Hi all. I have been running into problems with my MF negs: they're scratching easily and noticably. I use PMK pyro, and Hutchings recommends against a hardener in the fix since it lowers the stain. I always use F24 or in a pinch Ilford Rapid. I was wondering if I can bath the negs in a hardener AFTER they have been through the the fix and the alkaline afterbath, i.e., once the main part of the staining (which of course finishes with washing) has taken place? If yes, can I just use a bath of pot. alum, and how much/how long? Thanks all. shawn

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), January 10, 2000

Answers

How are you scratching them?

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 10, 2000.

Hardeners remove the the stain, no matter what stage you do it at. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), January 10, 2000.

I've no idea how! I never had this problem with 35mm, and I treat the 67 negs the same way. I develop the same way, in fact in the same tanks, and I don't squeegee/run my fingers down the wet emulsion. When dry, I snip them and put them into archival sleeves, and then into a binder. The only new variable is the different neg carrier, but I don't slide the negs out. I HAVE been using different emulsions: FP4 and APX 400 (which someone gave me a whole bunch of...) which I rarely ever used in 135; but that shouldn't make a difference. They're not consistent (the scratches), and they're not straight across, so I don't think it's my camera? I just don't know...maybe I'm not as meticulous as I think. Or maybe 135 agitation techniques don't work with 120/220?

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), January 10, 2000.

Check that carrier really carefully for any burrs.

Also, I once had a problem with scratches that I eventually traced to Unicolor-brand neg files pages. I don't know if it was the pages themselves or if somehow that plastic used was catching grit, but the problem was solved by using PrintFile pages.

Pyro tans/hardens the gelatin.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 10, 2000.

I'll check my sleeves carefully, and the carrier, thanks John. I knew pyro hardens the neg, but I thought a little extra protection might be in order.

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), January 11, 2000.

Just in case you're still having problems, you might want to try to narrow things down a bit. Leave a few frames hanging up to dry, put a few more in a sleave and enlarge a different few. If they all show scratches, then it's either in the camera or the processing, otherwise, you should be able to figure out where it's happening.

Paul

-- Paul D. Robertson (proberts@clark.net), January 14, 2000.

You shouldn't need hardener with PMK, the tanning effect on the gelatin is supposed to make it very tough. I did manage to scratch a neg when I used to use a double bladed squeegee to wipe off the film. I gave that up the first time I scratched a good neg. Now, just a rinse in distilled water (my water in So. Calif. is terribly hard, full of crud) and Photo-flo.

-- Don Karon (dkaron@socal.rr.com), February 24, 2000.