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  #21  
Old 6th February 2014, 07:33 PM
jadejessica jadejessica is offline
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I have the newer dome shaped model, so it should be fine with the paper that I'm using.

I'm pretty sure the problem isn't with the negatives. I'm fairly new to dark room printing, but I've been using my camera for a much longer time and can see that the images look correctly exposed. I had the set I'm currently printing with developed professionally so that I wouldn't have to contend with the possibility of me developing them incorrectly.

I'm going to go through all of the possibilities that everybody has very helpfully mentioned in their comments and then I might meet up with a local FADU member if I still can't resolve the problem by myself.
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  #22  
Old 6th February 2014, 08:35 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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safelights are only safe to a point. They should be at least one meter away from the paper and better still two meters.

An easy safelight test to do is as follows.

with safelight in its normal position and switched on.
without any filtration in enlarger take a strip of paper and give it a two second exposure with head at medium height. This is a deliberate fogging of paper.
Then leaving paper where it is, immediately after exposure place a coin on paper strip at one end. Then every minute add a another coin to paper in a line with first coin and do this for at least ten minutes ( ten coins ). The coins are just stopping exposure of the paper by safelight. And make sure you don't move coins when you add further coins.

After ten minutes develop and fix the strip of paper.

If coins are showing on print then safelight is not as safe as you thought which is very often the case.

Counting back from the tenth coin you placed on paper will tell you how many minutes the paper is safe for with that safelight located where it is. If all ten coins show then you have very serious safelight problems.

I have seen people placing their safe light right next to the easel and wondering why their prints are fogged.

In one college lab I used the ceiling safelights gave less than a minute before fogging paper and they were a couple of meters away from paper.

Last edited by Argentum; 6th February 2014 at 08:50 PM.
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  #23  
Old 6th February 2014, 10:07 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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if you dev (say for 1 min) and fix the paper and its white the paper is ok
and then you leave it in the light for a while and it starts turning darker its the fixer that is suspect ..
good luck




www.essexcockney.com
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  #24  
Old 7th February 2014, 08:27 AM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Hmm. . .
wish I could see a scan of one of theses prints. Or, if no scanner available, a phone pic of one which I hope would be allowed in the spirit of diagnosing a film problem.
I sort of think a print which changes appearance after processing and when exposed in light is just not fixed properly.
A print which is just too grey could be many things- old paper, thin negs, too soft a contrast filter, or some combination of all the above.
C'mon Jessica, show us a print!!
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  #25  
Old 7th February 2014, 09:02 AM
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Phil Phil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skellum View Post
Hmm. . .
wish I could see a scan of one of theses prints. Or, if no scanner available, a phone pic of one which I hope would be allowed in the spirit of diagnosing a film problem.
I sort of think a print which changes appearance after processing and when exposed in light is just not fixed properly.
A print which is just too grey could be many things- old paper, thin negs, too soft a contrast filter, or some combination of all the above.
C'mon Jessica, show us a print!!
Yep - with you on this. If it changes after processing then your fixing is incomplete. If borders are white and stay white and image is grey then I would look towards thin negs. We've all been there and done that . . you can correct an over-exposed/over-developed negative but under-exposure is a different kettle of fish.
I printed with some 8 year old Galerie at the weekend and the prints were perfect .. paper lasts a decent amount of time if kept in proper conditions.
Pic of print would be great, and negs would be handy too!
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  #26  
Old 7th February 2014, 10:19 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jadejessica View Post
I just tried the test suggested by Mike and Big Paul, whereby I put one strip of paper through fix and one through dev, stop and fix, and the one that went through all three turned partially grey after a few minutes near a SAD lamp.
From your description it would appear that the paper has retained some sensitivity to light and that remaining silver halide is being converted to (grey)metallic silver. The stop bath (which is not essential) is to halt development, neutralise the developer alkali in the paper and protect the fix, which is intended to be mildly acidic. But the paper retains light sensitivity at this stage, and a SAD lamp is bright!
The purpose of the fix step is, as the word suggests, to convert all the remaining light-sensitive silver halide to soluble salts that can be washed away, preventing further reactions to light. But it takes time and must not be over-diluted. There is little change in the appearance of the paper during the fix step.
If you have some bits of unprocessed film (cut-off tongues, perhaps), try dipping one in your fix solution - the film should become clear within a couple of minutes at room temperature. If there is no change, the fix isn't working.
Wet processing is a really rewarding exercise - don't let the first few problems put you off. We've all been through the learning stage and long forgotten the mishaps.
What a shame that modern photographic courses no longer teach classic processing. Even a day would be useful.
Jonathan

Last edited by JOReynolds; 7th February 2014 at 10:23 AM. Reason: edited to improve meaning
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  #27  
Old 7th February 2014, 10:40 AM
Terry S Terry S is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jadejessica View Post
...yes the margins stay white on finished prints...

It wasn't grey until I put it near the lamp, which obviously wasn't in the room during development.
Okay. So the margins stayed white on the finished prints. Did the rest of the print look okay at this point, without a veiling of grey?

If the answer is yes and the print (including margins) only started to go grey when put in front of the lamp, then it seems that you are either not fixing long enough or the fixer is old or diluted too much.

Terry S
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  #28  
Old 7th February 2014, 12:19 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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It does seem to point to exhausted fixer but Jessica says she bought the chemicals brand new.

I suppose the next question is: How many prints are put through the same fixer?

Jessica this might appear to be asking you to be profligate with your chemicals but for the purposes of getting to the bottom of this problem I'd suggest that when next in the darkroom you make up fresh fixer as well and ensure you use the manufacturer's ratio of fix to water.

That at least will eliminate the fixer as a problem.

I have no experience of the effects of exhausted fixer but to see a difference in colour in as little as 3 mins must mean that it is very exhausted,if indeed fixer is the cause. Poor fixing will eventually show but I'd have thought the period was days or even weeks and not 3 mins

An intriguing issue here. The game's afoot, Watson!

Mike
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  #29  
Old 7th February 2014, 01:56 PM
Terry S Terry S is online now
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Thanks for the comments Mike and between us all we should be able to solve the problem.

If the chemicals are new, then my first thought, as already mentioned, is that the print(s) are not being left in the fixer long enough before looking at them under a bright light.

Over to you again Jade. Can you give us an idea of your workflow in full ie the times the paper has been left in each chemical but mostly the fixer ie X mins Dev / X mins Stop / X mins Fixer BEFORE turning on a bright light AND / OR putting the print next to one.

Terry S
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  #30  
Old 7th February 2014, 04:16 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Jade, next time you print then mix the developer fresh, t 1/9, develop the print for a full minute, mix fresh fixer at 1/9, the normal dilution for print fixer, and fix for 3 minutes in the fresh fixer, wash for at least 2 minutes, and if you are still having the same problem then the chemicals will be ruled out, leaving only a problem with the paper, Tell us how you get on, and between us all we can take it from there, Good luck, these problems are sent to try us, we have all needed help with something at times, Good luck
Richard
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