Microwaving Film

[matthew_runde]

I've heard of people microwaving their film (I'm serious), but I

haven't seen any information about this technique. Does anybody here

have experience with microwaving film or know where I could find more

info on the topic? I didn't find anything in the archives or with

Google. (Again, I'm serious about this. It is not a troll.)<br>

<br>

I'd certainly appreciate any help with this. Thanks!<br>

[dave_karp]

Matthew,

 

Never heard about microwaving film. To what purpose? To dry it?

 

I know that Ansel Adams (and now many others) used to microwave his test prints to dry them quickly so he did not have to wait for them to dry naturally so he could examine them properly. There is a great scene of him in the documentary that they show in Yosemite where he carries a dripping wet print from his darkroom into the kitchen to microwave it. No kidding. I'll bet Mrs. Adams loved that!

[neil_poulsen1]

I tried this once, and it changed the color of the print. I'm wondering if microwaving film has an effect on the final image.

 

For example, normally intended for prints, J. Sexton selenium tones his negatives and obtains a more dramatic effect in the print.

[robert_kennedy]

Uhhhh........don't metals and microwaves equal disaster? Just thinking about all that silver....

[brian_ellis3]

I've never heard of microwaving film. What is the purpose supposed to be? Are you sure you aren't confusing microwaving film with the idea of microwaving prints to dry them quickly and see the effect of dry down on the print?

[nathanielpaust]

You can hyper film by heating it in a hydrogen atmosphere (sounds like a great idea) to drive off water and improve long-exposure performance of the film. This is used a lot in astronomy.

 

Maybe microwaving the film helps do something similar by removing excess water from the film.

[pete_andrews]

'Hypering' film in Hydrogen has nothing to do with removing water from it. The hydrogen sequesters any free oxygen in the emulsion, and this improves the light sensitivity.<br>Hydrogen is a reducing agent, the same as developer, so think of it as giving the developer a leg up.<p>As for microwaving film: This sounds like somebody's idea of a gag. Heating film in any way before it's developed is generally a bad idea.<br>I'm pretty sure that microwaves aren't capable of affecting silver halide crystals directly, they'd simply create heat in the gelatine of the emulsion.<p>Nice crackle-finish film, anyone?

[mark_sampson]

Adams used the microwave to dry print test strips in order to check the amount of print "dry-down". Not final prints... the technique works, it takes about 2 minutes on "high". Not usually necessary though. And I haven't seen any sparks either...

[dave_mueller]

It shouldn't spark, since the silver crystals are much smaller than the wavelength, and the total amount of metal is very small. If you want to see some sparks, nuke a CD! Little lightning bolts (and a neat etched pattern on the CD, good for some macro shots of the diffraction patterns).

[jay_lynch]

I tried it!!! Tastes just like Chicken.........

[larry_cuffe]

I've done it, driven by pure curiosity, and the observation that microwaves can promote chemical reactions, some times dramaticaly so.

The result?

15 secs at moderate heat while the film was in the developer produced a most peculiar and unpleasant mottling effect.

[julian_stein]

We talked about this in class today

the microwaves put out are of really short wave length and will pass right thought the box and cause exsposure to the film cause the microwaves gives the film a charge.

 

so just don't do it haha