View Poll Results: Do you pre-soak your film?

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  • Always

    59 55.14%
  • Sometimes

    20 18.69%
  • Never

    28 26.17%
  • What's pre-soaking?

    0 0%
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Thread: New poll -- presoaking

  1. #21

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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    I always pre-soak...typically two minutes for roll films and three minutes for sheet films. Also...with sheet films as I'm generally starting with a shuffle through the pre-soak (prior to each neg. going into individual developer trays), I'll add a few drops of Photo-Flo to the soak for a bit of added lubricity/scratch protection. Seems to work!

  2. #22

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    Feb 2015
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    Threads merged.
    Thanks. Is there way way to TERMINATE a thread that you start?

  3. #23
    Moderator
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Quote Originally Posted by xkaes View Post
    Thanks. Is there way way to TERMINATE a thread that you start?
    No, you have to ask a moderator to close or delete a thread in the main discussion areas. (You can close but not delete your own FS/WTB threads.)

  4. #24

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    Feb 2015
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Maybe if I say something EXTREMELY offensive they will shut it down! After all, that's what Facebook and Twitter do, don't they?

  5. #25

    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Stop worrying so much, xkaes. It's not the end of the world if a thread goes sideways. It happens all the time in every forum genre.

    FWIW, I always presoaked but that was a very long time ago, before thin emulsion tabular grain films. Those older thicker emulsions surely benefitted 'more' from a presoak than some of today's thin emulsion films. Even so, if/when I get back into developing my films, I'll surely stick with what always worked best for me even if it makes no significant difference anymore. Old habits die hard...

    Always... clean/purified water for presoak, developer, toner, final few minutes of wash, final rinse. The other steps... far less important, IMO.

  6. #26

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    Mar 2012
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    [QUOTE=djhopscotch;1414444]Yes always, tap water at dev temp 2 minutes or so, as long as it takes for me to get the rest of the chemicals mixed and measured.

    same here

  7. #27

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    Sep 1998
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    Oregon now (formerly Austria)
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    You can't shuffle sheet film in trays without pre-soaking them first to keep them from sticking together. I like a rather long pre-soak, three or more minutes. The object is to get the emulsion completely saturated so development will be even. Pre-soaking for for too-short a time will result in unevenness.

    If I were developing roll film in tanks, I might not bother with a pre-soak as long as my developing times were long enough that the pour-in, pour-out times were just a small fraction of the total time.

    Best,

    Doremus

  8. #28

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    Jul 2016
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    ...Pre-soaking for for too-short a time will result in unevenness...

    Doremus
    This is an interesting observation...

    Perhaps a longer pre-soaking softens the emulsion in a way that surfactans are not as necessary, so a big mistake is short pre-soaking that removes the surfactants while not softening emulsion !!!




    As Ilford states, pre-soaking removes surfactants specifically included in the emulsion to ensure an even development, so they do recommend not using pre-soaking in tanks, for rotary it is irrelevant. Ilford says that in film datasheets.

    My understanding is that modern films do not need presoaking at all because films are designed to not need it at all: included surfactants decrease water surface tension to a level that fast and even emulsion wetting is ensured to its best.

    Old films perhaps lacked surfactants...

    So... what is the real pre-soaking benefit ?

  9. #29
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Aug 2006
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    Quote Originally Posted by Pere Casals View Post
    . . . So... what is the real pre-soaking benefit ?
    Pre-soaking was absolutely necessary for even development when processing Tech Pan or litho film with a development time of about 45 seconds in Solarol before the reversal exposure. It also helps in short developing time in Dektol to boost contrast. I presoaked when developing 8 rolls of film at a time because of the erratic wetting in a large tank.

  10. #30

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    Aug 2013
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    Re: New poll -- presoaking

    For about 50 years I successfully developed film without knowing this was an option. When I heard about it, I tried it for a while, but since nothing was broken in the first place, and nothing got better when I did it, I stopped.

    Note that I have never developed in a tray, nor do I use any unusual developers. For most of the last 55 years I have used D76, sometimes D23, in SS reels or sheets in hangers and that's about it, and never had a problem that needed to be fixed by changing what I do.
    Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
    Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
    Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
    You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear

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