TF-4 Archival Fixer

[thomas]

I have just begun to try this fixer, and I'm wondering if anyone else uses it, and has had good or bad experiences/results with it. It seems too good to be true!

Thomas

[Henry Ambrose]

Great stuff!

[Chris Strobel]

Hi Thomas, I use it to fix my PMK negs.I like it cause the working solution seems to last longer than Kodak rapid fix, doesn't smell as bad, is always in stock and shipped fast from photographers formulary, and gets me further away from reliance on kodak :)


I have just begun to try this fixer, and I'm wondering if anyone else uses it, and has had good or bad experiences/results with it. It seems too good to be true!

Thomas

[JBrunner]

Hi Thomas,

I use it for fixing pyro negs and fiber prints, and it has been a great performer. Its an alkaline fixer, so besides being fast, and eliminating the need for hypo, its main benefit is that it won't reduce the stain in a pyro neg the way an acid proccess will (acid is also said to promote pinholes in pyro negs as well), and allows processing with just two chemical solutions (developer/fixer) as I use a water stop bath. If you are using an acid stop be advised that it will reduce the effectiveness of a fixer like TF4 fairly quickly. It also seems to help papers tone easier. Its not an appropriate fixer for prccess like lith, or similar that require development to cease in a rapid manner. There are also those who feel that development must be nuetralized by acid, and eschew the gentle reduction of developing action by water dilution.

The acid/alkali thing is an ongoing debate in general, except for most pyro freaks, who have settled on alkaline.

[Gene McCluney]

Speaking of pyro...I use standard Kodak Rapid fixer without the hardener. I do not experience any reduction of stain. I use a water stop bath.

[Ron Marshall]

Great fixer; I use a water rinse instead of stop and no need for hypo-clear, so only two chemicals needed.

[JBrunner]

Speaking of pyro...I use standard Kodak Rapid fixer without the hardener. I do not experience any reduction of stain. I use a water stop bath.

With the acid, some film dev combos show less reduction than others, WD2D+ as being notable as unnaffected, and is said to tolerate acidity in regard to pinholes etc. Also stain densities can be difficult to read by eye or with a normal densitometer. Only a densitometer with a uv channel tells the true tale. I have researched this matter pretty thouroghly, and what I can tell you for sure is that experiences vary greatly, as do interperations and recommendations.
One persons unnacceptable stain reduction, may not even be measurable by anothers standards.

Of course more is at play in every case, from the water ph all the way through developing methods, temps, times agitations, etc. and even experience and expectations. Like most things in photography, the best that can be hoped for is a general trend or consensus, and even that seems to go off the rails at unexpected times. I tend to resist making too much of a science out of it, because so many variables fluctuate, despite DD.

[Gene McCluney]

Interesing, as the Pyro developer I use is WD2D.