newbie needs advise on storage of chemicals

<p>hi,<br>

i'm not new to analog photography but film processing;<br>

i'm a "hybrid photographer" so i just develop my 120 films; my question concerns the storage of chemicals that are already prepared for processing, that is mixed with water and stored in appropiate tanks;<br>

i'm using Tental Ultrafin plus ( 1+4 ) and ultrafix which should allow me to process up to 4 rolls of film; can I reposit the "diluted" chemicals or would it be "wiser" to store the film and use the chemicals at once ?<br>

what's the better strategy if you shoot one roll a week ?<br>

best regards nj</p>

<p>If it is a one shot developer, only dilute it when you are going to use it, otherwise, what do the directions for it indicate?</p>

 

<p>I don't know about Ultrafin, but I switched from D-76 (powder based) to HC-110 (concentrated liquid) due to my rather sporadic film developing sessions. HC-110 keeps for a super long time as a concentrate and I just mix enough for each developing session as I need it. It sure beats worrying about how long the stock or working solutions will last.</p>

<p>Generally, developers do not keep for more than a day or two at working strength (dilution) without considerable loss of effect. Some powder developers, like ID-11 can be successfully re-used to develop film by increasing development for each subsequent film - to around 4 re-uses - and there are replenisher powders mainly for use in large volume development.<br>

I'm fairly sure Ultrafin is a 'one shot' developer so it has to be poured away once it has been used on film, therefore, it is advisable to only mix it immediately before use, or, at a pinch, mixed to working strength and poured, brimful, into a (preferably) brown glass bottle with a tight top and kept cool for a few days.<br>

In short, with your film usage, mix developer fresh for immediate use. The undiluted concentrate will keep in its bottle for 6 months or more (depending on storage conditions) and could be put into a smaller bottle when the original is getting near half empty</p>

<p>I forgot to add that diluted working strength fixer does keep for several weeks to up to a couple of months or until it is exhausted by use on film. Again, fill a suitable container, preferably glass, to cut down on oxidation and store it cool. Test the fixer with a bit of film leader to see that it is clearing within (at most) a couple of minutes: if not then this tells you the fixer is exhausted. </p>

<p>thanks mark; i`ll try;<br>

by the way the ultrafin should be able to be reused up to 6+ times (4+1) with 1000ml; I usually prepare 600ml so it should be fine for max. 4 films. the question is all about the time in between usage.<br>

in the end it would be better to store the film in a sealed container and develope them when i've "collected" some rolls.<br>

best regards</p>

<p>I found a great solution to storing my D-76 at stock strength. There are 12oz (0.33 liter) beer bottles, clear glass, which have a cap that can be opened and resealed as many times as you want. To see what I mean go to the grolsch website:</p>

<p>http://www.grolsch.com/</p>

<p>I'm in germany and here you can find a few different beers in these kinds of bottles. In the USA you might only find Grolsch. In any case I use my D76 at 1:1, so 1 bottle is about right per 120 film. So my stock developer is always stored with no air in the bottle up until the time it is used. </p>

<p>Another thing I do, and it seems to help quite a bit, is to shoot some dust-off in just before I close the lid on by developer bottles. This pushes the air out of the bottle and replaces it with the gas in the can. I know it sure helps with my paper developer, as I have used the same solution for periods from a few days to over a month, even a few months if I refrigerate between sessions. Film developer is much more critical than paper developer though, a few wasted sheets of paper is fine, a few wasted rolls of film can be tragic.</p>