Pinkish die on TMax 400

[lido]

Last night I souped up a roll of Tmax 100 in Tmax developer and ended up with the perfect roll. I followed that with a roll of TMax 400. Mixed a new batch of developer, but reused stop, fixer and hypo. TMax 400 came out with pinkish die along the centre of the film stip while the edges have little or none of it.

Now, my regular agitation is constant inversions for the first 30 sec followed by 5 inversions every 30 secs. On this roll of film, I tried the spinner (I user Paterson tank) instead of inversions as I wanted to experiment, spin slowly for 30 sec at the start followed by 5 back and forth spins ever 30 secs.

What do you think caused the die to remain on the negative? I have three suspects: fixer, hypo and different agitation.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

My guess is fixer. Just re-fix the roll for another 5 to 10 minutes to see if the pink disappears.

wayne

 

[jlw]

Pinkish T-Max negatives are a long-standing issue. The emulsion formulation of the T-Max films requires more fixer activity than conventional films (which is why fixer life is shorter when developing T-Max) and the pink tinge (a sensitizing dye that isn't getting fully removed from the emulsion) is a symptom that the activity wasn't sufficient.

Often a very slight tinge remaining after fixing will be removed by the wash process, and won't have any effect on negative lifespan -- but in general you should treat the pink as a "warning light" signalling you that you need to agitate more and/or mix up a batch of fresh fixer.

In your case, the fact that the pink tinge appears mostly down the center is a clear sign that your problems are caused by the way you agitated. When you use that Paterson key (which isn't really for agitation; you're just supposed to give it a spin at the start of each solution, to dislodge air bubbles from the film) the edges of the reel have more turbulence and get more agitation than the center.

Make sure your fixer is fresh, go back to inversion agitation (your continuous agitation for the first 30 seconds is a great idea) and your problem should be solved.

Incidentally, IMO the quality benefits of T-Max make it well worth the slight reduction in fixer life.

 

[lido]

Hey🙂

Yes it sounds like fixer or improper fixing technique. Try spinning back and forth rather than just round and round.
ManGo

I did spin it back and forth, five times every 30 secs. I'll have to try your two step fixing. The weird thing is that this has never happend before and that is why it bothers me.

Has anyone tried to put the film back in the fixer after it's dry (soaking it in water first) to try to clear it up?

 

[rover]

Yeah, I fix and wash the life out of TMax and have pinky, purple dye coming out right to the end.

 

[CZeni]

I fix the bejeebers out of Tmax will still have some pink/purple left at times. The surest way I found to get rid of it is using hypo clearing agent.

 

[Fred]

I use a patterson tank and the 'twiddle' stick for agitation at the same intervals you mention. I also rotate the stick in both directions. No pink staining using Ilford rapid fixer at 1 + 4 dilution.

I am also very fond of TMY 400 film in TMAX dev but I tend not to reuse fixer used to fix film to fix another film as I try for consistent results. I do reuse fixer for printing though.

 

[varjag]

Excessive fixing is bad for negatives, as hypo begins to eat through the image-forming metallic silver (esp. true for acidic fixers).

I got slight cast with TMY, more so with 400TX, but as they were fixed for 2.5 times of the clearing time it should be sufficient. The color cast doesn't seem to affect printing.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

I fix the bejeebers out of Tmax will still have some pink/purple left at times. The surest way I found to get rid of it is using hypo clearing agent.

I agree with Craig -- I've found that I can not be too careful with the fixing/washing with T-Max. I have had good results with Kodak Rapid Fixer and Hypo Clear; I also tone all my negs in a weak solution of Selenium Toner for preservation -- it stabilizes the silver.

 

[kaiyen]

It is absolutely, positively your agitation method. You may in fact be agitating in the same way as others, but for some reason you did not effectively break up the flow of liquids in the middle of your reels, leading to inadequate fixing and the pinkish band in the middle.

The issues of having the tint in general have already been discussed. For what it's worth, I used a 2 bath fix followed with a 3 minute permawash and I get negatives that are pretty close to tint free.

allan

 

[lido]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all your input. I am out of TMax film to develop for now, as I mostly shoot Tri-X, but I'll keep all these suggestions in mind. I like the 2 bath fixing idea, and will try it tonight as I have a roll of Tri-X to develop.

Again, thanks everyone.

 

[lido]

Hey guys,

So I get home from work today, determined to fix this roll. So I mix another batch of Kodak Rapid Fixer, Hypo clearing agent, soak the film in water for about 5 minutes, then another 4 minutes in fixer, wash, hypo and .... it is perfect.

This got rid of that purplish die along the centre of the film strip. Learned a lesson, and a good one.

Thanks all for your suggestions and help.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

Thanks for posting the results. It is nice to have a follow up to a problem that has been solved.

Wayne

 

[lonelyboy]

The pink color is the color of the sensitising dye, which uses to make the film sensitive to green and red light. It can be removed by sufficient washing/soaking time.