KODAK Fixer F-5 - anybody uses it?

[Radost]

I see Kodak Recomend it for xx5222.
It’s a hardening fixer that will require long wash of hypo clear,
Here is the formula I found.

 

[lamerko]

Don't bother with that formula. In H-2415 the F-5 fixer is indeed specified, but a few things need to be kept in mind:
– the documentation is based on very old material (5222 itself is the oldest emulsion still in production);
– it refers to very large processing volumes where extremely long lengths of film are immersed, sometimes over 2000 feet. In that case a hardener isn't a bad idea;
– it was designed to be as inexpensive as possible;
– the documentation specifies a full 11 minutes for archival fixing, with correspondingly extended washing times.

Simply don't bother with fixers based on sodium thiosulfate, or if you insist on using one, go for the rapid formulas. Any fixer based on ammonium thiosulfate will be better suited for your purposes.

 

[koraks]

Simply don't bother with fixers based on sodium thiosulfate, or if you insist on using one, go for the rapid formulas.

I agree. Just use a regular rapid fixer. It doesn't matter which. 5222 is just B&W film; it can be fixed in any photographic fixer. I personally use C41 fixer, but any other fixer would do just fine. There's no need for a slow, old-fashioned sodium thiosulfate fixer unless you happen to have an enormous barrel of sodium thiosulfate that you feel you absolutely must use.

 

[Radost]

Tank you both.
The whole stock solution works forever appealed to me.

 

[koraks]

Any acid fixer concentrate will at some point sulfur out. It's unpredictable when this will happen.
C41 rapid fixer concentrates generally have a very long, sometimes indefinite lifetime, as they are virtually pH neutral.

 

[Rudeofus]

I would second koraks' suggestion of using C-41 fixer concentrate. If you can get 10l canisters of it, it is really affordable and lasts forever both as stock solution and as working solution.

If you prefer to self mix at all cost: there only few public rapid fixer formulas out there, so I have assembled three useful ones for you:

1. Ryuji Suzuki's Neutral Rapid Fixer: a generic, simple, but very useful formulas from easy to get ingredients.
2. Ron Mowrey's Superfix I (plus a wild flame war between Bill Troop and Ron): a very fast fixer (both the fixing and the washing afterwards), one can see it as a precursor to (proprietary) TF-5 fixer.
3. Bill Troop's TF-3, an alkaline fixer. You can replace the Sodium Metaborate with Borax or Boric Acid to make it less alkaline.

 

[Radost]

I already use Fuji c41 fixer 1:5 one shot.
Thank you. I was just curious.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

No, I exclusively use alkali non-hardening fixers for films and paper due to the short washing times®equired.

 

[mshchem]

There's very good reasons for using an ancient hardening fixer. Those reasons pretty much disappeared 50 years ago.
Back in the single weight fiber base paper, glossy, mechanically dried, scorching heat, ferrotyped etc. You needed hardener

Modern materials don't need ancient chemistry.

Still if you want the whole stinky darkroom experience F-5 in an open tray, standing over the tray rocking t back and forth for 10 minutes. Perfect