No fixer. If I scan right away can I use seawater?

[ned1]

I've been taking a cross-country driving tour, developing my film each night in

hotel bathtubs and then scanning. My thermos of fixer leaked out, and none of

the local camera stores have any (I found one that had stop and wash, but no

fix). I'm in a small town by the ocean (Panama City FL) and I'm wondering: if

all I want to do is scan immediately then toss the film, can I use an overnight

bath in seawater?

[mendel_leisk]

I'm completely in the dark on this, never heard of this substitution, but my first thought: if it's at all effective, why not use salted distilled water instead? Just the thought of scooping up seawater and dunking your film in it scares me: it's going to make for a distastrously gunked-up scan.

 

Also, storing fixer in a thermos sounds risky: there was someone posted here recently who accidentaly drank some discarded chemicals stored in a drink container. If you're travelling alone, it's ok I guess, but just a dangerous practice.

[bruce_watson1]

Can you fix with seawater? No, you can't. You can wash the fixer out of the film with seawater, but it won't do the job of a fixer, which is to remove the undeveloped/unexposed silver halide from the emulsion.

 

Badger Graphic, B&H, Calumet, etc. can ship fixer to a destination like a friend's house, a hotel, or to a specific UPS or FedEx store to await your pickup. Might be your best bet.

[michaelging]

I googled Panama city fl and darkroom and found this,I am sure they will let you borrow a cup of fixer.

 

 

http://www.volunteermatch.org/orgs/org52271.html

[richard_cochran]

It'll probably work, if you use lots of saltwater and give it lots of time.

<p>

From <a href="http://shutterbug.com/techniques/film_processing/0903sb_coffee/">http://shutterbug.com/techniques/film_processing/0903sb_coffee/</a>:

<p>

<cite>For fixing, ordinary saltwater will do. In fact, seawater was long ago used as the very first successful fixing agent. The process is slow, however, and very inefficient compared to the action of modern fixing solutions. It takes a lot of saltwater, but it can be done.</cite>

[dave_s]

<incredulous>Why would you risk your negs with an uncertain process? Save your exposed film until you get home.</incredulous>

[ned1]

I figured I'd start with a throw-away roll and see how it comes out.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Interesting. What I learned long ago was that salt water is a wash aid to remove fixer. One develops, stop, fixes. The the wash aid of saltwater is used then fresh water to remove the salt. This was done during ww2 or before on ships at sea; where fresh water is at a premium; ie scarcer. Sodium Sulfite is used too; a commerical wash aid product. One uses less fresh water when using fixer removal aid. This salt wash aid was taught in WW2 Navy photo courses; ie believe the Pensacola group.

[Mike Gammill]

Aquarium supplies may carry sodium thiosulfate (active ingredient in Kodak fixer) I don't know if it's concentrated enough for the job but if you get some, it MIGHT work. Anyway, I think it would certainly be better than seawater. I think you would add a few drops of this to remove chlorine from tap water before adding the fish. If this does work as fixer, it will be non-hardening and it will take at least twice as long as ammonium thiosulfate fixers (rapid fixer). Test first before doing important film. Let the rest of us know if this works.

Good luck.

[joshroot]

I'm surprised that Panama City doesn't have a camera store of some sort. Are you, perhaps, in Panama City Beach (about 15 minutes away from PC)? It's a strip mall spring-break sort of place on the water.

[kelly_flanigan1]

<a href="http://www.f295.org/DIYforum/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl/Blah.pl?b-fixRec/m-1150517241/"><b>f295: The Craft of Alternative and Adapted Photographic Processes><BR><BR> ? Chemistry Recipes ? Fixer ? Alternate sources of fixer</a></b><BR><BR>@FIN

[ned1]

There is a camera store. They have Dev, Stop, Wash, but no Fixer. Owner says he sold his last bottle 6 months ago and business was so slow with the darkroom supplies that he won't re-order any. Let's face it: B&W film is a dying art.

 

I started the fix with seawater yesterday morning. Checked the negative before leaving for a New Years party. Tiny amount of clearing. Checked it again this morning. Very slightly more. Checked it just now. A tiny bit more. At this rate I figure it will take 5 days, by which time I will be in Tampa. Interesting experiment, and something everyone should do ONCE. If it ever clears I'll post the scan.

[john_stockdale2]

Swimming pool shops have sodium thiosulphate. It's used to reduce chlorine levels. Why you'd want to destroy expensive pool chlorine eludes me, but the product is there. It might be called something like "chlorine reducer."

[ned1]

I've indeed decided that seawater as fixer is an urban myth. Three days and very slight clearing. I'll just wait a day until I'm near a real city.

 

FYI: other than the photo famine Panama City is really quite nice.

[Bob K]

Edward

 

 

Not sure if this will work but I will pass it along. I read this years ago from a former Life photographer. Develop and stop film then store in light safe container. Fix when you can.

 

Please do not feel badly about Panama City. BW is in decline for the time being but will come back.

 

Bob

[ned1]

Bob,

 

I did just that. Kept it in the metal tank until I got to Orlando then fixed. Film came out with a few streaks but the results were interesting. Odd quality that I can't quite explain.

 

Here's one: http://www.photo.net/photo/6801661