Different developers give different colour film?

[Masuro]

I have recently begun to develop my own film and it is a very satisfying thing indeed. I noticed this evening while putting away this week's negatives that they are a purplish colour but the film I had developed at a photo lab is black. I'm using Kodak chemicals to develop film and both Ilford and Kodak film comes out purplish. Does anyone know the reason for this?

 

[phaedrus]

Purple hue in the light parts of the negatives = remaining sensitizing dye not washed out in watering.

 

[pgomena]

Fresh fixer and fresh hypo-clear and a good wash will eliminate the purple tinge.

Peter Gomena

 

[radiantdarkroom]

Yes your dye layer is not being completly washed out, fix and hypo clear for longer time. TMAX 100 is especially difficult it usually takes a minute longer + to fix than other in fix B&W films.

Cheers

 

[Masuro]

I double checked and it appears my Ilford film comes out black but the Kodak Tmax is still purplish. I wash it very well and there are no problems with printing. I'll try washing longer next time. Thanks for your answers.

 

[Marco Buonocore]

I used to notice that dilute Perceptol (which is Metol based) would leave my Pan F 50 negs rather pinkish. While the same film developed in Rodinal had a noticably clearer base. All other steps - stop, fix, wash - were the same.

I'm sure there is a reason for this; something to do with the ph of the developer. I'm also sure one of our more knowledgable chemists will be able to explain in much better detail

 

[fschifano]

What kind of film are we talking about here? If one of the TMax films, then yes you probably need to fix and/or wash the films a little more to get the dye out. Once properly fixed and washed, TMax films have a very clear base. Tri-X, on the other hand, does not respond the same way to this treatment. No matter what you do, there is always a slight tint to the base material. It is never as "clear" as the TMax films. The same is true for Kodak's Plus-X, and Ilford's HP5+ and FP4+. The base material for these films has a definite color cast. Tri-X looks a purple/magenta, Plus-X has a definite blue tint, while HP5+ and FP4+ are grayish.