tony_p4 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 What difference does it make to the negatives between continuous agitation and inverting for 10 seconds every minute when fixing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_beckert Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 The more the merrier. More agitation will accelerate fixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony_p4 Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Thank you Hans, thats exactly what I was looking for :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Can anyone cite an authority for this? Not that I'm doubting your assertion, Hans, I'm just wondering whether anyone has tested and documented this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_beckert Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Well, of course, as more fresh solution is brought into contact with the film. You can try it with some fixer in a clear graduate and two pieces of film, one of which you simply drop in, the other of which you move constantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorge_oliveira2 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 At least for papers, Kodak recomends "tray processing with continuous agitation" for both dev and fixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Well, I must admit to a habit of continuously agitating prints while agitating film only irregularly - perhaps every minute after the initial 30 second agitation. Never really gave it much thought. The real reason I agitate prints continuously is because I'm just standing there with nothing better to do, while with film processing I'm preparing other things as the film is fixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorge_oliveira2 Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 To be honest, I do not agitate continuously film or paper. That's the main reason I use hypo/sulfite fixer for papers (rapid fixer for films) and do double fixing. While paper is fixing, I'm preparing other prints, and prints may stay in fixer quite a long time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony_p4 Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Have to admit that so far I have agitated the same as Lex, with paper at least there is something to look at. I asked the question as I know some people use continuous agitation but have never found a real reason why. Thank you everyone for your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric rose Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Well I've gone both ways. For years I agitated continuosly and now I only invert the tank a couple of times every 60 seconds. Can't see any difference in the end product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 For stop and fixing baths I give continuous inversion agitation. Chemical reactions proceed faster if more energy is put in, whether this be by temperature or turbulence. Speaking as a former industrial chemist, turbulence is critical in many industrial chemical reactions to achieve maximum efficiency. I've never run trials myself but it might be interesting if some one compared rates of clearing with continuous agitation as against intermittent, e.g. once per 30 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silent1 Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I agitate my film the same in fixer as in developer -- but I also fix for twice the time shown on the fixer concentrate bottle. I don't believe that amount of extra fixing time does any harm, my film is thoroughly washed (also twice the recommended time, running tap water w/ frequent dumps and refills, final rinse in filtered water w/ PhotoFlo), and unless my fixer is getting exhausted, there's considerable margin in even the commonly recommended times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_beckert Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 No reason at all to do that. You could be losing delicate half-tones! Use rapid fixer and fix for 3-5 minutes with fresh solution. Washing should take no more that 10 minutes. Use a wash-aid. I use Perm-wash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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