arista film developer

Film Photography & Darkroom discussion

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blackdoglab
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arista film developer

Post by blackdoglab »

I'm thinkin' of gettin' some arista liquid developer. I've been using tri-x, fomapan 200, and apx 100 and am wondering if any of you have tried this stuff.
got m42?

Lowell Huff
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Post by Lowell Huff »

It is the most versital developer you have ever tried. It provides wide latitude and very fine garin.

Jim Appleyard
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Post by Jim Appleyard »

Keep in mind that Mr. Huff is the owner/sales rep/chief cook & bottle washer for Clayton Chemicals, the maker (to the best of my knowledge) of Arista chemistry.

Jim Appleyard
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Post by Jim Appleyard »

Keep in mind that Mr. Huff is the owner/sales rep/chief cook & bottle washer for Clayton Chemicals, the maker (to the best of my knowledge) of Arista chemistry.

Lowell Huff
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Post by Lowell Huff »

Someone besides me has to have a sense of humor!
Yes, we proudly make the Arista private label chemistry as well as the Arista Premium Chemistry and several others in a variety of different markets.

foolscape
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Post by foolscape »

And, what's wrong with a little shameless self-promotiom?

I use the Clayton chemicals extensively, especially the AFC fixer, and I like 'em. It's nice to know that I can get the same thing from Arista as well.

Question for Mr. Huff, if he's still monitoring this thread: The Silvergrain fixer is supposedly buffered at a ph of 7.7, and one can supposedly use a stop bath with it. I know that the AFC fixer is an alkaline fixer as well, but I don't know if it's buffered for use with a stop bath. Is it? I've been using a water stop with it.

--Gary

Digitaltruth
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Post by Digitaltruth »

Hi Gary,

Perhaps Lowell will correct me, but I don't believe that AFC is an alkaline fixer. The other alkaline fixer we sell is TF-4, but this requires a water rinse before immersion in the stop bath. The buffering system used in Clearfix Alkaline is not duplicated in any other product, and there is no other alkaline fixer with the same level of resistance to stop bath.
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brooklynkid
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Arista Developer

Post by brooklynkid »

I have started using the Arista Ultracold Tone paper developer. It gives great results. The image comes up slowly and I usually give the paper 2.5 minutes of development. I love the clean whites and really deep blacks. I read some of the other responses, and I have also used the Clayton Ultracold Tone. The Arista use label indicates a 1:14 dilution, and the Clayton label indicates a 1:7 dilution. Since they are made by the same company, I was wondering why the different dilution ratios. I am guessing that the material supplied under the Arista label is more concentrated, but i cannot be sure. Good luck with your work.

foolscape
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Post by foolscape »

Jon Mided wrote:Hi Gary,

Perhaps Lowell will correct me, but I don't believe that AFC is an alkaline fixer. The other alkaline fixer we sell is TF-4, but this requires a water rinse before immersion in the stop bath. The buffering system used in Clearfix Alkaline is not duplicated in any other product, and there is no other alkaline fixer with the same level of resistance to stop bath.
I could be mistaken. I thought (not being a chemist) that ammonium thiosulfate fixers (like AFC) were alkaline, and sodium thiosulfate fixers were acid. But, now that I think about it, I guess that other chemicals in the formula would be responsible for whether it was alkaline of acid.

I read an article somewhere about modern emulsions, and how alkaline fixers with ammonium thiosulfate seem to be much more effective. I use TF-4 for some applications, but I can't use it with lith printing, because the stop must be immediate.

--Gary

Digitaltruth
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Post by Digitaltruth »

All modern rapid fixers are based on ammonium thiosulfate. Sodium thiosulfate was used in the past as the primary agent in fixers, but is much slower. Pretty much every major fixer currently available uses ammonium thiosulfate, but this has no relation to alkalinity or acidity. For more information about Silvergrain Clearfix Alkaline, please have a look at the technical data page here:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/store/silve ... dwash.html
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Lowell Huff
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Post by Lowell Huff »

The reason for the differences in dilution is that we write the CLAYTON label for machine processing and the ARISTA PREMIUM COLD TONE label is written for hand processing.
As for the difference between acid and alkaline pH in fixers, it is much a do about nothing. The capacity of the fixer is based on the amount of thiosulfate in the formula not the pH. If you wash well, no more than ten minutes, there is no difference in archivability. Before you start screaming "HERESY and BLASPHAMY", support your statement with science not emotion.

foolscape
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Post by foolscape »

You know, I read an article a few years back on largeformatphoto.info about archival tests done by Kodak and Fuji that found that you want to wash your prints well, but not too well. They even went as far as to say that slightly exhausted fixers worked better than fresh. I'm not a chemist, as I mentioned before, so I don't know why they achieved these results, but here's the link http://www.largeformatphotography.info/ ... nence.html

I am curious about the 10 minute time for washing. I don't own a print washer, so I do it by hand agitation, and change water every minute. Using a PF residual Hypo test, It takes at least 25 minutes of washing to get a satisfactory hypo test with fiber paper. With the Clayton AFC, I've had wash times similar to the TF4.

Thanks
--Gary

Digitaltruth
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Post by Digitaltruth »

Hi Gary,

There are different washing techniques recommended by different manufacturers and experts, so you need to reach your own conclusion.

In order to account for local variables, the techniques we publish for Silvergrain Clearfix Alkaline actually exceed the times required to eliminate the residual fixer.

If you look at the Fixing and Washing Chart near the bottom of the Silvergrain Technical Information page (see previous posting for link), you can see that FB paper will achieve archival standards after a total of 16 minutes from the point it is removed from the fixer bath. This includes a one minute rinse, followed by 5 minutes in Clearwash, followed by a 10 minute wash. Other products will require different times, have different capacities etc...
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Keith Tapscott.
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Post by Keith Tapscott. »

Jon Mided wrote:All modern rapid fixers are based on ammonium thiosulfate. Sodium thiosulfate was used in the past as the primary agent in fixers, but is much slower. Pretty much every major fixer currently available uses ammonium thiosulfate, but this has no relation to alkalinity or acidity. For more information about Silvergrain Clearfix Alkaline, please have a look at the technical data page here:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/store/silve ... dwash.html
Although the modern ammonium thiosulphate fixers are recommended for most B/W films and papers, the simple `sodium thiosulphate` fixers are sometimes recommended for some of the `alternative processes`.

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