Film to dye for

I just developed some Arista EDU 400 in Ilford chemicals. The developer (and to a lesser extent the stop and fix) came out bright green. This must be the result of sensitizing dyes used in the film. Does this impact the life of the chemicals at all?

The Arista film is cheap. But it wouldn't be so cheap if it impacts chemical life.

No, it won't harm your chemistry.

martian film for sure!!!

I thought it was for St Paddy's day.

thuggins said:

I just developed some Arista EDU 400 in Ilford chemicals. The developer (and to a lesser extent the stop and fix) came out bright green. This must be the result of sensitizing dyes used in the film. Does this impact the life of the chemicals at all?

The Arista film is cheap. But it wouldn't be so cheap if it impacts chemical life.

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You must have used 120, right?
That is the AH layer that comes off in development.

Ricardo Miranda said:

You must have used 120, right?
That is the AH layer that comes off in development.

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Green? Probably not AH dye. Probably acutance dyes and trimmer dyes along with sensitizing dyes.

PE

Yes, I've noticed this happens with Arista.EDU 120 format but not 35mm.

It also happens with Fomapan (just saying ).

120 rollfilm -a clear polyester base 0.1 mm thick, furnished with an antihalo colour backing which will decolourize during processing.

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From the Foma datasheet for Fomapan 400.

Just wait till you try Tmax!

Ricardo Miranda said:

You must have used 120, right?
That is the AH layer that comes off in development.

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It is 120. As I don't have an enlarger B&W 35mm doesn't hold much attraction.

I used to process film in replenished Xtol, and I bought a lot of the Arista EDU films, as it was the only film I could afford for a couple of years.
While it doesn't make any difference as far as performance of the chemistry goes, I used to really like the turquoise color that it would impart on my developer, which stayed that color until I could afford buying TMax film again and it went back to being essentially clear.
The FOMA / Arista / Holga films are actually quite good. I like them a lot for portraits, close-up work.

The only issue with the color of which I am aware is that it turns the stop green, eliminating the benefit of the indicator dye in the stop. This can be avoided by doing a quick water bath after development.

thuggins said:

I just developed some Arista EDU 400 in Ilford chemicals. The developer (and to a lesser extent the stop and fix) came out bright green. This must be the result of sensitizing dyes used in the film. Does this impact the life of the chemicals at all?

The Arista film is cheap. But it wouldn't be so cheap if it impacts chemical life.

Click to expand...

A three minute pre rinse before developing will eliminate 99+% of the dye and keep it out of all your other chemicals. It has zero effect on anything, and should fade out of the chems in a day or so(my experience).

Wallendo said:

The only issue with the color of which I am aware is that it turns the stop green, eliminating the benefit of the indicator dye in the stop. This can be avoided by doing a quick water bath after development.

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I never got that carry-over of dye into my indicator stop bath. But as Rick suggests, a pre-soak with plain water will rinse out most of the dye before it goes in the developer.
I still think you would see your indicator stop bath turn color, by the way.

Rick A said:

A three minute pre rinse before developing will eliminate 99+% of the dye and keep it out of all your other chemicals. It has zero effect on anything, and should fade out of the chems in a day or so(my experience).

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I agree with all you said, however, interestingly, my replenished Xtol would stay the turquoise color until I stopped processing Foma/Arista films. Not that it matters... Just a comment.

Thomas Bertilsson said:

The FOMA / Arista / Holga films are actually quite good. I like them a lot for portraits, close-up work.

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While the Arista is very cheap, which makes them good for practicing, I wouldn't go so far as to say it is "quite good". The first roll looked kinda muddy, with poor contrast, detail, and tonality. Just to make sure I shot a roll side by side with Ilford Pan F 50. To say there is a world of difference is an understatement. The Ilford leaps out of the film with a 3 dimensional look. Even as negatives, they have the sharpness, detail and contrast of a positive image. But for portrait work it may be just the thing. Folks seem to want a "soft" film for portraits, but this is not desirable for architectural or landscape shots.

I also tried the Ultrafine Extreme 400 in the same test. This is noticeably better than the Arista, but not as good as the Ilford. It is difficult to make a direct comparison as the Ultrafine negatives have that magenta dye that is discussed in a sticky. I'm trying to bleach it out with some UV light now. It is not much more expensive that the Arista and seems to be worth the difference (if the dye bleaches out).