DOLLY
MIXTURES THAT WORK News of members changing
over to the official C.R.C. E6 formulae in "penny
numbers", as it were, continue to amaze me: for a
remarkable mixture of the old and the new - which would
scare me to distraction - is obviously possible.
One member for instance uses the C.R.C. First Developer,
Light reversal, the Moorhouse Colour Developer and
continues with a "simple" Bleach
(Ferricyanide?) and Fixer. There is no mention of a Stop
Bath following the First Developer. This can be
acceptable with the proviso that a VERY thorough wash
must follow the D.1 when using Light Reversal. Otherwise
fogging will result giving a strong reddish cast.
Another member uses a similar mixture but relies on the
Club First and Colour Developers, Light Reversal, Stop
Baths after each, a Ferricyanide Bleach and ends with a
Hypo (Sodium Thiosulphate) Fixing Bath.
Slides from these somewhat bizarre mixes range from
excellent to the merely acceptable. Which does, at least,
prove that the experiment is always exiting and, at
times, may well produce a better result than the more
conventional method.
ooooOOOoooo
WASTE NOT.....
When loading an exposed film from cassette to the spiral
of the processing tank do you discard the small piece of
film cut off in order to have a full width of film to
feed into both sides of the spiral? Well! Do you?... Such
waste! May I suggest you do as I have done for years and
retain this snippet of film for subsequent testing of
solutions?
The Bleach and/or Fixer can be quite usefully tested as
to their still workable life with the aid of these
hitherto worthless emulsion-covered bits of plastic.
Use a small quantity of solution, in a tiny beaker, so
that only part of the snippet of film is affected - this
way one can more easily judge the effect... and do bring
the temperature of the solution up to, or near, that
normally used: time it so that the test will be of
optimum value.
The effect from the bleach on the undeveloped film will
vary somewhat according to the make but, in general,
should turn the familiar brownish colour of the emulsions
like 3M, Fuji etc light, greyish green. The Fixer will
give a clear piece of film.
ooooOOOoooo
"BLOOMING
HECK!!" .... Glyn Willicombe, of Area
20, provides a fascinating account of the difficulty he
had in producing one of his frames included in the slide
folio circulating within that area.
The slide features a species of cacti bearing a large
cammelia - like flower. Glyn and his wife, Gwen, had had
the plant for ten years during which time there had been
no sign of a flower. One evening, however, it was noticed
a six-inch stem with a bud on top, appeared. The
following morning, the bud stated to open and was in full
bloom within minutes! Where-upon Glyn moved at speed to
record this phenominon on film - Fuji as it happened -
for the exotic bloom began to droop even as they watched
and it, and its stem fell off the plant inside minutes.
A strange, remarkable story and Glyn is to be
congratulated on capturing a really excellent shot under
such difficult circumstances. He asks if any member has
knowledge of this unusual cacti?.
ooooOOOOoooo
IS IT
FILM - OR PERFUME?.... Several members, I
hear, are waxing lyrical over the new generation of
colour reversal emulsions. It would seem, from remarks I
have heard, that the Fuji offering, VELVIER, is the
favourite to lead the field.
Tony Chuter, indeed, is so impressed that he sent me a
sample post haste - to be followed closely by a further
frame from a second "dunking". The first was
outstanding but the second ... well that really was
something! The frame of the Kodak colour chart on this
latter example I can describe simply as near perfection
as one is likely to get: no doubt at all the film IS
outstanding - bright accurate colours with grain that...
well, it just aint there! For my part, willing enough to
accept and broadcast its undoubted merits, I just cant
get over the utter absurdity of its name! Velvier! More
suited to an exotic French perfume! And the price! Oh
dear! So dear!!
ooooOOOOoooo
PLUGGING
THE DIN PLUG!.... Here is a tip for the
Audio/Visual brigade - as well as those many members who
converse with ach other by means of the cassette tape -
in regard to those dratted DIN plugs which seem to give
up the ghost on the slightest excuse but always at the
least appropriate, but most embarrassing, moments. What
happens is that one, or more, of the pins become loose in
its plastic housing after, or during, soldering which
melts the surrounding plastic thus subsequently causing a
bad contact. Or even no contact at all. The solution is
to pack the back assembly of the plug with Araldite which
is a certain cure. Though, of course the plug cannot
afterwards be dismantled for use on different equipment.
For this invaluable slice of expertise I am indebted to
to Mr. John Pearle of Colchester, who is the son and
step-son of Major & Rita Pearle.
CURING THE DUST BUG!.... A major
cause of spots on frames - and even worse, of scratches -
is dust which can lodge in the velvet light trap of the
cassette itself. Here is a quick and easy way to get rid
of this menace. Remove the end cap of the cassette,
double a piece of masking tape, or Sellatape, lengthways,
sticky side out, insert a steel rule, or similar, between
the doubled tape, slide the assembly into the mouth of
the cassette, remove the steel rule then press the lips
of the cassette firmly together. This will effectively
'trap' any offending debris together with any loose
fibres of the velvet. And no more dust spots or
scratches!.
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