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Thread: GraLab glow

  1. #11
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: GraLab glow

    I'm surprised to read that Kirk had fogging from his timer.

    I have several timers and other glowy things in my current darkroom. The main GraLab I use for film development sits only a few feet away from where I load film onto reels in the dark (I don't use bags). Worse, it sits directly in front of the water bath I use for color development. I do dip and dunk style development and the timer is actually only inches away from the tanks. I lift the film in and out of them obviously multiple times, up to 20 minutes for E-6. I have never seen any fogging or issues from this.

    My timers do not glow all that bright though, compared to a couple I have seen in the university darkroom. Maybe they are older.
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  2. #12

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    Re: GraLab glow

    Thanks everyone. I will run some tests.
    Jerry

  3. #13

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    Re: GraLab glow

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    A little better test is to do the exact same thing, but give the piece of whatever you are working a slight over-all even exposure, then put the coin on it, etc. This will elimimate the possbility of a low-level exposure that is below the threshold of the paper or film, but still might have an effect (sort of like uncontrolled flashing). I did this test for the university darkroom and pinned the results on the board. Nothing like hard visible evidence to why one does not leave paper laying around in the 'dark' for too long!
    I didn't suggest this as I don't know how low a level of base fog would be or what the op would be using. You also did not give a suggested time or illumination level.

  4. #14

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    Re: GraLab glow

    I have worked in (some) commercial labs that had some light leaks (that the management didn't want to bother fixing, despite my protests), and really, some small amounts of light leaking into the darkrooms didn't really bother anything... (But I did what I could to shield the materials the best I could, and keep them moving as fast as possible to avoid fogging...

    Stay in the dark long, and your eyes will become very sensitive to any light that might enter that space... If you tried a time exposure of that with a camera, it would take a mighty long time to even start to register an image... (High in the reciprocity region...)

    Yes, Type C color paper is very fast, and can start picking up a blotchy color cast if there s any light possibly aimed at the paper... (Actually, anything in sheet form tends to lay more exposed to possible fog, rather than something in a roll...) But if you work fast enough, and don't leave anything out that does not need to be, one will usually beat the odds if the leaks are not major...

    I once was loading some rollfilm, and forgot to remove my analog watch, and near the end of the roll was a faint smeared image of the watch face that must have made contact with the crystal of while loading... (Lesson; Take off your watch...)

    The biggest problem with a fog source I had, is tape on materials... If film or paper is taped, and tape removed in the dark, it will glow like ectoplasm when pulled off undeveloped materials... (If you don't believe me, go into your blackened darkroom with a roll of masking or other tape, wait for 10 or so minutes while your eyes adjust, peel off some tape from the roll, and "watch" while you do it...) And don't peel, but cut through the tape + backing paper of 120 film, as it is enough to fog the first layer or two of even slow film... (And even consider attaching a ground wire to yourself if conditions are VERY dry!!! I have pictures of lightning that I didn't take...)

    But with the timer, like the others said, don't have it facing the materials... (Just in case...)

    Steve K

  5. #15
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: GraLab glow

    Those luminous numbers and dials or buttons will absolutely fog film, even from across a small room. I always place timers on a shelf BELOW the sink, or at some
    analogous spot where the film and trays cannot "see" the device at any time. Ducts light piping is a similar issue.

  6. #16
    hacker extraordinaire
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    Re: GraLab glow

    I have put undeveloped film directly in contact with my glowing Gralab. There were no marks on the film.
    Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.
    --A=B by Petkovšek et. al.

  7. #17
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: GraLab glow

    That's like saying you put a revolver with only one bullet to your head, and for three consecutive trigger-pulls nothing happened. Sooner or later it will.

  8. #18

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    Re: GraLab glow

    I have seen the glow Labrat is describing in my darkroom when I peeled the masking tape at end of 120 film rolls off, and before loading the film onto my JOBO reels for development. I wondered what that was about (the physics of it), or whether it might have been something I even imagined; but the brief bursts of light glow were easy to recognize and a bit concerning because I thought they might have potential to compromise the images I had captured on the 120 film (i.e., soon to be developed with my JOBO processor). However, I have never seen in my developed film any evidence of fogging effects from this tape removal, nor have I detected evidence of my GraLab timer's glowing face as compromise to my darkroom prints. In retrospect, I now realize that the practice of some PRO labs I've used when they process and develop roll film; which is to cut the end of the film roll with a scissors and not pull the tape off to remove it; may be best practice. If you don't try to pull off the tape at the end of the film roll, but just use scissors to cut it, then you reduce certain potential mishandling effects. Of course, when you are working in total darkness on unraveling roll film and loading it onto reels for processing, then use of scissors to cut the film away from the backing paper can introduce possible cutting errors. ...
    ... JMOwens (Mt. Pleasant, Wisc. USA)

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  9. #19

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    Re: GraLab glow

    I once had a very bright Gra-Lab timer fog T-Max 400 during open tray development. It was in a small darkroom and the timer was pretty close to the developer tray.

    Like the "safelight test", a bad safelight might not fog unexposed paper, but it will fog exposed paper. I suspect exposed 400 ISO film might be more susceptible to luminous paint fogging than unexposed 100 or 400 ISO film. I still use a Gra-Lab timer but keep it at least 4 feet away from exposed film. I've never had another problem.

  10. #20

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    Re: GraLab glow

    I cover my timers with a piece of cardboard when loading film in holders or in the developing tank. Its one more thing that is easy to do to not fog film. I was warned years ago about glow-in-the-dark wristwatches fogging film!

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