My observations regarding TMax and "the pink stain." First, it is entirely likely that the film can be completely fixed out while the dyes remain behind.
My fixer of choice is Kodak's Flexicolor Fixer and Replenisher. Though designed for C-41, it works equally well as a B&W fixer. It is very fast, and will clear a dry TMax film leader in about 45 seconds. Not as fast as yours, but fast enough. Clearing time x3 is under three minutes. This must be working. I have negatives that are several years old that have undergone this treatment and they are perfectly fine.
The 3 or so minutes of fixing time is never enough to remove all the dyes from these films, even though a considerable amount of the dye is picked up in the solution. Leaving the film in the fix longer is simply over fixing. I haven't noticed that a moderate amount of over fixing damages the shadow areas of the negative, but I've never left my film in a fixing bath for more than 10 minutes. In any case, this is a drastic measure and there is no need for it when a wash in plain water will do. The trick is to use processing temperature water, which in my case is tap water, at 75F (24C), and vigorous agitation. Works every time. The warmer the water, the faster they dye comes out. Two teaspoons of sodium sulfite in 1L of water can acts as a wash aid and helps wash out the dye a little faster, but not enough to make a big difference.
Bottom line. If your fixer is fresh don't over do it and rely on the wash to remove the dyes. If you feel lazy, simply soak the film in a tub of water for about 10 minutes, then finish up with your normal wash procedures. The dye will be gone.
We've decided to start combining threads dealing with frequently asked questions and making them sticky, and I think this is about one of the most frequently asked questions we've got. And that doesn't count threads about films with a blue tint that doesn't come out.
The short answer--
Fix adequately, use a hypo clearing agent, sulfite or Permawash, and wash adequately.
The dye doesn't come out entirely in the fix, but an alkaline fix will do better than an acid fix.
C'mon Guy we are anti digital we just want not to have to discuss it at every turn..
If you leave the antihalition dye you probably will have to play with the color curves if you scan in color. I imagine if you scan in B&W you would probably see some added density which that in itself might not be a bad thing.
Different way of making images. They both have their time and place, strengths and weaknesses. I value my film, I value my CF card. To say that "we are anti digital" makes us sound like Luddites.
And if people don't have a darkroom but can shoot to film, develop it, and scan it to the HD and then share it with the world, what's wrong with that?
Man, I thought my browser or computer went whacky...
Quote:
Originally Posted by David A. Goldfarb
Twenty threads merged and stuck.
We've decided to start combining threads dealing with frequently asked questions and making them sticky, and I think this is about one of the most frequently asked questions we've got. And that doesn't count threads about films with a blue tint that doesn't come out.
The short answer--
Fix adequately, use a hypo clearing agent, sulfite or Permawash, and wash adequately.
The dye doesn't come out entirely in the fix, but an alkaline fix will do better than an acid fix.
I think the thread title should be changed to
"Pink or Magenta Cast" T-Max films are not by
any means the only films which will retain a hue
out of the fixer. I've seen it with Pan F+, and
Acros, and read of it with Tri-X.
FWIW, Acros comes out of my very dilute fixer
with a pronounced magenta hue. Three rinses
and a Photo Flo later they are Clear. Room
temperature water usage. Dan
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I've tried only to collect threads about the T-max and new Tri-X dye here, since those have the same solutions, but there are some other films mentioned along the way. Some films have a blue or green dye that seems either not to be as difficult to remove as the magenta cast, or in the case of some medium format films, the film base is actually blue, and this color is not removable. In any case, I'll update the title to open it up to other films that have the same issue, as I'm guessing the magenta dye is the same chemical in various films (PE or someone else let us know if this is not the case).
A sensitizing dye only sensitizes as well as it can adsorb to the silver halide crystal. This is what makes a silver halide unique, its ability to be made sensitive to the entire visible spectrum. The better the sensitivity, the more tightly adsorbed the dye is on the grain. It is therefore possible to adsorb or react with gealtin and silver metal as well as other salts.
One particular Kodak dye, a magenta or pink in color, #BXXXXX (I'll never tell even under torture! ) is prone to doing this and thereby leaving color in the film, but it gives very high green sensitivity and dyes which form several layers on the grain "J typing named after Dr. Jelley at EK" make red sensitizers.
So, to get high speed in the visible spectrum, you sometimes have the problem of removing the dye. Dyes are made to be removed by good fixing, good washing and a good surfactant bath. If you don't do it, the film stays colored.
Sorry, but there are always tradeoffs in emulsion and film design and all products suffer this o a certain extent. Otherwise we take a hit in panchromatic sensitivity. If you want that to happen, then you will have clear film with any kind of processing. And, you will have a blue sensitive film. (BTW - someone here called a blue sensitive film an ortho sensitive film - it is not technically correct, and yes, I have read nearly all posts here.)
Whenever I dev P3200TMZ tmax film, the pink comes out with a 2 minute wash in HCA. When I don't have HCA, a couple more wash cycles at the end tends to get rid of it. The film always comes out with no color cast.
However, with Tri-X (400TX), I've never been able to get rid of the slight purplish tint to the base. I always assumed that its an actual tint to the base that doesn't wash out...
There is a slight tint to some bases. The base itself has a conductive agent in it like the conductive plastic bags for electronic equipment. This conductive agent causes a minute even gray-purple tint that is entirely harmless. This agent is there to prevent static discharge during coating and packaging as well as during processing. It cannot be removed.
FWIW, Acros comes out of my very dilute fixer
with a pronounced magenta hue. Three rinses
and a Photo Flo later they are Clear. Room
temperature water usage. Dan
Dan,
I do indeed concur wrt Acros (1st time user), came out magenta, two wash cycles later the magenta cleared but now there's a slight blue tint. I hope this is just the base-tint that PE and David just mentioned.
Wrt Neopan, it cleared on the first wash, no pink.
) is prone to doing this and thereby leaving color in the film, but it gives very high green sensitivity and dyes which form several layers on the grain "J typing named after Dr. Jelley at EK" make red sensitizers.
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