stop bath

[ksmattfish]

Enough about that...where the hell ya BEEN??!!? :cheer:

I had to go cold turkey for a few weeks to kick the habit

I'm trying to organize my time better, and spend more time in the darkroom, and that means cutting down on my internet photography forum chatting. I'm going to try to stick to the forums and threads that relate directly to BW film photography, the traditional darkroom, and vintage cameras. So this (the Darkroom forum) is probably where you will find me.

 

[terri]

Enough about that...where the hell ya BEEN??!!? :cheer:

I had to go cold turkey for a few weeks to kick the habit

I'm trying to organize my time better, and spend more time in the darkroom, and that means cutting down on my internet photography forum chatting. I'm going to try to stick to the forums and threads that relate directly to BW film photography, the traditional darkroom, and vintage cameras. So this (the Darkroom forum) is probably where you will find me.

I hear ya...I'm here mainly during the day when I need to escape from the desk job... :crazy: We were going gangbusters on setting up the darkroom right when we brought home the enlarger...slowed down while rounding up the last odds & ends....then the holidays sucked up whatever spare time we DID have....and I am beyond ready to get it going. I now have roll of Ilford F4 waiting for me from this past weekend, and it's killing me to be away from it!!

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Does the stop bath affect the fixer

Stop bath helps keep the fixer fresh by neutralizing the developer. Developer kills fixer. That's the main reason I use it. Personally I'm not as concerned about stopping development as much as I am about increasing the longevity of my fixer.

Although there are folks who say stop bath can be harmful to the emulsion. Not to long ago Motcon posted information explaining this. As usual, there is no one right way to do it. There are some "masters" who say always use stop, and others who say never use it. You have to weigh the info and come to your own conclusions.

I like to use a weaker than normal stop bath. Mixed at manufacturer recommended strengths I sometimes have problems with pinholes in the emulsion of 120 and 4x5 film.

Acid hardening fixer - which is the standard one - contains Acetic acid anyway so cutting out the stop bath won't make a difference if the acid can damage your prints.

 

[jenny6165]

could someone please clear something up for me. At college we develop our own photos, but the stop bath is just water and works just fine. Is the stop bath meant to be chemical?

 

[oriecat]

There are people who prefer to just use water and there are people that prefer to use the chemicals.