Hey, I have a theoretical question in regards to my research towards my final project in film school.
After I have shot some black and white film, and say developed it (but not fixed, and still in dark tank), is there a way to chemically remove the latent image, or to 'reset' the silver to it's original state, so that in theory I can dry the film in the dark and then use it to shoot something?
How about after toning? Or bleaching (but no fixing - ie: converting to silver bromide but no removal of silver from the film)?
In theory perhaps but in practice the bleaches needed cause massive speed loss and I think you also lose Panchromatic sensitivity. If it could be done people would use it to rescue fogged papers.
Could it even be done after develop and a stop? I mean you couldn't rinse the film in water and that might act as a mild fix and you would still have chemistry on the film. And if you were to redevelop you could seriously increase negative density. Just seems that way to me.
I do know that you can remove the silver halide and leave the latent image behind. BTDT. It is in one of the catalytic imaging patents I co-authored. But, I forget the details.
Why don't you develop the rest of the silver and then bleach it. That way the bleached halide will all have the same characteristics rather than two different ones. You'll lose speed and sensitization AFAIK and be left with a slow blue sensitive emulsion. Have fun.
That's exactly what Im after for my reseach report.
So if I pull the film out to the light to expose it, so it's completely exposed, completely develop it, tone, then bleach, then dry in the dark and reload, it'll be ready for shooting again at much reduced sensitivity and limited spectral sensitivity (to whatever the toner absorbs)? That's exactly what I'm looking for, for my report.