Stop Bath.. How important?

[darkroommike]

I find that its potency is roughly 90% of the glacial. What its specific constituents are I do not know, but its potency is roughly 90% of the glacial. It is VERY strong. - David Lyga

Yeah, it curls my nostrils just like Glacial, a matter of fact anything above 28% is an intense olfactory injury for me

 

[Arklatexian]

I find that its potency is roughly 90% of the glacial. What its specific constituents are I do not know, but its potency is roughly 90% of the glacial. It is VERY strong. - David Lyga

I'm with you David. I always dilute Indicator Stop Bath just like I would Glacial with no problems (no "pin" holes) for over 50 years. I am careful not to "sniff" my stop bath, and I don't use it in salad dressings, just like I don't "taste" my developers or fixers. I have seen that done.......Regards!

 

[JBrunner]

Water my entire life, thousands of sheets and rolls. Never had problems that I could attribute. It’s doesn’t “stop” development, it dilutes the developer away so that development stops. I can’t see how that could cause the problems you describe if your agitation is adequate.

That said, water varies, temps can vary, film can vary, and the universe is full of surprises. Taxes, war, sudden audits, and this.

 

[John51]

I always use indicator stop bath - acetic acid based for film, citric acid based for paper.
The acetic acid based Kodak stop works out to be cheaper, but the Ilford citric acid based stop smells better.

What advantages does the Ilford citric acid stop bath have over using one tsb of citric acid in a litre of water?

 

[removed account4]

Water my entire life, thousands of sheets and rolls. Never had problems that I could attribute. It’s doesn’t “stop” development, it dilutes the developer away so that development stops. I can’t see how that could cause the problems you describe if your agitation is adequate.

That said, water varies, temps can vary, film can vary, and the universe is full of surprises. Taxes, war, sudden audits, and this.

kind of funny ..
this same idea has been posted in this thread for 13 years but people are
still pounding away at the SB like not using it will lead to some sort of ailment like a mole or goiter or gout.

you forgot solar flares and seismic activity, the undead roaming the earth &c

 

[otto.f]

I only use stop when printing. I have found it to be a waste of time when developing film.

Probably a waste of your fixer too. Especially with T-grain films fixer becomes exhausted pretty soon, this will be worse if you don’t stop the developer in the emulsion.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Probably a waste of your fixer too. Especially with T-grain films fixer becomes exhausted pretty soon, this will be worse if you don’t stop the developer in the emulsion.

"Oh, I never use stop bath because it is so damned expensive. I would rather kill my hypo!"

 

[removed account4]

"Oh, I never use stop bath because it is so damned expensive. I would rather kill my hypo!"

it has nothing to do with expense, it has to do with having another chemical in the darkroom to deal with ..
dispose of, mix, breathe the fumes of .. fixer is cheep

 

[Sirius Glass]

"Oh, I never use stop bath because it is so damned expensive. I would rather kill my hypo!"

it has nothing to do with expense, it has to do with having another chemical in the darkroom to deal with ..
dispose of, mix, breathe the fumes of .. fixer is cheep

I was being sarcastic.

 

[removed account4]

I was being sarcastic.

LOL
one never knows ..
potato potahto

 

[Photo Engineer]

Well, stop helps if you are making prints, especially FB prints, and when you dispose of your chemistry, it helps neutralize the developer.

PE

 

[MattKing]

What advantages does the Ilford citric acid stop bath have over using one tsb of citric acid in a litre of water?

The indicator in the Ilford product is conveniently useful, even if it isn't strictly necessary.

 

[aoresteen]

I've been using acetic acid stop bath since 1971 for both film and paper. Never an issue. I take 6oz of 28% acetic acid and add it to 122oz of water to get a gallon of working stop bath. My primary developer is HC-110B and it stops the development quickly. With short development times of 5 1/2 to 6 minutes a stop bath is needed for consistent results. I have never had any pinholes in my films.

 

[GLS]

What advantages does the Ilford citric acid stop bath have over using one tsb of citric acid in a litre of water?

None. I switched to a 1% citric acid solution I make up freshly for each development session. It works just as well, and is orders of magnitude cheaper.

 

[youngrichard]

Haven't used a stop bath in 50 years. Don't have the space on my worktop for another dish, firstly. Secondly, fixer stops development even better than a stop bath. OK, so I may exhaust my fixer more quickly, but it doesn't cost the earth, and I always check clearing time to ensure that fixing time is at least twice clearing time. Result: happy snapper.
Richard

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Haven't used a stop bath in 50 years. Don't have the space on my worktop for another dish, firstly. Secondly, fixer stops development even better than a stop bath. OK, so I may exhaust my fixer more quickly, but it doesn't cost the earth, and I always check clearing time to ensure that fixing time is at least twice clearing time. Result: happy snapper.
Richard

So that's actually an interesting question: If my workflow includes stop bath then I've built in a few precious? seconds of development while the stop bath slows and stops development. If I went to a developer->fix solution, do I lose any appreciable density in my negatives?

 

[MattKing]

Actually, depending on the fixer (acidic vs, neutral vs. alkaline), an acidic stop bath stops film (or RC paper) development faster than fixer.
If you use a neutral or alkaline fixer, development will continue in the fixer.
If you use an acidic fixer, the speed of stopping development will depend on the acidity and dilution.
If you use an acidic stop bath, there isn't any issue - development will stop almost immediately.

 

[faberryman]

I cannot believe there have been 128,000+ views and 570 posts on a topic as mundane as whether or not to use stop bath. Photography just isn’t that complicated.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

I cannot believe there have been 128,000+ views and 570 posts on a topic as mundane as whether or not to use stop bath. Photography just isn’t that complicated.

It isn't a question of complication. It is a question of passion for process control. If you aren't that picky about your process then I guess the question of stop bath vs water+fixer or just fixer isn't that interesting to you.

 

[RPC]

So that's actually an interesting question: If my workflow includes stop bath then I've built in a few precious? seconds of development while the stop bath slows and stops development. If I went to a developer->fix solution, do I lose any appreciable density in my negatives?

B&W film development times are long enough that stopping development immediately or not, is not that critical. If you think it makes a difference, then test to find what gives you the results you want and just be consistent at it.

 

[Photo Engineer]

It is more critical in prints and increases in criticality as size goes up. Stopping development uniformly in sizes from 5x7 or thereabouts is paramount. And, fixers are not that heavily buffered. They are, but not as much as needed to stop development as you keep putting more prints through. So, a stop is needed for uniformity from start to finish of a session and from the sides to the center of a print and for fixing as pH goes up.

What a waste of effort to teach simple chemistry to some of you.

PE

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I was being sarcastic.

regardless, I was taught to use a stop bath for consistency by the best printers in the world and see no reason to deviate.also PE's reasoning makes sense to me.

 

[faberryman]

It isn't a question of complication. It is a question of passion for process control. If you aren't that picky about your process then I guess the question of stop bath vs water+fixer or just fixer isn't that interesting to you.

If you are picky about your process, you use stop bath; if you aren’t, you don’t. The only question is do you want to stop development uniformly at a certain time or not. Precision or sloppiness, your choice. But it isn't essential; it just eliminates a variable. And it doesn’t require a four month debate. Is this what film proponents have come to? Endless debates about stop bath? Or the ongoing month long debate: Strap or no strap? I guess you are really in your element here. Like a bunch of old geezers gathering at the donut shop every morning for coffee to talk about the good old days of APUG. It's suicidal.

 

[removed account4]

And it doesn’t require a four month debate. Is this what film proponents have come to? Endless debates about stop bath? Or the ongoing month long debate: Strap or no strap? Like a bunch of old geezers gathering at the donut shop every morning for coffee to talk about the good old days of APUG. It's suicidal

LOL!
what i find to be remarkable is there are always
people who suggest photography is their way or
the high way ... they fail to realize ..
the whole photography thing, well,
its like developing times .. just a starting point...
and none of it really matters anyways

 

[Kino]

And now, it's time for the penguin on your telly to explode...