative sense, fixing simply means ‘setting’ the image by making it light-stable. In photography, many terms are now almost 200 years old.
The best approach is to monitor the clearing time – that is, the time it takes for the film to lose its milky appearance. With a fresh batch of fixer, you’ll know this time, or you’ll need to test it once using a small strip of film held up to the light. After this time, open the canister and check whether the film has cleared, thereby determining the clearing time for this film type and the degree of fixer utilisation. Then take twice the clearing time as the total fixing time. The clearing time increases with utilisation, which is immediately compensated for by this method. And this also prevents over-fixing.
By the way, there’s no need to worry that you might open the can a few seconds too early and ruin the film. After washing and adding the fixer, any remaining developer is guaranteed to be completely dead after just 30 seconds.
Regards, Wolfgang
PeterVolkmar
High-definition films and documentaries are particularly sensitive. Often, just one minute is enough. There are also significant differences between standard films and T- or D-crystal films. So do make sure you test them beforehand!
Rolf-Werner
I tried this out with paper when I was younger. After hours, the fixer started to attack the developed parts of the image, and the image slowly faded away. But what are a few hours compared to the few minutes of a normal fixing time...
Rolf
Bonderer
Too much is never a good thing. It happened to me once by accident and there was nothing left on the film to enlarge. It had been in a 1+4 dilution for 3–4 hours, though.
jonny
If what I’ve seen in various forums in posts asking “What went wrong here?” is anything to go by, then over-fixing is NOT the problem in 99.9% of cases. Under-fixing, on the other hand – caused by fixing times that are too short, insufficient agitation, worn-out fixers, and so on – is a recurring issue among analogue newcomers. When in doubt, it is therefore always better to fix for a little longer than to fix for too short a time. To cause any damage, you really have to go way over the top. The whole discussion is basically unnecessary, because there is a simple and reliable method for determining the correct fixing time and the capacity of the fixer. But apparently nobody uses it anymore these days — presumably because it isn’t available as a smartphone ‘app’ ;)
grommi
The whole discussion is basically unnecessary, because there is a simple and reliable method for determining the correct fixing time and the capacity of the fixer. But apparently nobody uses it anymore these days — probably because it isn’t available as a smartphone ‘app’ ;)
That’s how it is.
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You only need to be careful with technical films that have a very thin emulsion, and it’s best to carry out further dilution of the fixer, but that has already been mentioned and would also be immediately apparent during the clarity test.
