This is a very basic question but you have got to start somewhere, right?
So if a neg is not washed and fixed correctly does that mean chemical reactions continue and it damages the neg? If so, what damage occurs and how does that affect the prints?
Suzanne, sorry about that. Self portaits are not very common on APUG anyway. If they were, we'd have quite an interesting mix of colleagues. Which I'm sure we do anyway. Love you guys!
I haven't used Tri-X in several years but Ilford HP5 and PanF both heavily color the washing aids I've used. I thought this was the anti-halation layer but I'm really not sure what is the source of the color. It could be that the Tri-X actually is properly fixed and washed. Delta is one of the new technology films and, if it's anything like TMax, it takes longer to fix than old tech films. Tri-X, being old tech, fixes faster.
Give a strip of negatives a bath in some HCA and see if the chemical clears away the color. Then rinse well.
And a photography teacher asked you, "why am I still shooting film anyway?"?(!) It's time to drop that bozo's class.
Location: Maine, but have lived in New Jersey, Malaysia, and France
Posts: 448
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicole Boenig-McGrade
Hi Frank thanks for the input.
This is a very basic question but you have got to start somewhere, right?
So if a neg is not washed and fixed correctly does that mean chemical reactions continue and it damages the neg? If so, what damage occurs and how does that affect the prints?
If a neg is not fixed to completion, it could degrade down the line several years because of the undissolved silver. You can't hurt it yourself by re-fixing and washing in a an alkaline washing aid like Perma-wash, (although plain sodium sulfite is good too.) I'd start by giving them a minute or two in fresh rapid fix, then another two minutes in a wash-aid, and finally a normal water wash.
I don't see that anyone asked whether the density of the purple negs were what you expected them to be. Is it just the purple color that you're concerned about, or did the lab underdevelop your Tri-X negs, compounding the problem of the purple dye with thin density?
They look under developed and then printed very contrasty, looking horrible.
When I scan the negs and then use (pardon my French) Photoshop to correct as best I can, I can get reasonable (pardon my french again) digital test prints, although I'm still not happy with them.
At first I was concerned about pilot error, that I stuffed up, but shooting test rolls previously and preparing well etc... I'm sure I couldn't have ruined all 11 negatives like this.
So, I don't know if I'm grasping at straws here trying to work out why my TriX negs are purple, but I've shot TriX for a long time now and have never had this happen before.
I recently had some rolls of Tri-X and Delta 3200 B&W film developed at one of the top pro labs (and most expensive) in my home town.
The Delta 3200 film has come back looking as expected, black/grey/silver...
The TriX 400 film has come back with Purple tinting throughout. Previously the lab has developed all my TriX film and none of them are purple but black/grey/silver... as expected.
So why do they now have a purple colouring?
It also seems as though the developing may be out by a stop.
They ran of a set of prints from all these negs and IMO they look terrifying. I shot test rolls 4 weeks earlier and all my exposures are spot on. I recorded my settings and shot this time around exactly the same. So why such a contrast?
I approached a lecturer at the photography college and he said that's normal and I shouldn't be so critical and why am I still shooting film anyway? EEK!
Please help me with solving this mystery before I confront the lab.
Thanks everyone,
Kind regards, Nicole
T-Max films always need extra fixing compared to others. Just refix wtth
Ilford Hypan 4to1 for 5 mins. I have had under fixed T-Max negs filed 12
years ago and they are still OK. But this not idle as the colour cast wil
affect the printing grade.
JON
Sponsored Ad. (Subscribers to APUG
have the option to remove this ad.)
Nicole, you said that the problem is with Tri-X, not Tmax?
Tmax will exhaust the fixer more rapidly, leaving a pink stain. If the stain is heavy and irregular, fixing in fresh fixer will usually correct this. If the stain is slight, soaking in hypo clearing agent may remove it.
I have never seen this on Tri-X, just on Tmax films.
Jon, thanks, how did you find that the colour cast affected the printing grade?
Nicole,
I'm talking MG printing not fixed graded paper.
This go's years back when I was trying to print some soft high-key images
and could not get a good 00 soft grade. It was because the T-Max neg was
under fixed, the magenta cast of the neg was increasing contrast.
Which I'm sure we do anyway. Love you guys!
Linear Mode
