shelf life of canned (unmixed) diafine?

[yossarian123]

Any ideas on how long unmixed cans of diafine will last for? I found the above on Ebay for $15 and assumed that unmixed unopened cans would last for a while. What do you think, is this stuff still good?

 

[Calzone]

One gallon size is packaged in sealed cans with pull ring metal lids. Pretty much will store indefinitely.

I use Diafine extensively with Acros at 100 ISO and Tri-X at 800 ISO for negatives for wet printing. Minimizing aggitation to only 2 gentile inversions gets me the best results.

I found that mid-tones get better after the part A and Part B is "seasoned" through extensive use (becomes thicker and amber in color).

Cal

 

[kxl]

Shelf life of Diafine = Your lifetime + 99 years

 

[yossarian123]

sweet, thanks for the answers. I was hoping it was a deal, the new stuff is selling for $48 at B&H.

 

[Calzone]

A gallon mixed lasted about 2 years (not counting a second and third gallon I had to mix to make up for "wetting," spills, and other small losses that added up). For a while I was averaging about 30 rolls a month (135 and 120), but that peaked at 50 rolls a month on average.

Eventually I just wanted to start fresh after two years of pound the same developer. Takes about 200 rolls of film for fresh Diafine to get seasoned for the best mid-tones.

Also know that shooting Acros at night (no reciprocy failure) and developing with Diafine is a magic bullet.

Good luck.

Cal

 

[john_s]

I gave some 30 year old Acufine to someone who reported that it was excellent. Diafine should last even longer as the components are separated.