What is ruining my Tri-X 320?

[deej]

I agree with this. Blank film is either no exposure or no development, if the fix was no good the film would look 'milky' when you took it out of the tank. The pink colour in the film base just means you need to fix for a bit longer, I don't think it's anything to do with the film being blank.

Thanks, Tobias! Your post makes me a bit less inclined to test the fixer I am using, but to run a test with a fresh fixer of a different brand. The brand I have been using for everything for a while is "TF-5 ARCHIVAL FIX" from Photographer's Formulary; they say its for both paper and film, but all the details in the item description are about paper; it has worked well for all my other work, but I wonder if it just doesn't agree with 320TXP?

[deej]

The colour of the film is indeed very pink, which makes me wonder of your fix is working properly. But even then: when the film would have been exposed and developed properly, at least some image should be visible and refixing asap should cure the problem.

As Daniel has asked already: is the factory exposed film mark visible? If not: most likely there is a problem in film development and a good guess is that either your Rodinal has gone bad or you have mixed up the fix and development baths. Rodinal should only be used as a one shot developer, mixed directly before use and the concentrate should be stored at room temperature. Putting in the freezer will make it go bad as some of the chemicals will percipitate and won't go into solution again when it warms to room temperature.

If the film mark is visible, you probably have made an exposure error. The shutter may not have fired, you might have forgotten to pull the darkslide or one of those other user errors that are possible in large format. We all have been through those... ;-)

Thanks for the response! I keep all my chemicals (including Rodinal) at room temperature. (Tobias took up your thread, so I am considering most of your great suggestions in my response to him.)

What would "refixing" mean in my case?

[deej]

Thanks, Peter! I will give xtol a try!

[deej]

I have seen where Rodinal (stock) has gone bad, and not develop at all... One clue is if it pours out after the development deep, dark blue colored... (with no/low image...)

The pink color is from silver still remaining on the film from after fixing... If you fog/fix a piece of film, there is still excess silver that has not been reduced/removed, and will oxidize to the pink (very finely divided silver) state...

Steve K

Thanks, Steve! The prewash poured out deep blue, but the developer came out with just a slight blue tint.

Good info about what causes the pink color.

[Kevin Crisp]

"New" tri-x has a TMAX like ability to hold the pink. Even in film strength rapid fixer it is going to take 6 or 7 minutes with agitation plus a decent wash time to get rid of it. Old tri-x was a piece of cake. Your looks considerably under fixed. Maybe you are using the diluted paper strength mix?

Tri-X works well with HC110, Xtol and D76. It can certainly work fine with Rodinal too. And a number of others.

[Kevin Crisp]

I meant to ask, using Rodinal 1:50 but with what volume of developer and how many sheets at once?

[deej]

I meant to ask, using Rodinal 1:50 but with what volume of developer and how many sheets at once?

I have a tall Patterson tank that holds the Mod54 sheet holder; a liter of fluid covers it nicely. I use a liter of water and 20 ml of Rodinal. I am usually so anxious to see my results that I develop even if I only have two sheets; this bad result has happened once with two sheets, and once with four.

(I am very new at large format, but have been developing 35mm and 120 for three years with nothing quite like this kind of failure. This thread is teaching me a lot.)

[Kevin Crisp]

I haven't used that tank but it looks like it could hold many sheets of film. How many sheets are you doing one shot with that liter of 1:50 solution? With high dilutions, what looks like plenty of developer may not be since the amount of actual developer in the tank isn't sufficient for the film volume. I would think anything over 4 4x5 sheets per quart would be exceeding the capacity of the developer.

[Tin Can]

WE assume you are mixing fresh Rodinal every time? It goes bad once mixed with water very quickly. I use it up in 10 minutes. ymmv

Some use a minimum of 10 ml per 80 sq inches. 10 ml stock from bottle mixed with 1 liter distilled water is 1/100 and works great for me, every time. 40ml and 1 gallon Chicago water also works fine for 4 sheets of 8x10 any film.

As you have been told change each variable one at a time. Maybe it's your water...

[Michael R]

The brand I have been using for everything for a while is "TF-5 ARCHIVAL FIX" from Photographer's Formulary; they say its for both paper and film, but all the details in the item description are about paper; it has worked well for all my other work, but I wonder if it just doesn't agree with 320TXP?

TF-5 agrees with TXP and all other general purpose films. You can rule that out.