I am not going to live forever so I might as well allow others to benefit from my hard-won findings on the matter of ugly age-fogged B&W materials. I have written previously about this but this latest formula seems to be my best yet, by a substantial margin. I have a 'different' way of formulating such and, certainly, am not a chemist. But this does work: with film and, especially, with paper. Read, heed, and proceed to try this. It is cheap. I do not have photos for proof YET; hopefully, they will be posted within a week.
First, a bit about the theory part: It seems to me after years of experimentation that there is a 'trigger point' for hydroquinone that must be met, and ONLY met, with no extra help. What I am getting at here is this: Metol is the developer that strives to bring out threshold density, WHETHER THAT DENSITY MANIFESTS AS EITHER FOG OR EMERGING IMAGE DETAIL (the developer does not know the difference between the two!). And, as we know, hydroquinone is the developer which strives, at all costs, to augment contrast. Hydroquinone, alone, is bad as a developer: so slow, so painfully slow, as to seem worthless. However, a tiny bit of metol can act as a trigger to cause the hydroquinone, finally, to come to life IN A WAY WHICH DOES NOT APE THE SYNERGIZED EFFECT OF THE M/H COMBINATION. Since the amount of metol is so small, so small, so really small, the threshold density keeps getting suppressed despite the hydroquinone being allowed to come to life. That is about as clear a presentation as I can present to you.
Here is my formula that I now use for almost every B&W film and for all papers. Yes, it is that good, and cheap and simple to make. However, I am used to measuring things a bit differently than most, so you will have to accept that. I measure most dry chemicals by volume, so you will have to get an ACCURATE calibrated cylinder to measure small volumetric quantities. Not so difficult, right?
First you must make two solutions that you can draw from every time you mix my developer. Metol solution (keep airtight) (MS) is made this way;
2 mL of sodium sulfite, anhydr
1 mL metol
WTM 100 mL.
Of course, again, keep the MS airtight, like with any developer.
(Naturally, if you want to make a whole liter, multiply the quantities by ten, but the smaller volume is sufficient; I use thrown out tiny liquor bottles, easily found in filthy Philadelphia, and add tiny glass marbles to keep the volume to the rim.)
The second solution is restrainer solution (RS):
1 GRAM of benzotriazole
WTM 100 mL
The RS does NOT require being kept air-tight. The REASON why I WEIGH the BZ is because, in its history, it has come in different forms: feathers, large granules, powder. Thus, to assure accurate measurement, I simply take its mass, metrically.
Now that you have the critical two solutions, I present the FORMAL formula for all:
To make a small 100 mL quantity of STOCK solution:
3 mL sodium sulfite, anhydr
5 mL of MS
2 mL hydroquinone
6 mL sodium carbonate, mono (this is Arm& Hammer washing soda, sold in its most stable, packaged form: monohydrated; store brand is the same, if cheaper)
2 mL RS
WTM 100 mL
When you accurately measure in the calibrated cylinder, tap down slightly to get the powder flat; do not tap down hard, as if your life depended upon it.
How to use the formula: for use with either film or paper, mix from 1 part formula + 4 to 9 parts water, depending upon the material. I find that slower films, like Panatomic-X or Plus-X can use the more dilute
1+9 and that faster films, or TMY 100, need to be diluted less. Kodak TMX 3200 needs the FULL 1 + 4. But, first, a note on trying this out: do not be foolish and wasteful and just plain stupid by thinking that whole rolls or whole sheets are needed ‘to test’. If I had done this in the past years, I would be bankrupt by now. A 36 exposure roll of film lasts, for me, for 36 tests! Learn to cut off about one frame (keep the roll truly light-tight) and learn how to place that frame onto the film aperture gate (of a manual SLR) in the dark (use tape if you are afraid of the curtain eating it up). Then carefully close the back without moving the film. With paper, cut a piece about 1 or 2 inches square (3 or 4 cm) and target that on the easel to an important part of the picture, covering part of the paper with a coin in order to compare both fog and image quality. For developing this single frame, I use the old style film can: one frame fits perfectly, and add 10 mL of WORKING solution, cap it, then roll it in a water bath for the duration of development time. It is very important to know whether the film can is truly impervious to light. Otherwise, work in dark with a timer. The newer ones, even if black, are NOT light tight. Those made 30 to 40 years ago usually are. Do not assume, or you will spoil everything. Also IMPORTANT: for ALL B&W work I use 80 Fahr (26.7 C) solely because that is what is most comfortable to me and easiest to maintain. If you use colder, increase the development times a bit to compensate. For the tiny pieces of paper for testing, use tiny trays. (Dollar Store?) Make your costs for tests miniscule. I have always been frugal and never regretted it. In fact when Warren Buffet’s wife recently complained about the price of a cup of coffee, I did not laugh like so many jerks did, given her money; instead, I applauded her.
You are going to have to do many tests in order to get this right. But, my helpful indications follow:
First, how fogged is the material? If slightly fogged or even moderately fogged, you might be able to get away with normal development with dilute Farmer’s after fixation. Here is how I mix MY Farmer’s:
To make the BLEACH (B): 1 mL potassium ferricyanide in WTM 25 mL. To make the Farmer’s reducer(lasts about half an hour but depends upon strength), mix one part B to one part of (unused) paper strength fixer plus anywhere from two parts water to eighteen parts water. The stronger the fog, the less dilute the reducer needs to be. Mixed, it will not last too long but usually half an hour is OK. I use percentages, because they are easier for me to understand: The first is 1+1+2 = 50% and the second is 1+1+18 = 10%.
To remove this small amount of fog, simply place the film or paper (after fixation) into your choice of diluted Farmer’s. That said, now let’s assume that you need my formula for combatting serious age-fog.
First, film: Let’s take a worse-case scenario here: Kodak TMZ 3200 film that has been sitting around for twenty years or so. WOW what FOG!!! Barely an image visible with normal development. Now, do this: shoot a frame at, say, not at its box speed of EI 800 but, instead, at EI 12, a full six steps more exposure. Then use my formula (1+4) for eight minutes (remember I am 80 Fahr) and see what you get. If you get a reasonable image, slightly overexposed, with little to moderate fog with great contrast, you have succeeded. Simply use the Farmer’s (maybe 20%) to make that negative clear and pristine. Examine the image detail and shadow detail and make your next experiment to remove the noticed faults. Maybe give less, more exposure and/or more/less development.
Sorry, this is what you have to do in order to target the supreme success, but it is worth it. I have Multi-contrast Ilford paper which is so age-fogged that it is YELLOWED on the reverse, like old newspaper!!! It is unbelievable what I get done with this developer and I will show you when I get a chance to take and upload photos in about one week. For paper, I usually use 1 part formula + 4 parts water and develop for from 2 to 4 minutes. You have to examine the fog level under that coin that you placed upon the paper and, if the fog is rather low (less than 50%) you might be able save the print with Farmer’s.
In summation, this is a race between gaining adequate contrast (difficult with age-fogged materials) and subduing age-fog. The more development the more contrast but, also, the more fog. If you are not prepared to suffer, expend time (not money) and accurately note your findings for welcome repetition, you are not prepared to read this posting again for a better understanding. - David Lyga
First, a bit about the theory part: It seems to me after years of experimentation that there is a 'trigger point' for hydroquinone that must be met, and ONLY met, with no extra help. What I am getting at here is this: Metol is the developer that strives to bring out threshold density, WHETHER THAT DENSITY MANIFESTS AS EITHER FOG OR EMERGING IMAGE DETAIL (the developer does not know the difference between the two!). And, as we know, hydroquinone is the developer which strives, at all costs, to augment contrast. Hydroquinone, alone, is bad as a developer: so slow, so painfully slow, as to seem worthless. However, a tiny bit of metol can act as a trigger to cause the hydroquinone, finally, to come to life IN A WAY WHICH DOES NOT APE THE SYNERGIZED EFFECT OF THE M/H COMBINATION. Since the amount of metol is so small, so small, so really small, the threshold density keeps getting suppressed despite the hydroquinone being allowed to come to life. That is about as clear a presentation as I can present to you.
Here is my formula that I now use for almost every B&W film and for all papers. Yes, it is that good, and cheap and simple to make. However, I am used to measuring things a bit differently than most, so you will have to accept that. I measure most dry chemicals by volume, so you will have to get an ACCURATE calibrated cylinder to measure small volumetric quantities. Not so difficult, right?
First you must make two solutions that you can draw from every time you mix my developer. Metol solution (keep airtight) (MS) is made this way;
2 mL of sodium sulfite, anhydr
1 mL metol
WTM 100 mL.
Of course, again, keep the MS airtight, like with any developer.
(Naturally, if you want to make a whole liter, multiply the quantities by ten, but the smaller volume is sufficient; I use thrown out tiny liquor bottles, easily found in filthy Philadelphia, and add tiny glass marbles to keep the volume to the rim.)
The second solution is restrainer solution (RS):
1 GRAM of benzotriazole
WTM 100 mL
The RS does NOT require being kept air-tight. The REASON why I WEIGH the BZ is because, in its history, it has come in different forms: feathers, large granules, powder. Thus, to assure accurate measurement, I simply take its mass, metrically.
Now that you have the critical two solutions, I present the FORMAL formula for all:
To make a small 100 mL quantity of STOCK solution:
3 mL sodium sulfite, anhydr
5 mL of MS
2 mL hydroquinone
6 mL sodium carbonate, mono (this is Arm& Hammer washing soda, sold in its most stable, packaged form: monohydrated; store brand is the same, if cheaper)
2 mL RS
WTM 100 mL
When you accurately measure in the calibrated cylinder, tap down slightly to get the powder flat; do not tap down hard, as if your life depended upon it.
How to use the formula: for use with either film or paper, mix from 1 part formula + 4 to 9 parts water, depending upon the material. I find that slower films, like Panatomic-X or Plus-X can use the more dilute
1+9 and that faster films, or TMY 100, need to be diluted less. Kodak TMX 3200 needs the FULL 1 + 4. But, first, a note on trying this out: do not be foolish and wasteful and just plain stupid by thinking that whole rolls or whole sheets are needed ‘to test’. If I had done this in the past years, I would be bankrupt by now. A 36 exposure roll of film lasts, for me, for 36 tests! Learn to cut off about one frame (keep the roll truly light-tight) and learn how to place that frame onto the film aperture gate (of a manual SLR) in the dark (use tape if you are afraid of the curtain eating it up). Then carefully close the back without moving the film. With paper, cut a piece about 1 or 2 inches square (3 or 4 cm) and target that on the easel to an important part of the picture, covering part of the paper with a coin in order to compare both fog and image quality. For developing this single frame, I use the old style film can: one frame fits perfectly, and add 10 mL of WORKING solution, cap it, then roll it in a water bath for the duration of development time. It is very important to know whether the film can is truly impervious to light. Otherwise, work in dark with a timer. The newer ones, even if black, are NOT light tight. Those made 30 to 40 years ago usually are. Do not assume, or you will spoil everything. Also IMPORTANT: for ALL B&W work I use 80 Fahr (26.7 C) solely because that is what is most comfortable to me and easiest to maintain. If you use colder, increase the development times a bit to compensate. For the tiny pieces of paper for testing, use tiny trays. (Dollar Store?) Make your costs for tests miniscule. I have always been frugal and never regretted it. In fact when Warren Buffet’s wife recently complained about the price of a cup of coffee, I did not laugh like so many jerks did, given her money; instead, I applauded her.
You are going to have to do many tests in order to get this right. But, my helpful indications follow:
First, how fogged is the material? If slightly fogged or even moderately fogged, you might be able to get away with normal development with dilute Farmer’s after fixation. Here is how I mix MY Farmer’s:
To make the BLEACH (B): 1 mL potassium ferricyanide in WTM 25 mL. To make the Farmer’s reducer(lasts about half an hour but depends upon strength), mix one part B to one part of (unused) paper strength fixer plus anywhere from two parts water to eighteen parts water. The stronger the fog, the less dilute the reducer needs to be. Mixed, it will not last too long but usually half an hour is OK. I use percentages, because they are easier for me to understand: The first is 1+1+2 = 50% and the second is 1+1+18 = 10%.
To remove this small amount of fog, simply place the film or paper (after fixation) into your choice of diluted Farmer’s. That said, now let’s assume that you need my formula for combatting serious age-fog.
First, film: Let’s take a worse-case scenario here: Kodak TMZ 3200 film that has been sitting around for twenty years or so. WOW what FOG!!! Barely an image visible with normal development. Now, do this: shoot a frame at, say, not at its box speed of EI 800 but, instead, at EI 12, a full six steps more exposure. Then use my formula (1+4) for eight minutes (remember I am 80 Fahr) and see what you get. If you get a reasonable image, slightly overexposed, with little to moderate fog with great contrast, you have succeeded. Simply use the Farmer’s (maybe 20%) to make that negative clear and pristine. Examine the image detail and shadow detail and make your next experiment to remove the noticed faults. Maybe give less, more exposure and/or more/less development.
Sorry, this is what you have to do in order to target the supreme success, but it is worth it. I have Multi-contrast Ilford paper which is so age-fogged that it is YELLOWED on the reverse, like old newspaper!!! It is unbelievable what I get done with this developer and I will show you when I get a chance to take and upload photos in about one week. For paper, I usually use 1 part formula + 4 parts water and develop for from 2 to 4 minutes. You have to examine the fog level under that coin that you placed upon the paper and, if the fog is rather low (less than 50%) you might be able save the print with Farmer’s.
In summation, this is a race between gaining adequate contrast (difficult with age-fogged materials) and subduing age-fog. The more development the more contrast but, also, the more fog. If you are not prepared to suffer, expend time (not money) and accurately note your findings for welcome repetition, you are not prepared to read this posting again for a better understanding. - David Lyga
