Just this morning, for the first time, I exposed a sheet of Bergger 20x24 film. I've only used Bergger 5x7 in the past, never the 20x24. It's rated 200, but I rated it at 100. I exposed it, then soaked in a tray of plain water, then on to the developer and fixer. When I finally turned on the light, the negative looked good (image wise), though underexposed. Anyway, I noticed that the plain water in the 1st tray was deep blue. Weird. Anybody know anything about this?? These are new trays and were all clean. So what is that strange blue? The color is not in any of the other trays. Is there something on Bergger that was washed off in this plain water bath? Thanks for any help!

--Diana

-- diana bloomfield (dlhbloom@mindspring.com), April 15, 2002

Answers

Diana: It could have been the film's anti-halation backing....?

-- David R. Williams (davidw@ca.ibm.com), April 15, 2002.

Okay, I guess that could have been it. I've been processing sheet film (not Bergger) for many years, and I have never seen that before. Should I be doing something differently, then? Or just keep on processing like always. Thanks for your reply, David.

-- diana bloomfield (dlhbloom@mindspring.com), April 15, 2002.

Diana,

This is perfectly normal, just really noticable do to the large surface area of film in the water.

As I used to work with 8x20 and would so 5 or 6 negatives at a time, I had this same issue with FP4.

Keep processing...

Best,

John

-- John Horowy (sales@bergger.com), April 15, 2002.

Bergger film has more anti-halation backing, or at least releases more into the rinse water, than films from Kodak or Ilford, and of course as John says with a sheet of 20x24 there's a lot of film in the tray. I'm used to the dye from BPF being green though, not blue. Won't cause any trouble and should wash off the tray without staining it permanently. BTW, don't be surprised to find you need a different development time for the big sheet compared to 5x7. I find there tends to be less effective agitation, and so a longer time needed with really large film sheets, even when I think I'm doing everything exactly the same as with a smaller size.

-- Carl Weese (cweese@earthlink.net), April 17, 2002.

Hi Carl, John, David...

Thanks so much for answering my question about the 20x24 film. I've processed a couple of these now, and the blue (maybe bluish/green?) tends to mostly wash off in the first tray of water--before going in developer. And you're right--hasn't caused any problem. I think I'm noticing a lot more--with everything now-- with this big film.

By the way, to ensure I'm getting even development, fixing, etc., I am agitating the trays quite a bit. Is that not so necessary? I've also found that a longer development time seems to work better. Is this what you are saying, Carl? Actually, my very best negative so far occurred when I hit my timer in the darkroom, but it never went off. After a while, it seemed like a long time, so I finally took it out. I think I hit the wrong button on the timer (fumbling around in the dark). Anyway, that particular negative turned out really well. I'm guessing it was over the recommended time. I'm moving on to a bigger space for the next ones, so that should make things a little easier.

Incredible working with this film--I love it!

Thanks again, --Diana

-- diana bloomfield (dlhbloom@mindspring.com), April 17, 2002.