Efke question

[bvaughn4]

Hi all, I'm new to using Efke 100(fairly new to darkroom period) and noticed there is a reddish tint to the film and strong red color change to my developer. Is this normal? Using Ilfosol 3. The red tint seems to remain around the perimeter of my negative after fixing and rinsing - not strong just a tint. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,
Bill

[Dcohio]

I get the same tint in my developer using rodinal but haven't had any staining of the neg afterwards.

[Daniel Stone]

how long are you washing(rinsing you call it) for? I've found that using a clearing agent(hypo clear) before washing helps reduce any "tinting" of the negative(unless I'm using a pyro(staining) developer, which in that case, the tint is pretty permanent, and wanted :)!)

I've found that 30min gives a perfectly "archival"(no fixer remaining) wash.

-Dan

[vinny]

how long are you washing(rinsing you call it) for? I've found that using a clearing agent(hypo clear) before washing helps reduce any "tinting" of the negative(unless I'm using a pyro(staining) developer, which in that case, the tint is pretty permanent, and wanted :)!)

I've found that 30min gives a perfectly "archival"(no fixer remaining) wash.

-Dan

30minutes? I guess you're not paying your water bill:0

[Lachlan 717]

Are you presoaking?

[cyrus]

Hi all, I'm new to using Efke 100(fairly new to darkroom period) and noticed there is a reddish tint to the film and strong red color change to my developer. Is this normal? Using Ilfosol 3. The red tint seems to remain around the perimeter of my negative after fixing and rinsing - not strong just a tint. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,
Bill

It could be the antihalation layer washing off in the developer, and the tint is due to inadequate fixing/washing.
Presoaking would remove most of it.

[Daniel Stone]

30minutes? I guess you're not paying your water bill:0

water bill is built into the rent cost :). I told the owner before I moved in that I'd be doing this. They're cool with it(also seeing they water their grass morning and night, 6 days/week :eek:).

And I process my film in batches, so its not every week,etc... Its also on a VERY LOW flow, like 1/4gal/minute, just enough to keep the water moving over the neg/print surface. Using a hypo eliminator helps too

-Dan

[Roger Cole]

You need one exchange of water every five minutes. My two reel tank holds something like 22 oz. That means 6x22 or 132 ounces, just over one gallon, for a 30 minute wash.

Heck, water is cheap enough I can double that flow rate, wash all the film I can process, and never notice the difference in my water bill which is not built into anything, being a home owner.

Now washing FB prints without a wash aid would be different, but who would do that? For that matter it's practically impossible to get a really good archival wash on FB without a wash aid anyway.

All that said, I read long ago that grain tended to increase with extended wet times. I can't prove it and have taken some heat online for repeating it, so I'll just suggest trying it. I do try to keep my wet times as short as possible consistent with archival washing, which for me means Perma-Wash for film, not just FB paper, and a 5 minute wash after the Perma-Wash.

[Leigh]

You're seeing the dissolved anti-halation layer from the back of the film. It dissolves when the film gets wet.

It should not remain on the film. Sounds like inadequate washing.

Halation occurs when light passes through the film and reflects off the pressure plate back into the emulsion. The anti-halation layer is an opaque dye on the back of the film used to absorb light that passes through it. Once the film is exposed it's no longer needed.

- Leigh

[bvaughn4]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like washing might be the issue. I'm fixing for about 4 min then 30 sec in photo flo and then soak in clean water tray for 4-5 min the running water rinse for 1-2 min.

Not presoaking but I may give that a try as well.

[Roger Cole]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like washing might be the issue. I'm fixing for about 4 min then 30 sec in photo flo and then soak in clean water tray for 4-5 min the running water rinse for 1-2 min.

Not presoaking but I may give that a try as well.

Photo Flo should come AFTER the wash, not before. You're washing most of it off, and possibly inhibiting the effectiveness of the wash though that's conjecture on my part. But it's glorified soap to make the water run off smoothly and not spot. Putting a layer of soapy water over the emulsion might inhibit washing the fixer out.

In any case, I agree that your wash time is too short without a wash aid. I rinse for a minute, Perma-Wash (convenient liquid but you can use Kodak HCA or just sulphite in water, whatever) then running water wash for 10 minutes, then a final minute in wetting agent (Photo Flo in your case.) I've not used Efke but the idea that this is anti-halation dye from inadequate washing makes sense.

If so, you should be able to wash it out of the negatives you've already processed with no problem.

[Leigh]

Sounds like washing might be the issue. I'm fixing for about 4 min then 30 sec in photo flo and then soak in clean water tray for 4-5 min the running water rinse for 1-2 min.
You're missing some steps in your process, and have one out of order. The proper sequence is:

Fix (4 minutes is good, longer doesn't hurt)
Wash (2 minutes if using Perma-Wash, an hour if not)
Perma-Wash for 1 minute
Wash (1 to 2 minutes after Perma-Wash)
Photo-Flo 30 seconds
Dry

Phot-Flo is just soap. It's designed to break the surface tension of the water so it runs off the film rather than beading up on the surface. It's the very last thing you do before you hang the film to dry.

- Leigh

[bvaughn4]

Leigh/Roger - Thanks for the information and correction to my process! The photo flo certainly makes sense as the last step, not sure where I got the idea it was a pre wash step.

[toolbox]

Agree with the others...sounds like the anti-halation dye. I always pre-soak for five minutes before developing so my developer doesn't end up full of it. The dye probably doesn't hurt anything, but neither does pre-soaking as far as I can tell. The dyes come in different colors and densities...T-Max is a dark blue/purplish color, other films hardly seem to have any color at all.

[drew.saunders]

I've used Efke IR820C, which comes with an anti-halation layer, and it benefits from a pre-soak. If you do a pre-soak and the stuff coming out is like blue ink, that's the Efke Anti-halation layer. The IR "Aura" doesn't have an AH layer, and doesn't require a pre-soak, so that's what I've switched to for IR now (more IR effect too).

You'll also want to use a hardening fixer, the nasty stinky stuff, which requires at least 5 minutes to fix.