D-76 Variations, Metaborate substitutions and fixer choice.

I have just found this place in Rio which sells Dead Link Removed in 500 grams packs.

TF-3 usage.

Restarting the thread.

So, I've got no responses about the extra NaCL content in TF-3, if i produce Ammoium Thisulfate would affect image quality. But I actually have another question. The cookbook recommends 1+3 dilution of TF-3. But how about the stability of the use solution? Can I keep using it for a long while? Cause if it's stable enough, I plan to make 250cc and dilute to 1 liter at a time, just not to keep bottled undiluted fixer. Will the ammonium tiosulfate degrade quickly? Also, how many rolls a 1+3 liter can fix?

TF-4 is more robust than TF-3, but is similar in action. Look up the capacity of TF-4 and use about 3/4ths of that value for TF-3. However, it is always best to check your film and paper for retained silver and retained hypo in order to be sure.

PE

I have used D-23 for several years and it does, as pointed out above, replenish easily. I'm not sure about the number of films/liter you can replenish; I have done 20 [35mm 36 exp] and have not seen any difference. D-23 doesn't tend to blow out highlights as easily as D-76. By the way, there are some D-76 variants posted on the internet by a British photographer. You might look at these as well. As to alkaline fixers, I have used Photographer's Formulary alkaline fixer and it works well, but we have easy access to liquid Sprint chemicals so I use their rapid fixer. The alkaline does not require something like the Heico Permawash. Hope this helps.

No process requires permawash, HCA etc.....

They did not exist before about 1950 or so. I've forgotten, but there are a lot of permanent prints from way before then. It is a matter of good darkroom practice.

PE

Because of your difficulty in obtaining some chemicals, you may be better off to use the alternate D-76 formula which uses Borax in place of Kodalk. It was the original formula. Borax should be available in store which sell washing supplies.

teleparallel said:

I can get the chemicals easily, except sodium metaborate and ammonium tiosulfate. Some people said around to make ammonium tiosulfate from sodium tiosulfate and ammonium chloride. In the case of TF-3, the extra salt(NaCL) will have any effect in the fixing? Can it affect the results?

Click to expand...

The addition of an ammonium salt to a sodium thiosulfate fixer shortens the fixing time. There are several formulas from Kodak and Agfa. However fixing speed is never as with a fast ammonium thiosulfate based fixer. The sodium chloride would have no bad effects on the film or paper.

teleparallel said:

Restarting the thread.

So, I've got no responses about the extra NaCL content in TF-3, if i produce Ammoium Thisulfate would affect image quality. But I actually have another question. The cookbook recommends 1+3 dilution of TF-3. But how about the stability of the use solution? Can I keep using it for a long while? Cause if it's stable enough, I plan to make 250cc and dilute to 1 liter at a time, just not to keep bottled undiluted fixer. Will the ammonium tiosulfate degrade quickly? Also, how many rolls a 1+3 liter can fix?

Click to expand...

This is a fair copy from the Ilford fast fix bottle.
The liquid is for either 1+4 or 1+9, paper and film respectively I assume but not specified!

The life quoted is

Concentrate 24 months in full airtight bottles
6 months half full tightly capped
7 days (1+4)

Some one will provide better info now that I've broken the ice.

The number you can fix is dependent on the film Tmax, Delta, etc exhaust fixer faster than Tx or HP5+, I use the time to clear when the fix speed is reduced approaching twice as much I discard, but I use a bath a and b.

Again others will help...

I never use fast or ammonium additives waiting longer for the sodium thiosulphate is not that difficult, and it is one less chemical to procure. And I get asthma too easily.

Photo Engineer said:

No process requires permawash, HCA etc.....

They did not exist before about 1950 or so. I've forgotten, but there are a lot of permanent prints from way before then. It is a matter of good darkroom practice.

PE

Click to expand...

The rumour that I had was the allied Navy people discovered that the negatives from vessels without desalination plants and forced to use sea water wash with a final rinse in a bottle of water from an ashore faucet had better negatives than desalinated vessels.

But that the HCA technique had been known about from 19th century but not generally used.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Noel, you just could not walk into a photo store in the 40s or 50s or even the 60s and buy a hypo eliminator or wash aid. Yes, the story about the Navy is true, and yes, hypo removal was known, but no one used it. Even the top photofinishers did not use it. They used water washes and a dry!

So, the point is that this method is not needed!

PE

Photo Engineer said:

Noel, you just could not walk into a photo store in the 40s or 50s or even the 60s and buy a hypo eliminator or wash aid. Yes, the story about the Navy is true, and yes, hypo removal was known, but no one used it. Even the top photofinishers did not use it. They used water washes and a dry!

So, the point is that this method is not needed!

PE

Click to expand...

Hi Ron

Thanks it is nice when I'm not wrong for once.

Noel

Done it!

So my first roll is developed! The results seem really good. I used to develop my rolls with an old guy well known in Sao Paulo, mr. Ogava. I use kentmere film, since i can bulkroll it for cheap. I push a stop to get a little extra speed, but i think mr. Ogava under developed it. Kentmere is not too common here, so I guess he used hp5 ou tri x developing times.

Anyway, I controlled the tempereture so it stays around 20C, and I used minimal agitation, as described in the cookbook, for 30min in total. Also I stopped the agitation in the final 10min, to help lift the shadow areas. As a test roll, I photographed a plain light wall varing 8 stops, and all were distinguishable. The range was from -4 to +3. -4 was really soft, I don't beleive i can go any further, alghout I lack experience to say. +3 was dense, but not black, maybe another stop and even a second was possible, wich impose the limit of 10 stops. Is the result good enough? I still plan to get more out of the shades, but I guess i'd need not to push.

So in the end I decided to start with the D76H by Grant Haist, and TF-2 fixer. Simple and cheap to make. I used Sodium Carbonate in place of Metaborate. Clearing was under 3 min.