schwarzaufweiss
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Hello,
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I have a question about black-and-white film processing.
The attached file contains a scan of a negative from a 35mm roll of FP4+ film.
I hope you can see the many white 'dots'.
I developed it in ID11, then stopped it with Ilfostop for 10 seconds. I then fixed it with Ilford Rapid Fixer for 40 seconds.
The fixer was freshly prepared (1+4), and the rinsing time was 20 seconds.
Everything was prepared using tap water at 20°C and agitated using the Ilford agitation method (4 times every minute) in a Jobo canister.
As I’ve had this problem a few times before, I thought it might be down to the washing.
When I examine the negatives with a magnifying glass against a light source (a bright window or lamp), the areas are black, so they would be white in the positive.
If I look at the negative with a magnifying glass in diffuse, dim light, the areas are transparent.
I suspect it is poorly rinsed salts from the fixer.
So, fix for as short a time as possible (double the standard fixing time) and then rinse thoroughly.
For this film, I rinsed using the Ilford method: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 tilts. I know, that’s more than Ilford recommends.
After each rinse, I left the can to stand for a while; in total, the film was in water for more than 30 minutes.
Finally, Ilfotol and distilled water.
You can see the result in the scan; prints from the darkroom look exactly the same.
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Does anyone have similar problems and do you have any idea what might be causing it?
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I’d be grateful for any tips, because after about 10 botched rolls of film, I’d really like to get reproducible results again.
I’m on the verge of switching to digital only.
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Greetings from the Münsterland!
Magirus
Greetings to the Münsterland
I’ve never had anything like this before.
My suggestion would be to prepare the developer and the fixer using ironing water (distilled water).
The stains are everywhere,
so I suspect the water isn’t clean. (Containing iron or other nasties)
Your fixer works pretty quickly – I always check after 2 minutes to see if the test strip is clear
and then double the time.
Greetings from near Hanover, Bernd
Tandemfahren
Hello there, newbie from the Münsterland region,
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It looks to me like there’s dirt in the developing water. Perhaps you have a water softener in your house? All sorts of strange things often come out of the tap.
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Inadequate fixing or rinsing doesn’t cause marks like these. You can skip the step of leaving it to stand while rinsing, but that has nothing to do with the problem.
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If you look at the negatives at a very flat angle, can you see the spots? Can you feel them? Can they perhaps be wiped off with stop bath/vinegar/citric acid or with alcohol?
Emulsion side or base side?
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Frankgröße
HenningH
What is the dosage of the wetting agent?
grommi
Hi schwarzaufweißen, I used to have loads of those nasty little white spots too, and I was on the verge of giving up. There may be lots of possible causes, but for me it was the fixer – that was the last thing I suspected. So the concentrate was actually the culprit. New concentrate, different brand (now Agfa), films clean. And I only use it diluted with demineralised water now.
schwarzaufweiss
Hello,
Thanks for the initial replies.
@ Henning
The wetting agent was diluted at a ratio of 1:200 as per the instructions.
I added 2.5 ml to 500 ml of distilled water using a small syringe.
@ Tandemfahren
I’ll take a closer look at the stains.
I once post-fixed a roll of film at a friend’s place in another town and then rinsed it in his Jobo canister with the Kaskade for 5 minutes. Afterwards, it was noticeably cleaner.
At my place, the Kaskade doesn’t do anything.
@ Magirus
I had these short clearing times with Adofix and with Ilford Rapid Fixer.
Always freshly mixed at a ratio of 1:4.
grommi
PS: Did you read the post above (the one posted at the same time as yours)? My Adofix had gone completely off (the concentrate!). But some Tetenal Superfix that was over 20 years old, from a half-full plastic bottle, was still perfectly fine. I never would have thought that something as simple as fixer could cause such a big problem.
schwarzaufweiss
OK,
First of all, I’ll take your advice on the water and use distilled water for everything.
I reckon new measuring cups can’t do any harm either – who knows, my supermarket measuring cups might be starting to disintegrate.
Has anyone ever developed Ilford film using distilled water?
You read everywhere that this requires ion exchange, and distilled water presumably lacks those ions.
Regards,
Thomas
Magirus
I’d use tap water for watering.
The chemicals aren’t active in it anymore.
Best regards, Bernd
HenningH
Thomas, 1+200 is designed for hard water; as you’re using distilled water, the stains could be caused by excess wetting agent. For your next roll of film, I’d simply use distilled water as the final bath.
I haven’t had any issues with Adofix yet. Nor with Superfix or the one from Calbe. The Kodak TMAX fixer, however, has. That seems to be less down to the product than the weather (or perhaps there are entirely different reasons).
piu58
Those are limescale stains caused by the water.
karlokell
Hello everyone!
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So, once again, the age-old topic! And once again, my advice based on 40 years of laboratory experience:
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Just forget all the fuss about the brothers’ method using distilled water (stirred, not shaken, etc.) – none of that has anything to do with the drying process! Unless dirt is actually coming out of the tap (which, by the way, mainly happens when the tap is turned on too sharply), just use this tap water, develop as per the recipe or your own testing, rinse for as short a time as possible (according to Ilford: pour tempered water from a large container into the developing tank, never directly from the tap!!), add 10–20 drops of wetting agent concentrate to the final batch in the tank (any brand will do; it’s a good idea to transfer it to a dropper bottle), hang the soaking-wet film in a dust-free place and do not touch it again.
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Now for the crucial step: before leaving it undisturbed for the next hour(s), rinse the back of the hanging film thoroughly from top to bottom using a spray bottle filled with distilled or demineralised water from a DIY store (place a tray underneath if this isn’t being done in the shower cubicle). This reliably prevents limescale and wetting agent stains; even solid particles from the water mains are washed away from this side of the film. The coated side is off-limits, but that’s not usually the problem anyway.
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Anyone who has better things to do than get annoyed about dirt on the film is welcome to do the same as me!
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Best regards, Karl
grommi
Unfortunately, it’s often—but not always—that simple, Karl. And I’ve learnt that the hard way, even though I’m 30 years younger than you ;-) Today I finally have the cleanest negatives you could imagine, but I do it completely differently to you.
Good light – Reinhold
schwarzaufweiss
Hello,
I’m replying quite late, but I haven’t had a chance to try anything new until now.
I’ve probably done too many things at once to be able to say what the solution is.
So:
1. New developing times
2. Used only distilled water (for an Ilford Delta 100, I used Ilford DD-X, which I still had)
3. Didn’t use any wetting agent
4. Rinsed according to Ilford’s instructions and left the can to stand for 5 minutes after tilting it.
5. Hung the wet film in the shower and rinsed it several times with distilled water using a spray bottle
The negatives aren’t 100% free of ‘spots’, but they’re orders of magnitude better than before.
I will definitely prepare the new pack of ID-11 in distilled water.
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Best regards,
Thomas
schwarzaufweiss
<SUB>[size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-seriAddendum:
[/size]</SUB>
<SUB>[size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-seriDespite a development time of under 30 seconds, I fixed the film for 2 minutes in Ilford Rapid Fixer.
[/size]</sub>
<sub>[size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-seriThe data sheets state 2–5 minutes
[/size].</sub>
