Milky base with Arista EDU 400 in 120

[ulysses]

I ran two rolls of 120 film this morning in the same tank, one Arista EDU 400 and one Ilford Delta 100. The developer was the "Microphen type" from the Darkroom Cookbook (formula 21 in the first edition) at 1:3 followed by a water rinse and fixing in F-5 fixer for 15-min. The film base on the Arista came out uniformly translucent, sort of milky looking. Has anyone else seen this? The Delta looked fine (great, in fact.) This is my first time trying both of these films. My first thought was that it was under-fixed, but I've never seen a film not even clear after 15 min in the fixer. Also, the developer poured out with a decidedly blue tint, which I assume was some kind of anti-halation coating on one of the rolls. I'll see how it scans shortly (again the Delta scans look great.)

 

[DLM]

The Arista .EDU Ultra (Fomapan) has that translucent look to it, along with the slight blue tint. It weirded me out the first time too, as I think it does to everyone else the first time they take a roll out of the tank.

 

[Rick A]

I always presoak for two minutes to remove the bulk of the anti-halation coating. As for the milkiness, I've not experienced that. It does sound like underfixing. How fresh was the fixer, how old the film? I've souped a few rolls of 120 Arista EDU Ultra 100, Pyrocat-HD, fixed in TF-4, no problem.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

My first guess would be the chemistry as well. But you say that the film did not clear? Yeah, what Rick said. Fixer either WAY too dilute or WAY too exhausted. I use Kodafix on my 120 Arista and the film clears in 2 minutes + at 1:7.

 

[jmcd]

The base for Foma 120 is different from many other films, it is polyester, with a blue tint and a translucent milky nature—this is normal. With fixer you are trying to clear the unexposed silver emulsion—add a drop of fixer to the emulsion side under light and watch it clear. No film I know of clears faster than Foma. With my Ilford Rapid fix 1:4 it clears in about 15 seconds, so total fixing time is less than one minute!

 

[ulysses]

I feel like a man with two watches...

Okay, two people respond with "yeah, that's what Foma is like" and two say it's the fixer. Translucent and bluish is what it looks like, the other film in the tank (Delta 100) cleared fine, and the negs scan just fine (I just wish my ECTL could be hand-held as easily as the ETRS I shot with the other roll -- it's either that or those old Nikkors just weren't that sharp, which I don't think is the case.) I'll mix up some rapid fixer the next time I soup Foma/Arista EDU and see if it looks any different, but for now I'm leaning toward "that's just how it is." Thanks to those who responded.

Ulysses

 

[Uncle Bill]

I have so far shot two rolls of Fomapan 400 in 120 processing the first in Rodinal 1+50 and the second in HC110 Dil. B. I did the two minute presoak while mixing up the developer solution and in the end I got the faintly blue slightly milky base. Know what, having printed optically with the negs, I don't see any performance issues, the same goes for a straight negative scan on an Epson V500 scanner. The prints and scans look amazing, so I'm not losing sleep over it.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

(Paraphrased) I have shot rolls of Fomapan 400 in 120 processing in HC110 Dil. B. I did the presoak while mixing up the developer solution and in the end I got the faintly blue base.

. . . occasionaly. And when it does occur, a refix and re-rinse does the trick. Blue gone.

 

[DLM]

. . . occasionaly. And when it does occur, a refix and re-rinse does the trick. Blue gone.

Sooo... you are saying you've been able to get Fomapan and/or Arista .EDU to a clear base by fixing for longer? I don't really buy it, since from everything I've read and seen, that blue tint is normal. I've developed a few rolls in the same tank as Tmax, and fixed for 10 minutes with fresh fixer and the blue base is still there.

 

[Rick A]

Arista EDU ultra does have a slight blue tint in the base, but I havent gotten any 'milky' appearance, only clear. When you say 'milky', are you refering to a very slight opacity when first removed from the tank and its wet? Any cloudiness remaining after dry down is not good, means improper fixing. You may be confusing the polyester base for this, as it is not as clear as glass as some film bases. The thickness has a part to play in that, as it is thicker than some films. If you are used to 35mm films which are thinner, could also cause misinterpertation of the result with 120 film.