Use of Stop Bath

Dear sir,

Thank you very much for your answers. This forum is a wonderful way

to learn about photography. Recently I purchased some Ilford stop bath and when I

later read the fine print noticed that it was for prints. Can this be used

also for processing film (Tri-X, Plus-X)? Please inform.

Thank you.

Alan A. Morrow

Alan:

You can use stop bath (Ilford or other one) in both papers and film.

Recently Ilford recomended not to use stop bath (acid) in Ilford Delta Films. The diference betwen pH (acidity) of deveop and fixer is strong and you can see some pinhole in your negs.

Try to wash several times with WATER before fix your neg or dilute your stop bath.

Have you ever use Ilford Delta 100 or even 400?

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Mauricio

Alan:

Try to look for in Your Newsstand march/98 edition of SHUTTERBUG Magazine. Trey have 38 pag of B&W Tecniques.

Regards

Mauricio M. Falcao (from the south of Brazil)

Stop bath won't wash, my friends! It'll only cause slight -but in enlargement- noticeable reticulation (=extra graininess). Only water will. A few good rinses will do the trick. Drawback: it's slightly heavier on your fixer.

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Keep on snapping !

Stop bath is usually solution of acetic acit or simply acid solution and serves to stop alcali developer. It can be used both for films and prints but do not use the same bath for both - have film stop and print stop.

One note - I use short wash after stop to remove acid from film. Acid causes fixer to be hardly washed from film.