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Thread: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

  1. #1
    Richie
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    Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    My N-1, N, N+1 development times are (for simplicity) 5, 8, and 11 minutes. I use 4x5 film, hangers and tanks. I develop in a small bathroom. I don't have room to lay out all my tanks in a row at one time. My question is will it change the film to leave them in the stop bath for 7 minutes if I am developing an N-1 and an N+1 image in the same batch. My film development calibration is based on a stop bath of 1 minute.

    I guess I could do a test: shoot a gray card for Zones I and VII for each of N-1, N, and N+1. Measure the densities and see if the long stop bath affected the N-1, or the N images. (I develop 6 sheets of film in a batch so I might as well throw in the 2 N+1 sheets, although none of the development has changed for them.)

  2. #2
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Increase dilution and you should be okay. Strong stop bath can cause pin hole (gas bubbles) in the emulsion. A greater dilution used one-shot is best.
    .

  3. #3

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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Even very dilute stop bath is effective, I agree to weaken it, use good agitation when you put the film in initially, then use it one shot. Your film calibration shouldn't be thrown off at all by changes in time in the stop bath. It really does stop development, as anyone who has made the mistake of turning on the lights for a minute or two with film in the stop bath can tell you.

  4. #4
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Better to add the sheets at different times, the take them out together.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  5. #5
    Richie
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Thanks everyone for your help.

    Mark, I was thinking that it would change the film more if I add the sheets at different times and take them out together because when I agitate for a minute when I add new films, the films just sitting there would get a little extra agitation, but maybe this little extra agitation changes the film less than the extra time in the diluted stop bath. What do others think is the lesser of the two evils?

  6. #6
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Richie View Post
    Thanks everyone for your help.

    Mark, I was thinking that it would change the film more if I add the sheets at different times and take them out together because when I agitate for a minute when I add new films, the films just sitting there would get a little extra agitation, but maybe this little extra agitation changes the film less than the extra time in the diluted stop bath. What do others think is the lesser of the two evils?
    You need not agitate for one minute in stop bath. You are overdoing it but causing no harm - unless the time interferes with your workflow - the film still in the developer (N+).

  7. #7

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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    A couple sloshes of a tray stops development with even dilute stop bath. You don't need to give it a minute.

  8. #8
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Some films are way more sensitive than others. Stop bath is traditionally 2% acetic. I find that this level of concentration is unnecessary, since I never reuse the
    bath. The exact degree of dilution is not critical, but I mix it about a quarter that strength. Indicator stop bath is helpful; in that case, I dilute it to barely yellow.
    And in predicaments like yours, leaving a few sheet a couple minutes longer in the stop, while still developing the remainder of the sheets, seems to have no ill
    effect. But I am very careful to stack the code notches differently, and never develop odd lots in equal numbers where they might get confused.

  9. #9

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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer View Post
    Better to add the sheets at different times, then take them out together.
    What I do! L

  10. #10
    lab black
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    Re: Can I leave film in stop bath for 7 minutes?

    Although I have no experience regarding extending the stop bath processing time to seven minutes, I have found success, especially with Ilford films, utilizing the technique posted by Drew;

    "The exact degree of dilution is not critical, but I mix it about a quarter that strength. Indicator stop bath is helpful; in that case, I dilute it to barely yellow."
    "We work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have."
    Henry James

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