Rolf-Werner
Hi there!
I’ve still got a pack of Calbe A300. I’ve now reordered some new ones from ADOX. Both are called A300, but ADOX doesn’t provide any description or instructions whatsoever, not even online.
Can I assume the specifications are the same as for the Calbe, since it’s also called A300?
Thanks for your advice!
Rolf
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello Rolf,
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Prepare as instructed and it will then act as a fixer.
8–10 films per litre or 1.5 to 2 square metres of paper.
Fixing time for film: 4–8 minutes.
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Best regards,
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Mirko
Rolf-Werner
"As stated"... well ;) it doesn't actually say that!
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It said so on the Calbe one, but nothing on the ADO one.
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I’d just pour it into a litre and leave it for 8–10 minutes. But it says ‘Express’ on it, so it might be a bit ‘sharper’, meaning 10 minutes would be too long... Just my thoughts. You never know for sure! :)
piu58
Sodium thiosulphate and potassium metabisulphite. It’s been that way for decades.
Rolf-Werner
No, that’s not what I mean...
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Tetenal used to make these little sachets. The ones with black printing were ‘standard’, meaning a fixing time of about 8–10 minutes. The ones with red printing were ‘express’, taking about 5 minutes. And they cost 1 DM more. I had friends who only used the red ones because they wanted to be done in a flash. I never did that, nor did I ever use quick-developers, because I always had the feeling they wouldn’t last as long. My photos from that time are still around today; I don’t know what became of the others.
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As I’m planning to develop some film now, I just wanted to know whether 9–10 minutes might be too long for the stuff marked “express”. Because when they write “express” on it without saying how many minutes they recommend, it makes me wonder.
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Rolf
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P.S.: By the way, I recently found one of those old Tetenal sachets – do you think it’s still any good?
Olivinyl
Hi Rolf,
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So don’t just go for about 8–10 minutes; test the clearing time on a small piece of film first...
Multiply that value by two and you’ve got your fixing time! I prefer to use a factor of 2.5, though.
It makes me feel a bit more confident.
Kodak’s T-Mix films, for example, take a bit longer to fix and also require a longer washing than other classic films. You can then determine this from the clearing time, as well as how effectively the fixer is still working.
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Best regards, Oliver
Tandemfahren
Hi, Mirko posted two years ago that the formula was changed in 2010.
http://forum.FOTOIMPEX.de/index.php?showtopic=1224
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So it’s probably ammonium thiosulphate now, i.e. “Express”, as it says in the shop.
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And: the bags clearly say 1000 or 5000ml on them, Rolf-Werner, keep your eyes peeled :-)
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Frank
Rolf-Werner
It’s all about the time for me.
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The Calbe bottle says “A300”, specifies a time range for both paper and film (8–12 mins), and states that you should use 800 ml for film and 1000 ml for paper.
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The AdOX bottle says “A300” and “Express”, but only “for 1000 ml” and nothing else.
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Now I’m puzzled: if “A300” on the Calbe bottle is the same as “A300” on the AdOX bottle, then the same values apply. But why does it say “Express” on the AdOX bottle? That could mean there’s a difference. But why does it have the same designation then?
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So thanks for the reminder about the clarification test. But at the moment I don’t have a film scrap to hand (the only film suitable for this was unfortunately rewound completely into the cassette...). I still have some FP4+ and an HP5+ lying around here that need developing, but apart from that one, they’re all roll films.
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With the Calbe fixer, I’ve always fixed for 10 minutes because it says ‘8–12 minutes’ on the bottle, and that’s worked out fine.
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Rolf
grommi
Hi Rolf, I always do a test print when developing film. You can do this with a small section of the film you’re currently developing, even with 120 roll film. There’s usually about 2 cm left at the start or end, unless you’re trying to achieve 13 exposures for 6x6 frames ;-) With sheet film, it’s not quite as straightforward, of course.
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‘Normal’ black-and-white films are relatively insensitive to over-fixing. But technical films with extremely thin emulations are fully fixed in a normal-strength fixer after just a few seconds, so you should use a heavily diluted fixer and, of course, carry out a test print.
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TMX: to my knowledge, these are the only films for which the manufacturer explicitly prescribes a threefold clarification time, and this should be taken into account.
Renate
The ADOX A300 definitely contains ammonium. That’s what my analysis shows. Incidentally, this also applies to the batch I bought in 2008. This makes it an express fixer.
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I’ve since stopped using the A300 as it gives off an unbearable amount of sulphur dioxide when freshly prepared.
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Best regards
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Renate
Rolf-Werner
True, it’s a bit of a mess. But that just goes to show that not all A300s are the same...
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Interesting! Thanks for the analysis!
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Rolf
