Washed stab , preservation of negatives ?

clo · Mar 15, 2016

hello everyone ,

for the last 1.5 year after stabilizing i do multiple washes and then a final with photo-flo , which now i realize its terribly wrong .

The point is that i have many important negatives that i really dont want to lose , so any suggestions on what can i do to preserve them will be much appreciated .
I store them in pergamine sleeves .I checked the oldest ones and seem ok .

i suppose i cant stabilize them 1 year after development right ?

RalphLambrecht · Mar 15, 2016

clo said:
hello everyone ,

for the last 1.5 year after stabilizing i do multiple washes and then a final with photo-flo , which now i realize its terribly wrong .

The point is that i have many important negatives that i really dont want to lose , so any suggestions on what can i do to preserve them will be much appreciated .
I store them in pergamine sleeves .I checked the oldest ones and seem ok .

i suppose i cant stabilize them 1 year after development right ?

If the oldest ones are OK,leave as is and store dark,dry and cold.

RobC · Mar 15, 2016

colour or B&W?

B&W will easily outlast you if they are properly washed. They shouldn't need stabilisation. Colour will degrade no matter what you do. Dyes are naturally unstable.

Dr Croubie · Mar 15, 2016

I'll be happy to be corrected if wrong, but afaik there is absolutely nothing wrong with (re)stabilizing colour a day or a year after processing, just like there's nothing wrong with (re)fixing B+W a day or year after processing.
Except, of course, any damage that's happened in the interim won't suddenly be fixed, but you're not going to make it worse by doing it again.

clo · Mar 15, 2016

its colour film

i could do ''restabilizing'' in a dozen of them , any feedback on that ?

RobC · Mar 15, 2016

I have no idea about stabilizing colour film. Negatives or Positives?

markbarendt · Mar 15, 2016

I see no problem in stabilizing late.

markbarendt · Mar 15, 2016

RobC said:
I have no idea about stabilizing colour film. Negatives or Positives?

Silver protects traditional B&W materials from biological organisms. Developed color films don't have any silver left over in them so they need something else to keep things from growing in the emulsion, that something else can be a stabilizer in the final rinse.

Wayne · Mar 15, 2016

yes, I'm pretty sure you can and should re-stabilize them and don't rinse them afterward.

Photo Engineer · Mar 15, 2016

All color film must be stabilized. It can be done at any time, even after damage has started, but it cannot reverse any damage. It will stop further damage.

All colors will degrade in time, all we can do is slow it down. With films, the big problems are fungus and bacteria which will eat the gelatin.

PE

Vonder · Mar 15, 2016

I haven't found a stabilizer that didn't leave spots, so I skip it. I can't imagine dried chemicals left behind is any worse, over time, than unstabilized film.

Rudeofus · Mar 15, 2016

Wolfeye said:
I haven't found a stabilizer that didn't leave spots, so I skip it. I can't imagine dried chemicals left behind is any worse, over time, than unstabilized film.

There are all kinds of chemicals in your film which obviously don't adversely affect film stability. Rest assured that whatever is in these final rinses will not do that either, and you are also safe to assume that Kodak/Fuji/Tetenal wouldn't include STAB in their kits if it wasn't absolutely necessary for long term stability of color film.

These drying marks aren't nice, and sometimes interfere with printing/scanning, but a thorough wash after STAB will more or less undo whatever good your STAB did. How about wiping off the drying marks with a moist sponge?

As others have already mentioned: yes, clo, and anyone else in the same situation, should positively re-STAB all negatives which were washed after STAB, even if it happened a long time ago. The fact that they haven't grown mold or other germs yet doesn't mean than none will ever show up, or find the right conditions of temperature and humidity to grow into a problem.

Since there is a good chance, that clo doesn't have access to STAB concentrate, (there was a url link here which no longer exists) is a thread which both explains STAB in all details, and which contains a recipe for self-mixing a STAB from easily available chemicals (Photo-Flo and Formalin solution).

Photo Engineer · Mar 15, 2016

Wolfeye said:
I haven't found a stabilizer that didn't leave spots, so I skip it. I can't imagine dried chemicals left behind is any worse, over time, than unstabilized film.

You know that a lot of us in R&D worked for years to perfect the stability of film and paper. So go ahead and do what you wish. But I think that you are going to regret it.

BTW, I never have had spots with any stabilizer or final rinse. It is a matter of technique in the lab.

PE

clo · Mar 16, 2016

Thank you guys for the info i will re-stabilize , i bought this stab http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121884108890?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
is it ok ? i also have some spare from the fuji kit some times its 5.5 liters
i am thinking of stabilizing without reels from now on , just a jug with 2 liter stab dip for 1.5 min the film and hang for dry .
How long can i keep dilluted stab without problem ? Can it go further than the suggested film number ?

regards

Vonder · Mar 18, 2016

I do understand the risk. 99% of my home developed C-41 is never printed. It's all scanned. If I ever do need it printed I have the 2000dpi scans to fall back on if the negative is corrupted. I don't have any long-term data yet, as I've only given up stabilizer entirely in the last 3-4 years or so.

And for really important images, I have them developed and printed at Dwayne's or my local lab.

Kilgallb · Mar 18, 2016

Wolfeye said:
I do understand the risk. 99% of my home developed C-41 is never printed. It's all scanned. If I ever do need it printed I have the 2000dpi scans to fall back on if the negative is corrupted. I don't have any long-term data yet, as I've only given up stabilizer entirely in the last 3-4 years or so.

And for really important images, I have them developed and printed at Dwayne's or my local lab.

I would bet the longevity of film exceeds data. Mostly because you need to keep copying over to new media as your current media becomes obsolete every few years. Your CD-ROM made five years ago is probably unplayable.

Vonder · Mar 21, 2016

clo said:
Thank you guys for the info i will re-stabilize , i bought this stab http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121884108890?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
is it ok ? i also have some spare from the fuji kit some times its 5.5 liters
i am thinking of stabilizing without reels from now on , just a jug with 2 liter stab dip for 1.5 min the film and hang for dry .
How long can i keep dilluted stab without problem ? Can it go further than the suggested film number ?

regards

Weird. I can't find that item listed anywhere other than that ebay site. If you go to B&H there's no standalone stabilizer for sale.

Photo Engineer · Mar 21, 2016

Kodak sold stand alone stabilzers (Final Rinses) for every process. The one for RA4 was optional.

PE

MattKing · Mar 21, 2016

Wolfeye said:
Weird. I can't find that item listed anywhere other than that ebay site. If you go to B&H there's no standalone stabilizer for sale.

That listing is for re-packaged stabilizer.

clo · Mar 24, 2016

For how many films do you use 1 liter guys ? Is it ok if i soak hands in the stabilizer dillution ?

Photo Engineer · Mar 24, 2016

Formalin stabilzer, no. Use rubber gloves. Recent final rinses, you can stand slight contact with it for a short time.

Use until it gets cloudy.

PE

clo · Mar 25, 2016

Recent final rinses are like how many years ? Problem is that for restabilizing 120 film strips of 3 frames (that are cutten tightly) i need to have good contact with hand or i must find really good flat tweezers rubber gloves wont do the job ! drying will also be a challenge

kostas

Rudeofus · Mar 25, 2016

Unlike many comments I read about this topic, stabilizers in my experience (Tetenal's, but also self mixed following PE's recipe) do not gum up plastic spindles or film tanks. You can put as many of these strips onto a spindle as you can reasonably fit, then, with gloves, immerse the spindle in your stabilizer, then find some creative way to dry the bare film strips.

clo · Mar 26, 2016

Process going well so far i think it is possible to restabilize them all , i use tweezers and put the strips directly into the dillution .
Stabilizer leaves some drying marks but most of the times i cant see them in scanning or i can clean them.

I was wondering if i dillute more the stab and leave the films more time inside if i get cleaner films .
the dillution will be ''thiner'' and maybe dry smoother , any opinions on this ?

Photo Engineer · Mar 26, 2016

Use the dilution on the bottle. None other is satisfactory.

PE

Washed stab , preservation of negatives ?

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