When to use good quality water?

[jimbobuk]

I've developed a few rolls of film so far, some 35mm, some medium format.. generally been happy, even the time that i struggled getting medium format on the reel for 40 mins and hence really over handled it.. sure some were slightly damaged but its suprising how resiliant film is..

Anyways i have been dabbling with drying in other rooms which has helped but i'm still getting some marks on my negatives.. scanning on a flatbed makes it hard to keep the negs and scanner dust free but I'm wondering if its water marks or other contaminants as well.

I've seen suggestions for distilled water and even using brita filtered water.. both are available to me, the former long term would work out more expensive. I'm just wondering when do you have to use this water.. at the moment I get through quite a bit of water.. I guess the wash at the end is when i use the most.. were talking plenty of litres for 1 film, especially medium format.

Would it be ok to develop as normal and only rinse in the good quality water, or do you have to really use it thoughout? It would take me a good while to filter that with a britta filter but i may give it a try.. at the moment i'm getting the water from an outside tap, not ideal but i'm developing outside still so its not easy to get it from elsewhere.

Cheers

Jim

 

[Mackinaw]

I can tell you what I do, which seems to work. I use distilled water for mixing with the developer (either Rodinal or Xtol) and ordinary tap water for the mix with both stop bath and fixer. As for the wash, I use ordinary tap water (use the "Ilford" wash method, not a continous wash) followed by one minute in photo-flo. Note that I also have a water softener, which undoubtedly helps.

Water drying marks are few and far between. This is for both 35mm and 120.

Jim Bielecki

 

[kaiyen]

I only use distilled for the final of the 4 Ilford-method washes, and for the photo-flo. Helped with a number of water spot issues doing that.

allan

 

[Trius]

Jim: Water composition varies greatly by location, with even one's plumbing being one of the variables. I suspect that the chemistry of washing is a lot more complex than most would imagine. So, I think that using the Ilford method (to conserve water) and final rinse in distilled water (with or without a wetting agent such as Photoflo, Fuji Driwell, etc.) is the best approach, yet may depend on local conditions.

Earl

 

[jimbobuk]

my concern is less about water spots as the rinse aid I use and not squidying seems to not leave any water marks.. its more these little marks of something that i'm getting sometimes, presumably from contaminated water or air borne contaminants when its drying.

I have no access to running water where i'm developing so lots of visits to the tap required.. bit frustrating. I use the illford method.. I will definitely look at using some better water for the rinse, maybe the last wash as well.. actually now i think about it.. as you make up the stop and fixer there's not THAT much water needed for them.. I guess i could adopt it for all but every wash that the illford method requires.. even that wouldn't be too bad.

I still need to find out how long i can expect my stop and fixer to last.. i'm marking off on the bottle every time i've used the make up solution to develop a roll, and i've also written the date when i made it up.. i know one of them has dye in to say when its exhausted i was just kind of looking for a roundabout figure for how long it should last.. ie. 3 months if not used too much, or 20 rolls of film whichever occurs first. Anyone know of such a definition for how long diluted stop and fixer is worth keeping?

Cheers guys.

 

[jimbobuk]

dlridings,

Thanks for the advice on stainless steel reels.. I like the quick filling of plastic tanks at the moment.. as i've mentioned elsewhere it was the patterson reel that caused me so much grief the one that i got with my starter darkroom kit by AP i think has nice large tabs you can easily feel to orient the reel in the dark and also to help you guide the film on straight.. i find it so much easier i struggle to understand why patterson dont adopt a similar strategy.

 

[wintoid]

I'm using stainless steel 35mm Hewes reels in a 35mm AP tank and stainless steel 120 Hewes reels in a Paterson tank. Fast filling AND stainless steel reels. Works well for me.

I'm spot-free since I started buying deionised water from Robert Dyas and using it for the final rinse only, but I'm going to try out someone's recommendation of a Brita water filter (as you mentioned) in the next few days.

 

[jimbobuk]

thanks guys, for all the suggestions.. I'd never considered using stainless steel reels inside plastic tanks... do they get spun round by the adjatator that you use when spinning the plastic reels instead of inverting the tanks? or do they come with their own similar adjatator?

Thanks Daniel for the stop bath rec, i've heard it before and not tried it yet.. i've a couple of practise films i use for practising loading various reels, one 35mm and one 120mm.. so i could use a bit of that.. the trouble is when using medium format film i DONT cut any of the film off, its all on the reel when i've finished loading.

I'm using all fotospeed chemicals at the moment, its liquid form, can't remember the dilutions at the moment..

Cheers

 

[wintoid]

Sorry I should have mentioned this. Hewes make regular stainless steel reels, and stainless steel reels for Paterson tanks. You have to be sure to get the right ones. I think I got mine from Retrophotographic, and the website was quite clear which was which. They work with Paterson, and AP stuff no problems.

The regular plastic bit that goes in the middle of the plastic AP/Paterson reels fits perfectly in the middle of the Hewes reel, and that makes it all compatible with the AP/Paterson twirly agitator thingy.