HELP! WHATS HAPPNED TO MY FILM

<p>Hi,<br>

I am 14 years old and this is my first time developing film, I was using coffee and dosium carbonate, so anyway I

did the developing and fixing as directed. I opened the tank and checked the emulsion, it had developed but it did not

look normal, I could not see through the image and immediatley thought that the fixer had not worked

properly. I closed the tank quickly and filled it with water. Could someone please tell me whats

happened and if the images could be salvaged and what I should go about doing to save them?<br>

Thanks Michael.</p>

<p>I suppose you are developing with coffee and Sodium Cabonate (washing Soda).<br>

Your fixer for film should be 1+4 in working solution. If your negatives are milkey you can refix your film.<br>

Your fix time should be 2x clear time of your film. When putting a piece of film directly in the fix it will clear. When it's completely clear this is the clear time. Normally 1,5 - 3 minutes, depending of the film and fix type.<br>

But you can always refix your film. When there is a problem with your film developer you can not "fix" the problem.</p>

<p>Best regards,<br>

Robert</p>

<p>Do-sodium is a slang term for Bi sodium you used the wrong stuff. if you used baking soda. You needed Sodium Carbonate and also adding a little Vitamin-C or Ascorbic acid as it is also known helps.</p>

<p> But try to fix them again in fresh fixer.</p>

<p> Read this thread for a guy who has been using it lately and getting pretty good results.<br>

http://nelsonfoto.com/SMF/index.php/topic,19949.0.html</p>

<p>Larry</p>

<p>Did you mix the fixer according to the instructions on the bottle for film? Check that then give the film a pre-rinse in water for a minute then fixer again for the amount of time it gives on the bottle.</p>

<p>Also, unless you can't get "real" developers it doesn't seem to me that developing in coffee is a good technique for your first time. Get some Rodinal or HC-110 - they're easy to use, all you need is one small and one large graduated cylinder and a thermometer - and do a couple practice rolls.</p>

<p>What is the point of this fixer compared to tried and true Kodak? Other than anything in the world has to mix and dissolve easier than Kodak. Does it give some effect to the negatives? I use only TMax film.</p>

<p>What fixer did you use and what dilution?</p>

 

<p>Isn't part of the thrill of developing in things like coffee, that you never know what's going to happen?</p>

<p>Well you found out. ;)</p>

<p>Michael, various homebrewed developers will work just fine. Developers can be made from all kinds of readily available household materials. Coffee, wine, ascorbic acid, Red Devil Lye (careful with that stuff) and several other household products can be combined to make developers. There are lots of recipes in our archives and around the web. Results may vary and these homebrews may not be as consistent as commercially made developers.</p>

<p>But did you use real photographic fixer, or a home made solution?</p>

<p>I ask because in a previous post you asked whether seawater could be substituted for fixer. This is an old misunderstanding based on reports of Navy photographers using seawater to wash films in order to conserve fresh water. That part was true. But you still need fixer to clear the film and prevent fogging. Fixer *can* be made from chemicals you can buy or order, but it really isn't worth the effort. I've tried it and couldn't get my home made solutions to work as well as fixer designed for photographic usage.</p>

<p>Hi everyone,<br>

I know you picked up on my typo, I used sodium carbonate/soda ash/washing soda as my activator for the coffee and Ascorbic Acid, this worked fine, I have developed images on my negs, and it smelt horrible, but my fixer was makshift, I read somewhere that sodium thiosulfate was the main component of the water dechlorinator used for fish, so I tried this at a dilution of 35ml water dechlor/250ml water. I think this is why the fixing did not work, I am doing a leader test on the stuff to see weather or not it can fix the film, if not ill have to order some fixer online.<br>

Thanks Mick.</p>

<p>Michael,<br>

First off, I'd like to say that it is great you are interested in photography - especially analogue B&W photography - at your age. I first started taking pictures at about 15 and then developing B&W somewhere around 16 or 17. It is a lifelong hobby!</p>

<p>Your description reveals some interesting information. First, the fact that you were able to see some images means that there was definitely development and at least some fixation. However, the fact that the negatives were very dense means that either (1) the film was overexposed or (2) it was over developed (or of course, some of both). Overexposure cannot be discounted, nor can over development in the developer. But, your comments about fixing process gives us some interesting clues.</p>

<p>If the water dechlorinator solution you used contained sodium thiosulfate, it should in theory fix your film. But, there could have been other compounds in the solution that may have caused slow or ineffective fixation. Also, most acid-based fixers contain around 25% sodium thiosulfate - your fixer had, at most, 14%. And, you stated you used "35 ml water dechlor", which implies you added a liquid <em>solution</em> of dilute sodium thiosulfate. It's likely therefore that your final concentration was much less than 14%.</p>

<p>Most commerical (and even home brewed) fixers also contain weak acids, such as sodium metaborate or borax, to help stop the alkaline developer absorbed in the emulsion. You didn't mention using a stop bath, and if you didn't, this may have allowed development to continue to occur.</p>

<p>Finally, your comment that your film "smelt horrible" suggests that something was happening to your fixer. My guess is that you were smelling some sulfur compounds (from the thiosulfate), which would indicate that the thiosulfate was breaking down, further rendering it ineffective.</p>

<p>So, while this may way more information that you want or need, my guess is that these three factors combined to allow the film to continue development in the fixing bath.</p>

<p>Don't give up! Mishaps like this are a very important part of the learning and improvement process, and believe me, I have learned a lot over the years!</p>

<p>I definitely think it's worthwhile to play with home-brew developers like coffee / vitamin C, but I don't know of any usable home-brew fixers that just use off-the-shelf ingredients. You should probably stick to a commercial fixer. </p>

<p>For what it's worth, a water de-chlorinator could contain any reducing agent -- even ascorbic acid (a quick Google for the ingredients of aquarium water de-chlorinating solution revealed one that actually does use ascorbic acid -- chemically, it's perfect for de-chlorination, but will develop your film rather than fixing it). Even if your de-chlorinator does contain sodium thiosulfate, it is probably too weak. Sodium thiosulfate fixers generally have at least 100 g/L of thiosulfate.</p>

<p>The horrible smell is common when developing film in "coffee" developers, from what I recall. I believe it comes from free-basing a lot of volatile amines that are normally present as salts in the instant coffee. </p>

<p>Hi everyone,<br>

The horrible smell, was infact the developer that, the soda ash must be breaking down the coffee... but it was defietley not sulfur, as you would expect from thiosulfate breaking down into sulfur dioxide, anyway i did a leader test on the water dechlor and it did clear it! but it took nearly an hour, so that would mean about three hours fixing......<br>

Anyway thanks for your help, I think I will just buy some kodak fixer to use for my work. </p>