PDA

View Full Version : Ilford Fixers


Bill
22nd January 2009, 02:28 PM
Looking at the Ilford fixers on Jessops web site there appears to be a price differential of about £2 between a 5 litre bottle of Hypam against Ilford Rapid fixer. I chose Jessops because they have a shop in town and I can order more easily from them.

I have looked on the Ilford web site and both fixers use ammonium thiosulphate as the fixing medium. The only difference I can see is that you cannot use hardener with the Rapid fix.

Does anybody know if there is any difference in performance or permanence between the two?

The times and capacities given in the fact sheet would indicate that they are basically the same.

Any facts or opinions would be welcome.

Thanks

Bill

Richard Gould
22nd January 2009, 03:24 PM
I understood that Hypam and Rapid fixer are ome and the same, Ilford just changed the name of Hypam to Rapid fixer for the 1litre bottles and kept hypam for 5 litre bottles Richard

Roy_H
22nd January 2009, 03:46 PM
Is not the Rapid Fixer the one originally made for roller transport paper processors?

I seem to remember using it for those in the past, whereas Hypam was de rigeur for film.

Richard Gould
22nd January 2009, 05:22 PM
I think you mean ilford rt2000 rapid fixer, which is cheaper than standard fixer but is a machine fixer. you can also try fotospeed fixer which is cheaper than the ilford product but I find better Richard

Martin Aislabie
22nd January 2009, 09:32 PM
Bill, I asked the same question at the last Ilford Open Day visit

They assured me there were differences between the two but would not go into specifics

I too noticed the differences in price, thought the cost difference was insignificant and bought a new bottle of Hypam

Note - all the archival processing literature they publish specifies Hypam

Martin

ps - NOVA ship 5L bottles of Hypam for mail order, if anyone is interested

Mike O'Pray
22nd January 2009, 09:49 PM
Bill, my understanding was as Richard's until I saw Martin's comment. I think he is referring to the Oct 2008 tour which I was on as well and it rings vague bells or does it? It may have been that Martin got his answer when we weren't all assembled for the Q&A and in which case it doesn't ring vague bells. However if I did hear the answer then like Martin I had no "eureka" moment and left none the wiser as to the differences.

My research has led me to believe that if you can collect from Jessops so no P&P involved then on this particular item the Jessops price cannot be beaten. Probablu also true of Ilford paper and film developers as well. Sadly not true of other materials where Jessops price even without P&P is much greater than others even with P&P.

If the people who control pricing from the remote head office were just to check competitors in the mail order business then it could easily capture a bigger share of the analogue materials markets and still make a profit but that's enough of my rant and for another thread.

Mike

Bill
23rd January 2009, 11:54 AM
Thanks for all the responses.

I think I will stick with what I know and stay with Hypam.

Bill

Niall Bell
23rd January 2009, 01:15 PM
The MSDS sheets for each on the Ilford website show that Hypam also contains Borax (sodium borate) which is frequently added to solutions to act as a buffer (buffer helps to resists changes in pH).

I assume that borax is added to increase the working life of fixer in the tray when adding prints that are covered in alkaline developer or acidic stop.

I can't think what additional benefit there could be when using Rapid fixer without borax [although I'm sure there is one]; I'd have thought that Rapid fixer would exhaust more quickly than Hypam- but this is not indicated on the Ilford fact sheets.

It does say that Hypam can be used with X-ray and scientific materials (not indicated on Rapid sheets), so perhaps borax is a requirement for these sorts of materials. Time to experiment with the sellotape.

Bill
23rd January 2009, 03:38 PM
Thanks for the information Niall.

Not sure about the relevance of the sellotape though!

Bill

Niall Bell
23rd January 2009, 03:56 PM
Bill,
re the sellotape. Apparently ripping sellotape off can generate sufficient x-rays to alow fingers to be x-rayed. According to the internet some university in California did work on it (must have been a slwo day)- if you can believe the internet. Claims to be published in Nature - but I can't corroborate that.

What I can say is that it never worked when I tried it on top of a 120-roll of Ilford delta 3200. But then I was having trouble getting my young son to hold has hand steady. Having a scientist for a father will scar him for life.

Bill
24th January 2009, 08:56 AM
Thanks Niall,

Not something I had heard of.

So, when are Social Services coming to see you for cruelty to children?

Bill