Fotospeed Color Print Brightener + ...

Does anyone have experience/ opinions/ wild guesses about Fotospeed Color Print Brightener Stabilizer, as shown in Freestyle's current catalog, p36?

Yes Ed I have used it. Mainly as a means of shortening washing time in a Jobo processor. It allows for a dip rinse only rather than a full wash. In the longer run I wanted "insurance" for print stability as well. I am not sure it actually brightens the print although this is claimed for it and for Nova Waterless Wash which is a similar product. I think a 10% improvement in brightness is claimed. I have always meant to check what the local mini-lab uses. If it doesn't use this kind of stabiliser/brightener then I'd say that the claim of brightening may be questionalble as I have seen my local mini-lab prints and they are just as bright as my "Fotospeed brightened ones"

However it may well add to the stability of the print and certainly in the U.K. the cost of using it is fairly low so it's "cheap insurance" and makes me feel better.

pentaxuser

Brighness enhancers cause a blue - yellow shift in print color under changing illuminant from daylight to tungsten. This shift is annoying to some people. They also fade with time and cause a yellow stain to develop.

No rinse that I know of will enhance dye stability if wash is shortened. There is no substitute for a final good wash.

A good stabilzer, if you want one is as follows:

Citric Acid 10 g/L
Sorbitol 10 g/l
Sodium Benzoate 1 g/l
Formlin 37% 10 ml (optonal) May use 10 g/l of Sodium Formaldehyde bisulfite

pH to 4.5 with Sodium Hydroxide solution (5 - 10%)

The Sorbitol renders the print slightly tacky and if this is objectionable, you can reduce it to as low as 1 g/l. All formalin may be omitted if desired.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

Brighness enhancers cause a blue - yellow shift in print color under changing illuminant from daylight to tungsten. This shift is annoying to some people. They also fade with time and cause a yellow stain to develop.

No rinse that I know of will enhance dye stability if wash is shortened. There is no substitute for a final good wash.
PE

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I use this also - are you saying, PE, that infact this product could reduce the long term stability of the print?

Matt

Matt;

Yes, it could. It would at least increase the chances of yellowing, as brighters, as a class, yellow with time.

Shortening the wash certainly will, all on its own.

PE

PE Apart from brighteners which have the long term( years?) effect you speak of, I wonder on what grounds the sellers( Nova and Fotospeed) claim that it reduces washing time. Indeed in the case of Nova Waterless Wash( actual name of product) it claims that it is a complete substitute for washing albeit an expensive one as the Waterless Wash doesn't go very far if there is no water washing at all. There must be something in these two products that gives grounds for the claims made for less or no washing. Whether there is any proof of their ability to compensate or totally substitute for water is I accept another matter.

I am certainly going to ask my local mini-lab what it does in terms of washing. The owner of the lab augments her living as a film wedding photog so presumably has a mini-lab system that ensure as much longevity as possible. It wouldn't be in her interest to end up with customer complaints about yellowing or otherwise deteriorating prints from the "great day"

pentaxuser

I have no idea and cannot comment directly on Fotospeed products. If there is a patent, I would be happy to read it over, or if there is an MSDS I would be happy to read it. In my experience, reduced washing leaves Ferric ion in the coating along with hypo and Silver complexes. These are not always good for B&W or color leading to color deterioration.

It may take years to see any effect on any of these so that your grandchildren may be unhappy with you in 100 years when they cannot see your photos clearly.

Me? I wash mine well. I used to use Kodak Stabilzer II which is approximately what I posted above. It has an oxygen barrier (sorbitol) and a fungicide (formalin + sodium benzoate) at the optimum pH (4.5). That should do the trick OTOMH.

Best of luck.

PE

Don't some of the mini-lab type machines not use running water? but rather a recirculated stabilizer rinse after the blix? I was under the impression they did.

PHOTOTONE said:

Don't some of the mini-lab type machines not use running water? but rather a recirculated stabilizer rinse after the blix? I was under the impression they did.

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the stabilizer is essentially what PE described. In the case of fuji, it is Deionized water, to which is added 1 tablet/5L of "a proprietary antifungal agent" that happens to smell like chlorine but is not hazardous according to the MSDS.