Help! Maroon Negs!

digitalox · 02-13-2005

Howdy,

Just processed some tri-x. I noticed after the fixing that when I poured the fixer out, it was not purplish like usual with trix/tmx. I went to rinse, hypo and rinse again as usual. But when I go to hang the negs, I notice they have a maroonish cast. So I fixed again, rinse, hypo, rinse, but its still there. What gives? Bad fixer? I just developed a roll of delta 400 before that went fine. Bad Tri-x? Any ideas? I really don't want to lose this roll.

Thanks,

Scott

lkgroup · 02-13-2005

This has happened to me before, I mixed new fixer and refixed. This took away the color. If this doesn't work you can keep the new fixer until you need it and and you haven't lost anything.

leo

digitalox · 02-13-2005

I tried searching google again, but changed "maroon" to "purple" and got a lot more hits. What do I know? I'm a B&W guy!

Apparently not an uncommon problem. Thanks!

Stu :) · 02-13-2005

Was the fix freshly made or from a reused stock? And is the fix made by Ilford by chance?...

I know several times I've pulled 'purplish' negs from the wash, only to see them dry and change colour back to what I call normal.

Stu

digitalox · 02-13-2005

On the first fix, it was the second use of a freshly made batch. Second time I made a fresh batch. Its the Ilford Rapid Fix - have you had trouble with it Stu?

Stu :) · 02-13-2005

I have noticed that when I use Ilford fix my negs come out with a purple tint, but went they dry it fades out.

I'm guessing your negs are still 'wetish' and currrently drying???

Stu

digitalox · 02-13-2005

Yeah. After some rewashing and such, the purplish tint is much less noticeable. Still there a little bit, but they're still drying.

Stu :) · 02-14-2005

I guess those negs are dry now, how do they look???

Hypo-clearing agent followed by a good 20 minute wash helps a whole heap too.

Also I remember reading somewhere that the pH of the water used to make up one's fix has an effect of the colour/tint of the negs. Remember this going to be printed or scanned as black & white and not as colour, so a slight tint is fine. However saying that, a strong purple colouring requires more fixing and darn good wash. Purple colouring with a cloudly/milky look in the shadow ares (clear parts of the negative) is BAD... maybe terminal.

Stu

P.S. I've just installed one of those energy saving light bulbs in my room and everything white seems to have purplish tint right now. I foresee my monitor being recalibrated again soon...

Doug · 02-14-2005

One possible problem with having a color tint to the negs is the effect when using variable-contrast paper to print. A maroon/purple tint would tend to raise contrast a bit, as higher contrast results from using a magenta filter. But the tint would fight attempts to lower print contrast with the yellow filter. Certainly not a factor in scans of the negative of course.

digitalox · 02-14-2005

Thanks Stu, Doug, Leo. Just checked them - there is still a slight magenta cast but not near as much as before. Alls well that ends well.

digitalox · 02-14-2005

I'll keep that in mind if there are any keepers in there worth printing, thanks Doug.

Roman · 02-15-2005

Those are sensitizing dyes - just expose the negs to roomlight/sunlight for a day, and the color will vanish (I'm speaking from experience with TMax 3200...)

Roman

phototone · 03-07-2005

Tri-x does seem to normally have a base tint, that other b/w films don't have. The T-max films do have a "purplish" dye in the base that washes out....but with Tri-X is doesn't, however the tint of a Tri-x negative is much fainter. It will make no difference in the prints.

FrankS · 03-07-2005

Kodak films take longer to fix than Ilford film in my experience and from their own literature. Try refixing the negs and next time leave in the fixer for longer - 10 min. instead of 4 or 5 min.

jdos2 · 03-07-2005

My standard is 15 minutes for fixing, and I've not pulled purple film out for a long time, so I too can recommended longer fixing times.