Dev, stop, fix or dev, fix, clear?

[Randy H]

Black and white film and paper developing question. I spent two years at a local state univ, (photojournalism degree) and took photo two semesters, with two different instructors, and two differing ideas on film/paper dev. One was how I had learned way back, and it was developer, stop, quick rinse, fix and final wash. The other was developer, fix, hypo-clear, and final wash. Both seem to work just fine, and is there any real reasoning for using one or the other? I do still do the dev/stop/fix/rinse with film, but have gone to the dev/fix/clear/wash for prints. Neither way is used for chemical-sake. I have always made fresh batches, and discarded after each session anyway. Any ideas?

[Bruce Watson]

One was how I had learned way back, and it was developer, stop, quick rinse, fix and final wash. The other was developer, fix, hypo-clear, and final wash. Both seem to work just fine, and is there any real reasoning for using one or the other?

Like most things, it depends. The typical dev, stop, fix, wash sequece is used to bring development to a quick and predictable end, and to prolong the life of the fixer. That is, the alkaline developer is followed by an acid fixer (development stops immediately) which is then carried into the acid fixer (which helps maintain the ph of the fixer). To go from developer to fix immediately will work, but it shortens the life of the fixer.

If on the other hand you want to use a fixer that is alkaline, stop bath is counterproductive. For an alkaline fixer, I would use the steps of develop, short water rinse, fixer, wash.

In any case, when I develop film these days I use all the chemicals as one shot. That is, I mix developer, stop, and fix so that I use it once and then discard. This keeps everything as clean as I can make it, and makes for exceedingly repeatable film runs. In other words, I no longer worry about the life of the fixer ;-)

[Ron Marshall]

I use an alkaline fix so my steps are: Dev; rinse; fix; wash.

[Alan Davenport]

If you're using the fixer as a one shot chemical, there's no real advantage to using a stop bath, IMO. As already noted, a stop bath will extend the life of the fixer but that's not an issue with single use.

OTOH, a clearing agent can substantially reduce the wash time, hence saving you lots of water, which may have a beneficial effect on your water bill.

[Randy H]

cool. thanks for input. methinks i shall be doing developer, fix, clear and rinse for all from now on. shortens print times. again, thanks for inputs

[neil poulsen]

I do mine on a variation of Ansel Adam's recommendation in his book. Dev., Stop, First Fix., rinse, 30 minute wash. First fix is kind of short, but enough to hold the print over until the archival phase of processing. One can let the prints dry after this first phase.

After identifying the keepers, process the remaining prints archivally with water soak, second fix, rinse, hype-clear, 1:20 selenium toner, hype-clear, rinse, and 1 hour wash. My primary interest in selenium toning is for its archival effect.

Against his advice, I use rapid fixer. It's always worked well for me, and I like the results. (Not that the effects of rapid fixer versus regular fixer can be seen.)

I like the two-phase approach, because first phase is pretty quick. The second phase that takes longer is used only for the prints being kept.