Such a thing as BEST FIXER?

I've been using an Ilford rapid fixer (comes as a liquid concentrate) for my B/W

film and prints

If I were to switch to a different brand, would I notice any change in the

appearance of either? meaning does it affect the picture.

 

Certainly, various brands EG Tetenal, Agfa, etc each produce a fixer a little

lighter on the pocket, but is there a downside?

I would imagine maybe not, and i am interested in hearing your opinions.

No. The only job of the fixer is to remove ALL the remaining halide. The only possible way you could get better/worse images is if either the fix was hardening and you left your pic in too long and it bleached some of the silver, or if you left it in too short and it didn't remove all the halide. Fix does not effect final picture, in general. You should go for whatever you need, longest lasting, least replenishment, or cheapest whatever.

like Nicholas said - the pretty much all do the same job. some have hardener, some don't. standard fixers take longer and usually come in a gigantic packet of powder that takes forever to disolve. unless you want to have a huge forearm from spending half your life stirring and agitating, stick with the rapid fixer.

You want light on the pocketbook? Use Kodak's Flexicolor fixer. It's designed for C-41, but does a great job with B&W too. Buy the gallon size concentrate and dilute it with 4 more parts of water to make a total of 5 gallons working strength fixer. Get it for about $8 USD per gallon of concentrate. B&H will order it special for you, but I bought a single gallon of concentrate at Calumet for a dollar or two more.

 

See it here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/27600-REG/Kodak_1693837_Flexicolor_C_41_Fixer_.html

personally, I kinda like TF4. I won't waste server space singing its virtues, but google it...it's good stuff!

I second TF4. Awesome stuff.

Since "best" is subjective the choice is yours based on your criteria. I too like TF-4 but I'm intrigued with the Flexicolor idea. Where did that come from?

Frank has the "Idea of the Week." A quick search on Google under Flexicolor and

black and white processes yielded the following comment regarding C-41 processing

with the kodak product: "The function of fixer is the same in color processes as it is

in black-and-white processes. A fixer converts the silver halide to a water soluble

form. Most fixers use thiosulfate as the fixing agent in an acidic solution."

 

Sounds good, unless there is some other chemical added to or missing from the

Flexicolor material. While I would tend to think not, I admit to being out of my depth

on that question.

 

Haven't used it yet, but I understand TF-4 is an alkaline fixer (a different form of

thiosulphate) which shortens washing time, is used with no prior stopbath, and keeps

the whole process alkaline (no acids). Apparently also of little odour.

 

Maybe someone would cross the t's on that....

Arthur, that's exactly right. Just use a water bath instead of acid stop.

There's nothing in the Kodak Flexicolor fixer that will harm B&W films or papers. I've been using that stuff regularly for more than a few years now and the earliest negatives treated with that particular fixer look as good as the day they were last wet. There is another fixer for the C-41RA process that should not be used on B&W materials, but this is not that product.

 

The fixer itself is only slightly acidic, coming in at about 6 to 6.5 on the ph scale when mixed to working strength, and will easily do twenty rolls of conventional films per litre. I usually wash for about 10 to 20 minutes depending on the temperature of my tap water. Colder water in winter calls for longer wash times. Now, if you want to spend $10 to make a gallon of working solution from TF4, be my guest. I'll get 5 gallons of working solution for the same money, and the OP did mention that he was looking for an economical alternative. Did I mention it was fast? It is very fast. TMAX films are clear in under 2 minutes in fresh solution at 75F, a little longer at 68F. No trace of magenta dye is present after 4 - 5 minutes.

 

There is one caveat to using this fixer that has nothing to do with it's performance. If you use an indicating acid stop bath, the fixer will turn blue/violet in color. It's nothing more than the some of the indicating dye from the stop bath being carried over into an environment insufficiently acidic for it to retain it's yellow color. That's all. It won't stain your films or prints. I usually rinse my films with clear water after the acid stop to slow down the accumulation of acid in this particular fixer, but I'd want to do the same with any alkaline fixer. That practice is difficult for me to implement for my printing workflow since my darkroom lacks running water. I get around the problem by diluting the fixer to half normal working strength for prints, thus halving the capacity and the amount of acd=id carried over into the fixing bath. It still turns blue, but it is of no consequence.

One more thing. It's the acid that makes fixers smell bad. Flexicolor fixer has almost no odor at all.

Frank, merci! Your fixer suggestion is a revelation and well worth trying.

Wow, i got much more than I bargained for, Cheers everyone.

I've been using F4 for a few weeks and I think its the cats ass. Totally odorless and fixes in about 5 minutes.

Another vote for FT-4 here. Plain water instead of an acid stop bath, fast fix times, shorter wash. And, being a liquid stock, easier to mix up than a powder. What more could we want?!