Bleach bath reversal development again

Gast · 2004-09-25T20:11:59+00:00

Ahoj zusammen! Ich versuche immer noch, einen Fomapan DoppelSuper-8 Film Umkehr-zu-entwickeln und es will nicht klappen: ich habe jetzt die Bleichzeit verl...

Gast

Hi everyone! I’m still trying to develop a roll of Fomapan DoppelSuper-8 film using the reversal process, but it just won’t work: I’ve now extended the bleaching time, but it still isn’t working. I just developed a small streak of exposure in the light to see what would happen (normally it should develop completely transparent, because it was fully exposed, right?) So: after the initial development, one side looked the same as before – dark brown and glossy – whilst the other side was completely black (which is normal, so it’s developed as a full negative). During bleaching, it turned completely milky yellow after about a minute. After six minutes, I took it out and it was slightly transparent at the edges. Nothing happened at all in the stop bath. I left it in there for four minutes. After the second exposure, it did turn relatively dark again and also had some strange streaks around the perforations. Strange, that! Shouldn’t something become visible in the stop bath as well? That’s where the yellow emulsion is supposed to be removed, isn’t it? Or does development not work at all in the light? What on earth am I doing wrong? Best regards Thomas

RomanJRohleder

Thomas, You didn’t use the Foma reversal kit, did you? I’ve just checked – quite by chance, really – whether the Fomapan R100 has a special AHU. I put a snippet of exposed film into normal fixer and watched it as it cleared. Or not – the anti-halation layer is made of metallic silver and doesn’t dissolve in fixer – the film stays black/grey/brown. So exactly what you observed with your S8 film. Apparently, Foma uses a silver solvent in its commercial Bleach bath.

skahde

Hi Roman, The silver remover is, of course, the Bleach bath, in which the anti-halation layer of colloidal silver is removed along with the image silver. That really should have come to mind straight away ;-). "Posted on 26 Sep 2004, 03:49 AM" Ok, lack of sleep :-). To me, Thomas’s problem sounds more like the bleaching didn’t work. Since he developed entirely in the light and a dark silver image was present after both development steps, the removal of the silver after the first development obviously didn’t work. Best regards, Stefan

dbstw

[ Snip ] During bleaching, it turned completely milky-yellow after about a minute. After six minutes, I took it out and it was slightly transparent at the edges. Nothing happened at all in the fixing bath. I left it in there for four minutes. [ Snip ]

Thomas, - After clearing, the Fomapan 100R is actually milky yellow; if you look really, really closely, you can see traces of the image. Then double exposure, second development (the second development produces the positive image), fixing, done. Best regards, Th.

Gast

Hi everyone, Thanks for your help. So, first of all, I prepared the lead bath following the instructions on the FOTOIMPEX website (the ones for Fomapan 100). And secondly, I can actually make out the image, it’s just that the completely white areas aren’t white at all, but remain dark grey. So even a fully exposed film turns out grey. Or did I not develop it for long enough? What would happen if I developed it for too short a time? Best regards, Thomas