SAD NEWS FROM OLIVER.
An early November phone call from Oliver Barron brought
the sad news of his wife`s passing just seven days
before. She was 88 years of age and I'm sure Colour Reversal Club members will join with me in offering sincere condolances to Oliver and his family at this sad time. Incidentally, Oliver also surprised me when he admitted to the ripe old age of 92 in his own case! I had no idea he was that age... must be the Club's oldest member, surely? NEW YEAR GROUSES! This column sets off the New Year with a grouse. Well a few, really! And I make no apologies! Most members will not appreciate the system by which this Newsletter is produced. But I can say that nearly all copy submitted is re-typed in order to confirm with the established format and it is at this stage that my grumbles are directed. The October issue, for instance, contained "... from choice or circumstance" which appeared as "... from choice or circumstances.." That final (`S`) changed a grammatical line into a completely ungrammatical one.! Further having received an unwanted `S-` my copy was given a further blow - this time by having a letter removed ... a dropped `H` from the word `whetted`. This little gem was on page seven, top line, fourth paragraph. An unwanted and unnecessary spelling lesson, perhaps? made me look a `right Charlie`. Further, and at the foot of page three, is an ED. PS. This was followed by an opinion that commercial kits most likely used the `very dangerous` E.D.T.A. chemical for reversal and which the C.R.C. formulae avoids completely. E.D.T.A. (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) is still used as a Chelating agent and appears in some solutions in the C.R.C. formulae. It has absolutely no affinity with reversal. What was possibly meant was the `highly dangerous` T.B.A.B. (Tertiary Butilamine Borane) but this is hardly likely to be still in use these days and would certainly not be licensed by the Environment Dept. It`s only possible connection with E.D.T.A. is that both have four letters in the abbreviated form! Now to page six, para. three, line four. Here I typed C.Z.A. the abbreviation for Citrazinic Acid. This printed as C.D.3 despite being completely illogical in that context, to change from CD3 to CD3! There are others... even a mention, at one point of Acidit acid! But you, dear reader, will have to search for that one... and the rest!. BRIAN`S IN
TROUBLE. Writing in the same issue mentioned
above, Librarian Brian Asquith complains of a residual
`sludge` in the reversal bath. This has has been quite
common and I am amongst quite a few members who have
experience of this trouble. Fortunately this doesn't
appear to affect the efficiency of the solution and I
would guess is due to the high concentration of stannous
chloride in the bath. It is, never the less, extremely
annoying. Fortunately the answer is quite easy. Simply
make up this bath as a concentrate solution. This lasts
well and there will be no sludge either as the
concentrate or the subsequent ready-to-use dilution.
I have tried this on several occasions, in light using unwanted lengths of film I hasten to add, and found it well nigh impossible. Now as you may or not know, all three of us use durst tanks, which are centre-loading and have the advantage of needing only a minimum quantity of solutions (in fact the Pearles use only 100ml of the developers in the single reel Durst tank using the rotational method) ... but I have never successfully loaded two films, back to back, on a single reel. But now I can!! For I have been reminded of a simple plastic loading gadget which makes a difficult task quite easy. The irony is that I had one of these loading devices years ago but always thought of it as quite unnecessary, as indeed it is for loading a single film, ... but now I realise its value when loading two. The advantage, of course, is that with two films in a single tank, one uses precisely the same amount of solutions... thus halving the cost. A worth while saving, you will agree, WAY DOWN SOUTH. Never let it be said that our technical people are faceless, obscure individuals seldom seen or heard by members!! Brian Savage, for example, popped up at Area 22 meeting at LACOCK and I gather that with Chairman Jeff Mundell and Secretary George Sparkes, the trio had an enjoyable and worthwhile afternoon wandering around the village, cameras at the ready, of course, together with a lively exchange of views on the processing of E.6 and also touched on the longevity of the two developers. George explains, in his Area Newsletter, how he divides the developers into units of 330mls, using one unit of each initially to process one film as a test, then using two each of the other units making 660mls each, leaving one 330mls of each fresh and unused. A further film was processed in the part-used solution a month later, and says that there was no apparent loss of quality. George, in fact, has no quarms regarding the keeping properties of the other solutions, and as he uses daylight, the reversal bath provides no problems. He apparently followed my method and outdoor fogging for reversal and experienced no trouble with gnats or other insects... just goes to show. It IS practical, you see! Brian Savage, talking to George,
revealed that he prepares a litre of developing solutions
omitting the actual developing agent in each case. No
Phenidone in the first developer and no C.D. 3 in colour.
(No Phenidone, Brian? Do you find this is clean and
efficient as Dimozone S?). Without the FREEZE IT! THEY SAY! Further to my previous item on the keeping qualities of solutions comes news of a most interesting test, carried out to a very succssesful conclusion already by Tony Chuter of Southampton - is at the time of my writing this, in mid-stream by the Pearles, down there in Colchester. The test entails the freezing of solutions and I have actually seen the results of slides processed in these solutions... after thawing I hasten to explain! These were from Tony and I can say, with complete honesty that the slides were quite excellent. As perfect, in fact, as any he has sent to me in the past and processed in the more conventional way. In Tony's case he had frozen only the two developers for his first test, but as he says, as these had suffered not at, he now sees no reason why the other suspect brews (reversal and conditioner) should not freeze equally successfully. A further interesting point is that he included, in each of the frozen solutions both the Dimozone `S` in the first developer and the C.D.3 in the colour which does make this particular experiment well worth while for there is a definite school of thought that omission of these developing agents can help the longevity of solutions even when stored in the ordinary way. Incidentally, the solutions were housed in ordinary freezer bags and, of course, were kept in the domestic freezer for seven months, surely a sufficient length of time for the test to prove completely positive. The Pearles, as I have said, are midway through this battle of the freezers so I am able to offer no comments on their experience. I would explain, however, that, unlike Tony, they have omitted the developing agents from the two developers during their freezing exploit - which is normal practice for these intrepid workers. Still for the rest of us the two systems will prove of considerable interest. FIRST CALL SPREADS ITS WINGS. The new edition of the First Call photographic catalogue reached me just too late for the October issue of this Newsletter. But I'm happy to give a mention now albeit somewhat late in the day. Once again this colourful, exiting publication not only keeps abreast with the previous four issues but, I think, it quite easily the best ever. Greatly extended, this enterprising company has now entered the `new age` and offers all that is best in video cameras, both movie and still, together with much of the ancillary equipment for transferring to the larger format and for adding film slides to tape, as well as the commentary to the finished article. All of which doesnt mean a diminuation of the equipment and materials which we Colour Reversal Club members still find so attractive and dear to our hearts. Indeed there's something for all of us in these fascinating pages... from an almost frightening array of film types and sizes, many cameras again of differing sizes and manufacturers, with the associated lenses... together with everything for the home processor, including up-to date and complete blacking-out systems which can be in place in minutes. There are black and white colour enlargers, timers and analysers... books, too, are there in plenty and should you be in any be in any kind of photographic trouble, technical or otherwise, there is an open invitation to call for help. Free for the cost of a phone call. Who could ask for more? The address for this company is... First Call Photographic Ltd, Cherry Grove Cottage, Gotton, Chedding Fitzpaine, Taunton, TA2 8LL. Tel. 823 413007. MORE MODIFICATIONS... THOUGH ONLY SLIGHT. Following my successful processing session using the white light reversal technique I have since made further inroads into slight modification of E.6. processing. The first change to the actual processing involved the abandonment of the gradual and prolonged washing following the first development. This was a somewhat alarming venture for me for I have long advocated its need for ensuring even development right down through the lower layers of emulsion. But now I know it not to be necessary - and frankly I can detect absolutely no difference, doing the job without a wash after the first development, no difference at all to the long established wash at this stage. I give full credit to Glyn Willicombe, who resides down in the West Country, who first told me of his tests along this line. Both Glyns` and mine were entirely successful! Mind you I do not advise cutting out the long wash when using the conventional reversal bath! Use it only with the Acetic Acid stop bath. (three minutes in a three per cent solution - kills all known first developer residuals!). And, of course white light. A further departure from the norm was that I processed the films, an Ektachrome and a Fuji, both old and stored in the freezer for almost 5 years, back-to-back in a single reel and using only 200ml of solutions in a Durst tank. Economy plus, if you like! And again quite successful! I would explain that the loading of two films, back-to-back with the Durst reel and that firm's special loader is quite easy. It may not be so simple with other makes. Once again I used the washing line for complete daylight reversal... well it was a calm, cold sunny day, quite humid, so there was little chance of dust or of those dratted gnats skating around on the emulsion! So if you're tempted by an economy drive... try two films back-to-back using a mere 200ml of solutions. But make sure you can successfully load two films on a single reel. If you use a Durst reel and tank you can. But not all makes are so obliging! |
