AARGHH!! what IDIOTS! AMATEURS and so on...

**Emil Schildt** · 2-May-2010, 09:43

Sorry, but have to rant.

As some of you know, I have for years used the FOMA liquid emulsion, but unfortunately the danish importer stopped his buisness this year..

So - a polish student found a shop in Poland, that have the emulsion - we ordered 15 kg's (!!), and after some time it got here..

Everybody happy.. (for a while).

then the students came to me - one after one - and told me that the emulsion was grey - very grey...

Shi#, I thought. Maybe it had been x rayed in some airport (I wanted it sent on ground), or something else had happened..

then today it came to me.
A student had shown me his bottle (black light proof plastic, containing 1 kg's of emulsion) and I noticed that the lid was blue....

Why blue, I thought - carried the bottle to the darkroom - unscrew the lis, and held it up against (red) light.....

IT IS NOT LIGHTPROOF!!

WHY - WHY - WHYYYYY would anybody use a transparent lid for light sensible products???

I have never encountered this before - and the only thing I can think of is, that the polish compagny might have got a huge bulk of emulsion, and then re-batched it in these unusable containers...

AMATEURS!!

The question now is, whether I can get my money back (it cost a lot), and whether I can save some of the not melted emulsion, by removing the top layer of allready emulsion before melting the rest (the container looks to be allright).

But I am shocked by this. And mad as hell....

End of rant..

**Joanna Carter** · 2-May-2010, 11:01

Do whatever it takes. Get your money back!!! That has to be the dumbest thing I have heard for a long time.

**David Carson** · 2-May-2010, 19:44

Queue polish joke...

**Ash** · 2-May-2010, 23:59

What!?!?!?!

**mdm** · 3-May-2010, 00:17

I think this situation calls for the intervention of of one of your models. If fluttering eyelids do not work then shurely a few tears will bring a knight to the rescue.

**csant** · 3-May-2010, 02:41

Ouch…

**David de Gruyl** · 3-May-2010, 05:46

They must know about this. Unless you are their only customer, of course.

I would call them and ask if they can either resupply with proper containers, or refund the money.

**Carsten Wolff** · 5-May-2010, 04:15

Not just in Poland... - I recently got a camera back adapted: The (Australian) technician used white (read: translucent) instead of black Delrin, knowing full well that it was for a film back.... "She'll be right, mate ..." WHAT THE?!!!!!

.....Keep us updated how you resolve the emulsion problem....My sympathies are with you!

**Sevo** · 5-May-2010, 04:42

Provided it is still in original solid state and has not mixed, the blackened layer should be thin, a few millimetres at most. I'd simply cut the container apart under safe light, and shave off the darkened top (and sides, if the entire thing should prove to be unsafe).

**Emil Schildt** · 5-May-2010, 12:35

Originally Posted by Sevo

Provided it is still in original solid state and has not mixed, the blackened layer should be thin, a few millimetres at most. I'd simply cut the container apart under safe light, and shave off the darkened top (and sides, if the entire thing should prove to be unsafe).

yes - but the containers are fine - the problem is in the lids. I have scraped of the top layer (about 1/2cm) and tried the underlying emulsion.
It is not perfect, but works...

the problem is in the bottles that have been heated, so all the exposed emulsion has mixed with the rest.. they are beyond repair!

I have taken a couple of pictures of the lids in question. then you can decide, whether you would use a lid like this to protect light sensitive materials.....