Stop bath

modafoto · Nov 10, 2004

Hi

I would like to hear your opinion on stop bath. What do you use and why?
Myself, I use either (there was a url link here which no longer exists) or acetic acid.

What are the pros and cons of stop bath vs. plain water.

Morten

VoidoidRamone · Nov 10, 2004

I've been using plain water for a while now. One thing is that it's cheaper. The second thing is that I use TF-4 which doesn't require a stop-bath. Other than that, I don't really have a great reason. I'm sure others will have better responses and actually know what they're talking about. -Grant

Ole · Nov 10, 2004

Normally I use alkaline fix, and either water or nothing at all as stop.

In the rare cases that I need a stop bath (e.g. lith printing), I use citric acid. About 1/3 of a 25g-packet from the supermarket in 1 liter water - close enough to "modastop".

Bruce Osgood · Nov 10, 2004

I use distilled white vinegar at 1+3.

I think a Stop Bath (as opposed to a water bath) is a must. It will STOP development when you feel it is time, whereas, a water bath allows the print to continue developing for as long as 5 minutes in my experience. I use a water bath between developer 1 and 2 when split developing for just these reasons but after final development the Stop Bath will additionally prevent carry-over into the Fix(s).

No, my prints do not smell like a salad.

sparx · Nov 10, 2004

I stopped using stop after similar discussions here a while back. Now i just use water with film and print developing and haven't noticed any differences in the final product. So I will continue to just use water.

Leon · Nov 10, 2004

I use a very mild stop when printing - jsut a tiny squirt of stop in a big tray of water - when I've run out of stop I will probably use a few drops of vinegar. As long as you assess the print once it is fully fixed, I dont think the carry over of development really matters too much does it? once it's fixed, it's fixed. i reckon consistent practice is more important. If you're getting the reults you want from your methods, why worry?

Ed Sukach · Nov 10, 2004

Bruce (Camclicker) said:
I use distilled white vinegar at 1+3.

I think a Stop Bath (as opposed to a water bath) is a must.

I was about to ask ...

The one place I've found stop bath to be a necessity is between color developer and bleach-fix in color printing. I have a *bunch* of literature advising against it in ALL film developing, especially color ... but each to their own strokes.

1:3 seems rather intense... Does this equal anything like a 1% - 2% solution of acetic acid?

fschifano · Nov 10, 2004

Unless there is a recommendation to not use an acid stop, then you are much better off using it. The stuff is incredibly cheap, as photo chemicals go, and the life of your fixer - not so cheap - will be extended. Whether you prefer citric acid or acetic acid is your choice and doesn't matter much. White vinegar works, but isn't really cheaper than a prepared indicating stop bath.

Kirk Keyes · Nov 10, 2004

I use a stop bath for both paper and film. Stop bath has the amazing ability to halt the development step, and to prevent the formation of dichroic fog that can occur when fixing has begun and development has not stopped. With paper, it can extent the life of the fixer.

For paper, I used citric acid solution as it has no odor.

For film, in the past I used regular indicating stop, but now I an using a buffered stop bath similar to what is described in "The Film Developing Cookbook". This is a solution of acetic acid and sodium acetate. It is supposed to stop very quickly due to a higher acid content, and also has a high dissolved solids content that is supposed to help with swelling of the emulsion.

As far as stop bath with pyro developers go, I found that I could not detect a significant difference between using a stop bath and a water bath with PMK processed films. The only difference I found was that the water bath processed films were slightly higher in density, but I would attribute that difference to the fact that the development was not halted as quickly with the water bath as it was with a stop bath. And the difference in densitites was small. So I use a stop with PMK.

Lee Shively · Nov 10, 2004

Kodak Indicator Stop Bath. It's the only thing I've ever used, it works, it's available, it's cheap--so I continue to use it.

blansky · Nov 10, 2004

I hate the smell so I use Ilfostop (odorless) for paper and water for film.

Michael

ken s · Nov 10, 2004

Hello, I buy a gallon of Glacial Acetic Acid, make a 28% stock solution and then dilute from there to a working solution. It is really cheap and I only buy Glacial once or twice a year. To make 28%, dilute 3:8 or 9oz. Glacial to 24oz. water. To make a working solution dilute 48ml Acetic Acid(28%) to make 1 liter. Hope this helps, Ken

Bruce Osgood · Nov 10, 2004

Ed Sukach said:
I was about to ask ...

SNIP

1:3 seems rather intense... Does this equal anything like a 1% - 2% solution of acetic acid?

This is a quote from Richard Knappow from Pure-Silver responding to a similar question.

Most of the distilled white vinegar I've examined locally in New England, is 5%
acetic acid. That should be diluted with two or three parts water to one part
vinegar to keep it in the range of commercial formulas. The concentration
does vary with location but is usually printed in the bottle.
Kodak SB-1 is 48 ml of 28% acetic acid per liter, or 0.28x48/1000 = 1.3%
5% acetic acid in vinegar diluted 1 + 2 is 5/3 = 1.6%,
or if diluted 1 + 3, 1.25%.

I have no idea about color processing.

Konical · Nov 10, 2004

Kodak Indictor Stop Bath for paper; water for film.

Konical

tbm · Nov 10, 2004

I keep in stock Kodak's acetic acid which I dilute according to the bottle's instructions. I use it while making prints in my darkroom, but since I prefer to subject my films, during processing, to as few foreign elements as possible, I use only water as a stop bath which is at the same temperature as the developer and fixer. This has never caused any film development problems at all.

John McCallum · Nov 10, 2004

modafoto said:
Hi

I would like to hear your opinion on stop bath. What do you use and why?
Myself, I use either (there was a url link here which no longer exists) or acetic acid.

What are the pros and cons of stop bath vs. plain water.

Morten

Personally I don't think Bath should be stopped at all. It's a great place with lots going for it!

modafoto · Nov 10, 2004

John McCallum said:
Personally I don't think Bath should be stopped at all. It's a great place with lots going for it!

Sorry for this fault...

...I still do not understand why a perfectly nice print which looks stunning in the developer needs to be fixed afterwards....If it ain't broken, don't fix it...right?

oriecat · Nov 12, 2004

That's a great line, Morten! I suppose I should expect no less from the High Priest... Praise Rodinal!

Adrian Twiss · Nov 12, 2004

I am moving to an alkaline fix regime for both films and prints so will be using a plain water stop. However I used a very similar citric acid mix to yours. I found it effective, odourless and very economical. Like you I used once and then threw it away. I will probably contiue to use stop bath for colour prints.

unohuu · Nov 12, 2004

The ilford version because I chose the Ilfosol as my first developer.

Soeren · Nov 12, 2004

Hi
I use water rinse for film and Citric acid, in about the same concentration as you Morten, for paper. I think there is no need to spoil the fine odeur of Neutol and especially Rodinal with acetic acid.
Ken, be carefull with that clacial acetic acid ok.
Cheers

modafoto · Nov 12, 2004

Soeren said:
Hi
I use water rinse for film and Citric acid, in about the same concentration as you Morten, for paper. I think there is no need to spoil the fine odeur of Neutol and especially Rodinal with acetic acid.
Ken, be carefull with that clacial acetic acid ok.
Cheers

Nice to see another dane here

Søren, I have PM'ed you.

Soeren · Nov 12, 2004

Yeah, and another member of your church.
Ok it supports the ø hmm
Yes Morten I have PM´ed back.
Søren

gainer · Nov 12, 2004

Ed Sukach said:
I was about to ask ...

The one place I've found stop bath to be a necessity is between color developer and bleach-fix in color printing. I have a *bunch* of literature advising against it in ALL film developing, especially color ... but each to their own strokes.

1:3 seems rather intense... Does this equal anything like a 1% - 2% solution of acetic acid?

The standard white vinegar is 5%, so the 1+3 is 1.25%. Just about right for stop bath.

isaacc7 · Nov 13, 2004

Water for film,

I've been using water stop for film for years, it works fine. I'm curious to know what sort of problems people have had with not using a stop with film. I do use a stop with prints, mainly to extend the life of my fixer. I've been toying with the idea of moving to an all alkaline printing regimen, so maybe I'll ditch the stop one of these days...

Isaac

Stop bath

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Stop bath

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