Formalin to prevent fungus

<offtopic>Can modern C-41 and E-6 films (after late 1990s) still use the stabiliser as opposed to the final rinse now used?</offtopic>

Ricardo;

I have summarized this so often, I really hate to post it again when you could search the answer... BUT....

ALL E6 films need formalin and can use a formalin stabilzer, but the process has changed to place the formalin earlier in the process (the pre-bleach). All C41 films can use a formalin stailizer. C41 films after about 2000 or so use a new stabilizer that will allow fading in older C41 films. So you can use old formalin stabilizer with ALL color films, but C41 films after about 2000 can work with the new final rinse. No E6 or old C41 should be used with a Final Rinse product.

This information is also summarized on Photo Net in their MYTHS articles which I wrote.

PE

Ian C said:

According to articles I read in Modern Photography (defunct since 1996 or so)...

Click to expand...

Just for the record I have an issue of Modern Photography dated July 1989 which says it is the last issue.

RPC

Photo Engineer said:

No E6 or old C41 should be used with a Final Rinse product.

This information is also summarized on Photo Net in their MYTHS articles which I wrote.

PE

Click to expand...

I suppose you mean: No old E6 or C41 should be used with a Final Rinse product.

I searched for the MYTHS article on photo.net, and I found this:

http://photo.net/learn/color_myths

and I am going to study it word by word.

I think a "frequently referred posts, articles, and general reference source" should be add to APUG, probably inside the Articles section, because sometime it is not easy to dig inside APUG and find an answer.

I still have a question for which I found no answer so far.

There is no pre-bleach in the C-41 process. I suppose there is no formalin in the C-41 if one does not use an E-6 stabilizer.

My C-41 kit has a final bath, which is called "stabilizer", and which contains a different fungicide: 1,2 benzoisothiazolin-3-on.

The question is: would this C-41 stabilizer be safe to use with E-6 films?

The question might appear stupid, but I wonder why Rollei / compard don't provide a formalin-based stabilizer, and I fear that they don't do it because there is some adverse effect of formalin with C-41 film.

The reason I ask this is that I would like to keep only one container for stabilizer, and use it for all kind of films. I would use my E-6 stabilizer for both E-6 and C-41 (and this is just confirmed to be fine) and when my E-6 stabilizer is over, I could mix some C-41 stabilizer and use it with both E-6 and C-41 films (this would be fine with C-41 films but I am not so sure about E-6 film).

ALL E6 films require Formalin at some point in the process, either in a pre-bleach or in a final stabilzer. NO modern C41 film requires Formalin in any way at any time. No MODERN C41 Stabilizer or Final Rinse can be used with E6 films if there is no pre-bleach!

The best way to have only one solution is to use a Formalin Stabilizer for both films. And, you must be sure it contains formalin.

The Fungicide you note in your post is one of a large family of modern "stabilzers" for films that Kodak and Fuji both use.

PE

Thanks Ron.

Kodak created a lot of confusion by making this change in one line of products and not the other. It is due to continued R&D on C41 films, but the cessation of R&D on E6 films. This led to a branching of processes in terms of stabilization.

PE