Rookie Mistake with Safe Light

[Henricus]

I bought this little 'safe light', red in color and made in the UK. I thought I was being smart and decided to use it when I loaded and unloaded my BTZS tubes to develop some Ilford FP4+. I am as blind as a bat and it doesn't help when it is dark so my thinking was that a 'safe light' would be nice. Did you know that you should use a green light for Ilford FP4+ and not red? I didn't. My negatives came out black and although I still have an image, they will require more exposure to print. No more 'safe lights' for me. Instead, I will practice in the dark until I feel comfortable before I do that again. Live and learn and posted for others to learn from my buffoonery.

Humbly submitted.

[Leigh]

Panchromatic film really does not like safelights at all.

Some films say you can use one, green and very dim, at a distance from the film, after 50% development.
I've never tried that.

- Leigh

[lenser]

I tried the green safe light once and couldn't see a thing. Never bothered with it again It's easy enough just to do it in the dark once you've gone a round or two to get used to it.

[jk0592]

Developing by inspection, with the help of a faint green light...never dared to try this technique, but I recall it being praised a long time ago.

[AtlantaTerry]

Safe lights are used when you are printing enlargements, not developing film.

Red safelights with a minimal bulb inside are OK for single contrast papers. Multicontrast papers want you to use one that is more of an amber. For color prints, no safelight at all, just like film.

[Ed Bray]

Safe lights are used when you are printing enlargements, not developing film.

Red safelights with a minimal bulb inside are OK for single contrast papers. Multicontrast papers want you to use one that is more of an amber. For color prints, no safelight at all, just like film.

Not true at all. Colour paper has a reduced exposure spot of around 590nm and a suitable safelight can provide some light. Duka and Thomas Sodium lamps are often used as they match the 'spectural hole' almost perfectly.

Some of the members here develop film by inspection by using 'night vision or infra-red goggles'.

I have a set of IR goggles specifically made for Commercial Darkroom working with a sensitivity of greater than 950nm, these allow the use of 950nm lights to be placed around the darkroom which are completely invisible to all standard papers and films and even infra-red films with a sensitivity below 820nm are not exposed by them. They allow almost daylight like viewing whilst in total darkness. (Not cheap though).

[ROL]

I am as blind as a bat and it doesn't help when it is dark so my thinking was that a 'safe light' would be nice.

I've always thought of being blind, either as a bat or otherwise, where absolute darkness is either present or required, as a kind of asset. And I'm not even a glass half full kind of guy.

[AtlantaTerry]

Ed,

Yes, but Henricus said he was new at this so I didn't want to confuse him with the facts. :)

Terry

[Leigh]

Henricus said he was new at this so I didn't want to confuse him with the facts. :)
But

Safe lights are used when you are printing enlargements, not developing film.
That statement is an absolute. It's not a fact, and in fact it's not even correct.

It's hard enough being a newbie without people posting erroneous information.

- Leigh

[Jac@stafford.net]

I am as blind as a bat and it doesn't help when it is dark

Doesn't hurt, either.

[Henricus]

Was it Twain that said, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story." or in this case a well deserved shot. :) Seriously, I appreciate all the comments. After my DOH! moment, I went back to the books and acquainted myself with the use of safe-lights. For the amount of darkroom work that I currently do, I decided to not delve into their use for now. Maybe when I get an enlarger and a permanent dark-room. As it stands now, I have to beg the wife's permission to invade the sanctity of her coveted bathroom and this is after I was kicked out of the guest bathroom upstairs! A failed attempt is nothing more than a moment of practicum.

Kindly,

[h2oman]

You need to load the tubes in the dark. After that your safelight should be fine as long as you use the stop bath while the film is still in the tubes. I follow my own slightly modified version of the procedure used in the BTZS video:

1. put film in tubes and cap them* in total darkness

2. turn the light on and get organized, with tubes near the tray

3. put tubes on the caps containing developer in total darkness

4. turn the light on and get organized again. Turn off the light and turn on the safelight (red).

5. develop film in tubes

6. stick tubes in stop bath

7. put film in hangers and put in tank of fixer

8. wash in a tank, etc.

*I've never had any trouble except when somehow deviating from this, like turning the light on after putting film in a tube but not capping it! (Or not noticing that the safelight is on when putting the film in the tubes - I now have on the wall a list of things to check before handling exposed film.)

The bottom line is, you are not the first to make a "rookie" mistake!