Agfa Ansco 17 Replenished and Fomapan 100 Dye.

BobUK · Tuesday at 1:47 PM

I have just developed my first Fomapan film. Fomapan 100 4x5 sheets from a box having a date of 2023-1 on the label.

The instruction sheet does not mention using a pre-wash.

Developed in replenished Agfa Ansco 17 for 8 minutes at 20 c.
Water stop baths, then Bill Troop's F2 alkaline fixer.

The negatives came out well, with no signs of colour caste as shown in an earlier topic a few years ago.
I have yet to print the negatives, but they should be OK.

My worry now is the greenish blue dye that coloured the developer , and water rinses between developing and fixing.

I am using the developer replenished.

Several Ilford films have already been through the replenished developer.

The future build up of Fomapan dye in the developer is cause for concern to me.

I am thinking of keeping this now tinted developer for the Fomapan and mixing up a new batch to use with my Ilford films.
Or should I just go for a one shot developer for the Fomapan?

Hopefully someone experienced in using replenished film developer can point me in the right diection.

Thank you.

Paul Howell · Tuesday at 2:17 PM

Foma sheet and MF films greenish to blue dye, I think it is the anti halogen layer, and will have no impact on the the developer. I use a number of developers of the years and never had an issue with the dye affecting the developer.

koraks · Tuesday at 2:46 PM

BobUK said:
The future build up of Fomapan dye in the developer is cause for concern to me.

Doesn't need to be; it doesn't affect the developer or future films run through it.
If you're worried about it, give the Fomapan a prewash to cut back the dye carryover - although you'll still get some.

Don_ih · Tuesday at 7:57 PM

The dye can't stain your negatives and doesn't have any impact on the activity of the chemicals in your developer.

MarkS · Tuesday at 8:14 PM

And in any case, a replenished system should be dumped and replaced with fresh once you have added as much replenisher as the tank holds.

thinkbrown · Tuesday at 8:19 PM

@koraks basically said everything I would. I primarily run replenished D96 and it turns midori green right after I process fomapan. It fades after a day or two and doesn't hurt anything

John Wiegerink · 2025-10-15T07:48:34-0400

MarkS said:
And in any case, a replenished system should be dumped and replaced with fresh once you have added as much replenisher as the tank holds.

Hmm, I don't dump my Xtol-R (Adox XT-3 R) developer until I notice a real difference in developement, which has never happened yet. Or I cross-contaminate somehow like dumping fixer into it. I should add that I filter my developer going back into the main jug and do a presoak/wash with all my film stock unless specified otherwise.

AZD · 2025-10-15T08:32:43-0400

My XTOL-R is very colored from Foma 400 sheets. I have used the same developer many times with other films with no problems. And I like the color. It is emerald green immediately after development, then turns sapphire blue within 24 hours.

Andrew O'Neill · 2025-10-15T11:18:50-0400

I don't bother prewashing Ilford films when using XTol-R. But for certain films, I do. I know the dyes are harmless, I just don't dig blue, or green developer, or fixers...

MarkS · 2025-10-15T16:36:12-0400

@ John Weigerink, that was Kodak's recommendation for replenished developers. In my past life, at different times.I was responsible for replenished B/W sink lines at two different custom labs and at my corporate employer. At all three, we followed EK's recommendations and ran control strips regularly. Consistent, accurate processing was vital to our customer's film and to our business(es).
So I learned, and operated, by the book, successfully. That was between 30 and... 48? years ago. Around 1995 my department switched away from the sink line, so I haven't been near one since. That was, of course, before XTOL was introduced, and its replenishment methods may well be different.
And in my personal work nowadays, I don't use anywhere near the volume of film to make a replenished system viable. I hope your methods work well for you!

MattKing · 2025-10-15T17:06:44-0400

MarkS said:
@ John Weigerink, that was Kodak's recommendation for replenished developers.

@MarkS,
That "dump at a certain point" recommendation was one of the reasons that XTol was created - in order to eliminate the need for that. No such recommendation ever made it into the XTol datasheet.
The other big advantage of XTol in a commercial environment being, of course, that it is self-replenishing - no separate replenisher necessary.

MarkS · 2025-10-15T19:54:24-0400

@MattKing, you're right of course. I did do a little peripheral testing of XTOL when I worked at Kodak, nothing worth mentioning really, but it was 25? years ago and my recollections are rather incomplete these days.
It's a fine developer and if I was going to shoot small-format film now, it would be my choice. My friend Edgar Praus, of Praus Productions in Rochester, uses replenished XTOL in his b/w line- and his lab is busier than ever, which is a good enough recommendation for me.

John Wiegerink · 2025-10-15T20:00:18-0400

MarkS said:
@ John Weigerink, that was Kodak's recommendation for replenished developers. In my past life, at different times.I was responsible for replenished B/W sink lines at two different custom labs and at my corporate employer. At all three, we followed EK's recommendations and ran control strips regularly. Consistent, accurate processing was vital to our customer's film and to our business(es).
So I learned, and operated, by the book, successfully. That was between 30 and... 48? years ago. Around 1995 my department switched away from the sink line, so I haven't been near one since. That was, of course, before XTOL was introduced, and its replenishment methods may well be different.
And in my personal work nowadays, I don't use anywhere near the volume of film to make a replenished system viable. I hope your methods work well for you!

Yes, the method for Xtol is very different and works perfect.

loccdor · 2025-10-15T21:09:40-0400

I prewash only to get residual wetting agent out of the equipment to decrease bubbles. From everything I've seen, the dyes from the anti-halation layer don't matter.

chiller · 2025-10-15T23:10:57-0400

BobUK said:
I have just developed my first Fomapan film. Fomapan 100 4x5 sheets from a box having a date of 2023-1 on the label.

The instruction sheet does not mention using a pre-wash.

Developed in replenished Agfa Ansco 17 for 8 minutes at 20 c.
Water stop baths, then Bill Troop's F2 alkaline fixer.

The negatives came out well, with no signs of colour caste as shown in an earlier topic a few years ago.
I have yet to print the negatives, but they should be OK.

My worry now is the greenish blue dye that coloured the developer , and water rinses between developing and fixing.

I am using the developer replenished.

Several Ilford films have already been through the replenished developer.

The future build up of Fomapan dye in the developer is cause for concern to me.

I am thinking of keeping this now tinted developer for the Fomapan and mixing up a new batch to use with my Ilford films.
Or should I just go for a one shot developer for the Fomapan?

Hopefully someone experienced in using replenished film developer can point me in the right diection.

Thank you.

Hi,
I use the same developer and replenished with Foma 100 as my film of choice and the blue dye has no effect. I filter the developer through a cotton ball in a funnel after about 10 films.
Don't prewash as you will dilute your main developer.

The results get better with age and the developer doesn't look pretty.

Agfa Ansco 17 Replenished and Fomapan 100 Dye.

BobUK

Paul Howell

koraks

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Don_ih

MarkS

thinkbrown

John Wiegerink

AZD

Andrew O'Neill

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MarkS

MattKing

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MarkS

John Wiegerink

loccdor

chiller

Agfa Ansco 17 Replenished and Fomapan 100 Dye.

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