Fixing times for Fotospeed Odourless

Aidrian Long · Apr 27, 2020

Hi I’ve decided to change from ilford hard fixer to fotospeed fx30 odourless fixer. I was wondering about the fixing times for film & RC paper.
Any advice is most gratefully received. Ade

tezzasmall · Apr 27, 2020

https://www.theimagingwarehouse.com...-00050004000300090009/Fotospeed_Tech_Data.pdf

Page 7

Terry S

Aidrian Long · Apr 27, 2020

Thanks Terry I really appreciate that. Just wondering are these times tried & tested by anyone here ?

koraks · Apr 27, 2020

Haven't used this particular fixer, but all I can say is that those times are on the short side for film and particularly if you happen to use any tabular grain films (TMAX, Ilford Delta, Fuji Neopan). Paper fixing times on the other hand sound rather conservative.

For all intents and purposes, fixer is basically fixer. There's some caveats, but when it comes to fixing times for contemporary materials in a modern rapid fixer, it's all rather close.

Doremus Scudder · Apr 27, 2020

Fixing film for less time than fiber-base paper...?? No way that seems right to me. The paper-fixing times seem alright, but do do a clip test for your film to establish a minimum fixing time for each film you use.

My recommendation: Find the time it takes the film to clear in fresh fixer (search here or elsewhere on how to do a film-clearing test if you don't know how) and triple the time to get your minimum time. Times will be different for different films. The clearing test will tell you if the manufacturer's recommendations are correct. Keep in mind that fixing film a bit longer than absolutely necessary does no harm and may ensure that you don't underfix.

Do a clearing test before each batch to test fixer exhaustion. When the clearing time hits double that in fresh fixer, discard the fixer.

Note, the above is for film only. For prints, throughput is your guide to fixer capacity. Do residual silver tests with ST-1 or selenium toner to test for adequate fixing of prints.

Best,

Doremus

Maris · Apr 27, 2020

Fotospeed FX30 Odourless Fixer is the only one I've been using for many years. Thousands of sheets of paper and film later I can report it's performance in the 1+4 dilution is completely unremarkable:

Fixes paper in 2 or 3 minutes like other rapid fixers.
Clears sheet film in about 20 seconds with a full fix taking maybe 2 or 3 minutes.
Fixes Tmax films in about 5 minutes - no purple negatives.
Capacity is about 20 to 24 sheets of 8x10 fibre base paper per litre with an clean residual silver test.
Concentrate keeps well. The one I'm using was in storage for a year before opening.

The downside is that it costs more than the cheapest rapid fixer. I also pay extra for Fotospeed SB50 Odourless Stop Bath so I can have a smell-free darkroom without the expense of a fume extraction system. Ok, the savings didn't last. I had a darkroom air-conditioner installed.

Aidrian Long · Apr 29, 2020

Doremus Scudder said:
Fixing film for less time than fiber-base paper...?? No way that seems right to me. The paper-fixing times seem alright, but do do a clip test for your film to establish a minimum fixing time for each film you use.

My recommendation: Find the time it takes the film to clear in fresh fixer (search here or elsewhere on how to do a film-clearing test if you don't know how) and triple the time to get your minimum time. Times will be different for different films. The clearing test will tell you if the manufacturer's recommendations are correct. Keep in mind that fixing film a bit longer than absolutely necessary does no harm and may ensure that you don't underfix.

Do a clearing test before each batch to test fixer exhaustion. When the clearing time hits double that in fresh fixer, discard the fixer.

Note, the above is for film only. For prints, throughput is your guide to fixer capacity. Do residual silver tests with ST-1 or selenium toner to test for adequate fixing of prints.

Best,

Doremus

Thanks so much you’ve given me a place to start & that’s all
I can ask for.

Aidrian Long · Apr 29, 2020

Maris said:
Fotospeed FX30 Odourless Fixer is the only one I've been using for many years. Thousands of sheets of paper and film later I can report it's performance in the 1+4 dilution is completely unremarkable:

Fixes paper in 2 or 3 minutes like other rapid fixers.
Clears sheet film in about 20 seconds with a full fix taking maybe 2 or 3 minutes.
Fixes Tmax films in about 5 minutes - no purple negatives.
Capacity is about 20 to 24 sheets of 8x10 fibre base paper per litre with an clean residual silver test.
Concentrate keeps well. The one I'm using was in storage for a year before opening.

The downside is that it costs more than the cheapest rapid fixer. I also pay extra for Fotospeed SB50 Odourless Stop Bath so I can have a smell-free darkroom without the expense of a fume extraction system. Ok, the savings didn't last. I had a darkroom air-conditioner installed.

Thank you Maris I’ll definitely take your recommendations on board. I’m mostly developing tri-x in 120 as well as Rollei 80s & 400 in both 35 & 120mm. Do you use the 1to 4 dilution for both film & prints ? Right now I’m just printing with RC paper. Thanks again for you thoughts it’s been very helpful

Fixing times for Fotospeed Odourless

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