Residue on negs after processing?

[Ronald_H]

Yesterday I processed two rolls in my usual Diafine (one tank). One of them was FP4+, the other TMax 100. Negs looked fine, I did not scan them yet.

Negs look pretty nice, but on the edges of the TMax black residue/stripes can be seen (sprocket hole 'areas'). The FP4+ is totally clear there. The reel also shows signs of 'residue'.

I wonder what this is? I suspect that it's just that part of the film that was in contact with the reel, so the fixer couldn't get there.

The fixer was from a freshly mixed batch, but the original bottle was opened about 4/5 months ago. Howe much longer will it work?

 

[kaiyen]

when you say clear, do you mean completely clear? no lettering or anything from ilford?

if so, then the developer never hit it. you might not have put enough in.

 

[hans voralberg]

Try increase fix time a bit, I'm trying to solve the same problem myself

 

[Ronald_H]

when you say clear, do you mean completely clear? no lettering or anything from ilford?

if so, then the developer never hit it. you might not have put enough in.

No, no. The negs look fine (I'm scanning them now).

 

[vieri]

Yesterday I processed two rolls in my usual Diafine (one tank). One of them was FP4+, the other TMax 100. Negs looked fine, I did not scan them yet.

Negs look pretty nice, but on the edges of the TMax black residue/stripes can be seen (sprocket hole 'areas'). The FP4+ is totally clear there. The reel also shows signs of 'residue'.

I wonder what this is? I suspect that it's just that part of the film that was in contact with the reel, so the fixer couldn't get there.

The fixer was from a freshly mixed batch, but the original bottle was opened about 4/5 months ago. Howe much longer will it work?

Ronald, your fixer should be fine, unless the bottle was left opened 🙄 it might be due to agitation (or lack thereof, especially in sol. B), might be lack of agitation in the fixer, short fixing time, not perfect mounting of the one film on the reel: these are the first things coming to mind.

On another note, is this your first TMax in Diafine? If not, how do you find it working in Diafine (i.e. what ISO rating you use, how are contrast, tones, etc) I use Diafine constantly for Tri-X, Plus-X, FP4, HP5, Pan-F with very good results, and used it in Fuji Neopan SS without any ill effect, but I never used it for T-grain films, thinking that other developers would be better - I use Delta normally rather than TMax, but when I did I used DD-X, ID-11 (D-76 equiv) with very nice results. Any info would be appreciated, thanks 😀

 

[kaiyen]

Oh, I get it. The FP4 - when you said it's clear, you meant no residue. Got ya.

Do you use photoflow? Do you dry on the reel?

 

[kmack]

I'll take a guess and say the Tmax (the film with the stripes) was on the reel on the top of the tank and the FP4 was on the bottom of the tank.

If that was the case then increase your agitation a bit with solution B.

 

[Ronald_H]

I'll take a guess and say the Tmax (the film with the stripes) was on the reel on the top of the tank and the FP4 was on the bottom of the tank.

If that was the case then increase your agitation a bit with solution B.

True 😉

It was the first time I used TMax in Diafine. I never used other developers, I only just started with 'home development'. I rated it at 160, the recommended speed on the Diafine box.

It looks quite different to FP4+ (which I know well), less grain, more contrasty. There is still detail in the shadows and highlights though, it only takes a bit more work to bring it out. The tonality of FP4+ I actually like more for most situations, but the grain can be intrusive.

I think that for less contrasty situation I will rate Tmax 100 at 200 next time, when shooting it in my FE.

 

[Fotohuis]

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Diafine_Acu-1_BKA.pdf

Diafine is very suitable for Tri-X (400), Neopan (400-1600), HP5+.
FP4+ is not the best combination due to it's pronounced grain in Diafine.

Fixer will be OK till the stock solution is not clear anymore. Particles (Sulfur) will come in your stock then.

About your working solution fix: You can test the amount of silver ions (Ag+) in your solution by a KI solution. The safe limit for PE/RC and films is about 2 g/ltr.
With X10 (Amaloco) you can test how far your fixer is saturated. Be also aware that Tgrain type films (Tmax, Delta and Acros 100 (Sigma technology) ) need a longer fixer time due to the fact the iodide is blocking the fix process earlier.
Classical films fix time:
2x clear time
T grain type films:
3x clear time

Also the capacity of your fix with T grain type films is lower: See above KI test.

Be sure your reels are clean and dry before using them again. Especially the wetting agent can cause contamination when not cleaned properly.

Best regards,

Robert

 

[Ronald_H]

Hi Robert,

I follow the recommendations on the fixer bottle, that works so far. But I tend to believe fixing times are a bit short with the 1+7 dilution I use, especially with Tgrain films.

Still learning of course, but the Tri-X - Diafine combo is all I hoped for and then some. FP4+ is not too bad either, it's easy to tame grain in digital post processing. But it's not the best for portraits, TMax looks a lot nicer there. But the tonality of FP4+ is what defines B/W for me, some shots really sparkle.

What would you recommend as a good developer for FP4+? I really like that film and want to bring out the best in it.

 

[Fotohuis]

Hi Ronald,

Regular film fixer solutions will be 1+4.
1+7 or 1+9 is normally used for paper fix.

I do not know which brand you are using. Due to the fact Diafine is used without stop, the best is an acid fix like X55 (Amaloco). X89 (odourless neutral fix) MUST be used with an acid stop (Citric Acid, or Acetic Acid) otherwise the capacity and buffering is not working in the right way.

FP4+ is a very reliable and flexible film.
Pretty good combinations are in D76/ID11 or AM74 in a higher dilution to prevent too short developing times.
Rate the FP4+ normally at iso 100 under regular light contrast conditions.

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/am74_nl.pdf

 

[Ronald_H]

You already answered the fixer question a while back, I had indeed the wrong type (X89).

Never knew that the the 1+4 was recommended for film! My next batch will be 1+4.

 

[Ronald_H]

One more remark Robert.

I heard claims before that the Hema B/W white films are Ilford. Some people deny this. With my limited experience I can see no difference between the 125 film and FP4+ & the 400 film and HP5+. A friend, a young student photographer, thinks the same.

To sustantiate this claim, your .pdf shows identical times for Hema and Ilford. But what really convinced me are the batch numbers on the boxes of recently bought Ilford and Hema film. These were identical.

 

[Fotohuis]

Recently will not be possible due to the fact Harman/Ilford stopped worldwide all OEM deliveries.
In the past it was done but at this moment no second source is able to get any original Ilford product anymore.

One of the reasons we are selling out Amaloco Variprof PE/RC paper next month which is Ilford MG IV compatible. Tetenal had the same problem and Adox is also selling out the latest FP4/HP5 emulsions.

If you want to experiment with cheaper films you could look at the Fomapan films:
Fomapan 100 and 400 classical cubical emulsions, Fomapan T200 a mix of a kind of T grain and classical crystals.
At this moment we have a very temporary action on 35mm Fomapan 400: Eur. 1,90.

Foma is selling in the USA under special brand and another price level.

best regards,

Robert

 

[Ronald_H]

Recently will not be possible due to the fact Harman/Ilford stopped worldwide all OEM deliveries.
In the past it was done but at this moment no second source is able to get any original Ilford product anymore.

If you want to experiment with cheaper films you could look at the Fomapan films:
Fomapan 100 and 400 classical cubical emulsions, Fomapan T200 a mix of a kind of T grain and classical crystals.
At this moment we have a very temporary action on 35mm Fomapan 400: Eur. 1,90.

Robert

You're the expert but when did they stop shipping OEM deliveries? I checked the batch numbers a few weeks ago... Could have been rolls that have been stored a while, but they were not even close to expiry. Pity, it was a cheap source of good film.

What can I expect of the Fomapan 400? Is it in any way comparable to Tri-X? How ill it work in Diafine and how does it cope with high contrast? Any comments are appreciated.

 

[Fotohuis]

Ilford/Harman is concentrating all activities by a last year acquiring of Kentmere (UK) and distributing Paterson (UK) factory. This market is shrinklng in Europe 25-30% each year.

About Fomapan 400:

A wide latitude and nice grey scale but pronounced grain.
Looking at the specs:
http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/F_pan_400_en.pdf

35mm: on tri-acetate layer.
120 roill film: on polyester

Blue A.H. layer.

The effective speed on a D76/ID11 developer is in between iso 200-250 according the graphical data with an average gamma of 0,7.
With the AM74 you can do an E.I. of 250-320 iso.

That means this film will not reach the real iso 400 sensitivity and is not so good in push processing as the Tri-X (400) at all.

Diafine: E.I. 400. 2x 3 minutes.

Some more Fomapan developing data:

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Ontwikkeltijden.pdf

and a Fomapan 400 (iso 320) in AM74 example, M645: