Efke 100 serious B+F issue

[Erik L]

Hi folks, I have been using 11x14 efke 100 in a jobo cpe2+ for a while now and am mostly happy with the results of the negatives except for 1 thing. I get serious b+f of usually around .4 in pyro hd 2+2+100. My normal time for alt processes is 15 minutes. I have tried increasing the part a solution with no improvement. I have tried adding fresh developer at the half way point with no improvement either. I have added sodium bisulfite - no help either. I cannot turn the speed down on the jobo (only one setting) and I really do not want to tray develop if I can help it. It isn't really a problem when doing normal contact prints under the enlarger, but it really adds to my exposure times when I put it under the pizza oven UV light I use for alt processes. Is this something I have to learn to just live with or can someone tell me how to cure this b+f issue? I really appreciate any help offered!
regards
Erik

 

[Erik L]

Any suggestions from you good folks?
erik

 

[Ian Grant]

Do you mix your own Pyrocat HD ? If so how fresh is your Pyrocatechin ?

The first time I made up Pyrocat I had bad base fog issues, however my Pyrocatechin was over 20 years old, and with fresh Pyrocatechin I've had no problems. If Pyrocatechin (orPyrocat HD) is old then there's a bluish tinge to Part A and it will cause staining. I use a Pyrocatechin re-developing print toner that uses a very simple re-developer and if the developer isn't fresh then the whites stain badly.

Sodium Bisulfite is poor grade Metabisulphite and has slightly less anti-oxidising power, Potassium Metabisulphite is better but should be reasonably fresh, but none of them can reverse the oxidation if the dev agent has already oxidised. This is a problem with all Pyro developers.

Ian

 

[Erik L]

Thanks Ian,
The pyro hd was fresh pre mixed in glycol from the Photographers formulary. I've had this problem for awhile through a few batches of pyro hd but only with the efke sheet film. I used the sodium bisulfite as a shot in the dark solution cause I had it on hand and was the only sulifite I had on hand. I wonder if it is just to fast an agitation with my jobo unit and efke film that I just have to live with. It is a pain for alt printing because it can add a stop or so to my already long uv exposures. I do not get the fog with tri-x and tmax in 4x5 or 8x10, but I can't afford to buy those films in 11x14 unfortunately. Thanks for thinking it out.
regards
erik

 

[Rick Olson]

Hello Erik,

I purchased an outdated box of Efke 100 in 8 x 20 and it had very high base fog. It was developed in pre-mixed Pyrocat-HD (from the Formulary), also at 2:2:100 dilution. Not sure what caused it, but it was nearly unusable. I have some Efke 25 and Efke 50 in 11x14 and 8 x 20, both outdated, and they are fine in Pyrocat-HD with low base fog. It is sometime hit and miss with this film. I know the price is great, but I will use Ilford and Kodak for my "one opportunity" shooting. I have never had any unexpected development issues with them.

Rick

 

[Erik L]

Thanks Rick for the insight. I have used 4 or 5 boxes of the 100 all with the same issue. Maybe I just got unlucky with the batch of film. I like that it is stocked with no special order needed and the price is nice. I used to use the arista edu ultra (foma 100) in 11x4 and loved it but freestyle dropped it for some reason. Maybe my next box will be "unfoggy"
regards
erik