'gel' fixer for polaroid 55

[paddy_macmahon1]

<p>I've just taken a long term loan of a Sinar 5X4 monorail camera. The chap who leant me the camera also threw in some Polaroid 55 film and holder. In the film box are several cannisters containing a kind of gel stick with plastic handles, which are for fixing the negative, apparently.</p>

<p>My question is this - how do I use these sticks? Are they an alternative to using sodium sulphite? Should I wash the developer from the negatives first? How liberal an application do I need? I don't seem to be able to find any info on the internet, so any advice would be gratefully received.</p>

<p>Paddy</p>

[ramiro_elena]

<p>The "gel" is for the positive print you get out of the type 55 pack. You fix, hypo & wash the negative part as you would with regular b/w film. On a personal note, I rate type 55 at 25 ISO.</p>

[paddy_macmahon1]

<p>Thanks Ramiro. So the negative goes straight into fix, without a stop bath or washing off the developer? And what's hypo? My (35mm, 120) film developing cycle goes develop, stop, fix, wash.</p>

[ramiro_elena]

<p>You could drop the negative into a tray with water (I've done it a few times.) Make sure you don't place more than one sheet since they could scratch eachothers emulsion. To avoid that I put it straight into fixer. Hypo clearing agent helps to remove any trace of fixer left and allows for a shorter wash. Ilford makes "Wash Aid", Kodak makes "HypoClear".<br>

You can wash directly after fixing too. I am sure there's a more professional acurate way to explain the process :)</p>

[brit]

<p>Paddy note this film gets different exposure depending on if you want a neg or the positive. Not used mine yet so forget what is typically used.</p>

<p>I have/had some polaroid pdfs on how to use their film etc, if I find any I will try and get them to you.</p>

[steve_swinehart]

<p>The positive print and negative have different ISO speeds. The print is 50 ISO and the negative is rated at 25 - 35 ISO. The negative should go into an 18% sodium sulfite bath to be cleared. You used to be able to purchase clearing solution tanks to take into the field for the sodium sulfite solution. You do not need to fix the negative. The only reason to do that is to harden the emulsion. I have Type 55 negatives that are more than 25 years old, and they were only cleared in 18% sodium sulfite and never fixed. There is an alternative to sodium sulfite, you can use hypo clearing agent. I used to hold them in a storage tank with sodium sulfite until I could get home. I'd wash the negatives for 2-3 minutes, dip them into water + Photo Flo and hang them to dry.</p>