kodak has recalled it multiple times in the past year or so. I’ve personally ended up with multiple purchases that had product that they’ve ended up replacing, and then the replacement product got recalled. Not good. I have a business to run and that sort of thing is extremely disruptive, and I sure as heck am not going to run customer film through product that has been recalled.
if they have a pinkish tint, it can only be two things. Either it wasn’t fixed long enough, or it wasn’t washed long enough. Which one it is depends on the fixer they use and what film you sent in. You can rewash them for 20-30 minutes in running water to see if it goes away. If it doesn’t, then a simple refix and rewash should do it. It’s not uncommon for a lab to cut the wash time down to the minimum, but if you find that the pink doesn’t go away from a rewash, that’s not a good sign. They should be leaving it in the fix long enough to completely fix it and get rid of the pink tinge for the films that behave that way. Some films need more time in the fixer than others, however all that being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the film wasn’t adequately fixed and will fade over time, it just means that it wasn’t left in long enough to clear the pink tinge. I’ve seen films come out of the fix that I know have been fixed long enough that are still pink, but after the wash, the pink is gone, and other films that come out of the fix that have no color at all. It just depends on the film.
Hi Adrian.
Interesting about Xtol. I wonder if the problems have affected the developing of any of my film (if my lab used the recalled Xtol unknowingly).
I did have huge problem with their developing of FP4, but that turned out to be the hardener they were using. Caused horrible residue on non-emulsion side of the film which could not be removed. Ruined 5 rolls of my 120 film. The residue was extreme. I spent a lot of time communicating with the lab and Ilford about it -- long emails, photos of the negs, phone calls. The lab was blaming Ilford, which seemed weird because it sure looked like a processing problem. Ilford was blaming the lab. The lab finally figured out it was related to a hardener. They were in touch with Ilford, so I guess Ilford helped them figure it out. The Kodak film they developed for me (and in same order) was fine. It was just the FP4 that had the residue.
At the same time, I was dealing with the Ilford 120 film mottling problem in my FP4 -- specs in emulsion side of film which look dark grey in the film and whitish in scans, which you may have heard about. Ilford has an announcement at their site about it from early last year. They say it can happen if film exposed to extreme temperatures or humidity or is expired. I was using expired film at times, but I care for my film very well (no humidity, let warm to room temp before using, etc).
So I thought I would be relieved of the problem if I did not use expired film. But I shot a roll of current film and still got the mottling. I sent it to a different lab, because I hadn't heard that previous lab had figured out their processing problem with FP4 (they never contacted me; I eventually contacted them).
I was involved in another thread here about the Ilford 120 mottling problem, and it sounds like film manufacturers have to constantly deal with materials changing or not being available these days. Apparently the mottling is related to the paper backing of the 120 film.
Now, though the residue issue has been explained, I'm afraid to use FP4 because of this mottling issue. Too bad, it's my favorite film.
Sorry, I digressed.....
Thank you for the detailed explanation about the pinkish tint to negs. Sounds like there is hope that the negs are not
necessarily going to degrade over time if they are pink. I would have to look into how to wash or refix if I wanted to do that.
