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Thread: Efke question

  1. #11
    Roger Cole's Avatar
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    Re: Efke question

    Quote Originally Posted by bvaughn4 View Post
    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.

  2. #12
    8x10, 5x7, 4x5, et al Leigh's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Re: Efke question

    Quote Originally Posted by bvaughn4 View Post
    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

  3. #13

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    Re: Efke question

    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.

  4. #14

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    Re: Efke question

    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.

  5. #15
    Drew Saunders drew.saunders's Avatar
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    Re: Efke question

    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.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/

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