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> Paterson FX 39: sad tale --- |
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#11
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I actually have two unopened bottles of the original Paterson brew. They came as part of a bundle of darkroom kit. Given Pete's unfortunate experience, I have decided not to use them. Perhaps I should offer them to a Collector via eBay! It seems that anything can pass as collectable nowadays.
Alex. |
#12
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Quote:
Mike |
#13
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Thanks Mike. I may give that a try.
Alex |
#14
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yes Thanks from ME too --- I will try that as I have some un=opened Acutol and Acuspeed in 250ml plastic Paterson containers.
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Computerised and Slightly DIGITISED but FILM still RULES with ME ! |
#15
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Yes, I have used this several times with Xtol so it does seem to work. Xtol is said to show no change of colour when exhausted so gives no warning so a test is highly recommended. Actually the "no colour change" isn't entirely true in my opinion as the last time I tried the leader test with it, it had turned a pale yellow as opposed to the colour of water and sure enough it then failed the leader test.
Mike |
#16
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I don't want to sound harsh but this is all too familiar tale.
All liquid developers have a short shelf life (12 months max in an unopened bottle) and powders like ID11 have a storage life of only 3 years. So the lesson is - throw away any donated/inherited developer - its not worth the cost of a lost film. Stop is much more long lasting and can be used if the indicator dye is still the right colour. Personally, I don't trust fix in a sealed bottle that is more than 24 months old - but may be that's just me. If you ever are unsure about your developer activity - get a strip of 35mm film and put a drop of the developer in question on to it and watch to see if it darkens. In 2 mins you should have a fairly healthy black. The same test can also be done with working strength fix - put a drop of fix on a length of 35mm film, let it clear for 3 mins and then then put a 2nd drop of dilute fix adjacent to the first. The 2nd drop of fix should achieve the same level of clarity as the 1st drop within 2 mins for it to be active enough to use. You can also use up your neglected expired rolls of 35mm film we all seem to have at the back of a draw somewhere as the chemical testers. Martin |
#17
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Martin, Let us not forget there are some liquid developers that do keep well and have a legendary reputation: Kodak's HC110 – as used by Ansel Adams, 10,000's photographers world wide and me! Rodinal or RO9 – still a firm favourite by many, keeps for ever, great performance, and can be used even when it has turned dark brown. I am sure there are a few others but these are the two I know will keep for years in concentrate form in opened containers. With HC110 I am still using a part litre bottle that is now approaching 15 years old. With Rodinal / RO9 the 500mls I have at the moment on my darkroom shelf is at least three years old and is now a nice dark brown colour. I developed some 5x4 sheets with it last weekend and they came out perfect. Some even say 'the darker it gets, the better it gets!' I do agree with you though about the keeping qualities of the other developers under discussion in this thread and would also advise not to take a chance if they are past their use by date. Neil.
__________________
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Aristotle Neil Souch |
#18
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Hi Neil
Its a fair point As I was writing the post, I wondered if someone would raise Rodinals legendary keeping qualities. However, the point I was trying to make was, as you say apart from Rodinal and HC110, almost all the liquid developers have a short shelf life, particularly after opening. If we were to make a list of all liquid developers and in the first column were the ones with a short shelf life then in the second column the ones with good keeping qualities, it would be a pretty lop sided list. Martin |
#19
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Martin, You made your point, with some very good advice, but I do like accuracy. I wouldn't like to hear someone had chucked out a litre of HC110 just because it was 12 months old There is another BW liquid developer that has a long life - Ilford's Ilfotec HC. I have not used it myself but it is widely known to be a clone of Kodak's HC110, and has very similar keeping qualitites and performance. Neil.
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"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Aristotle Neil Souch |
#20
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I am still using a bottle of Ilfotec HC first opened in about 2007. I dose it with Protectan every time I take out another 8ml or so. I like it for FP4+
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