Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]My local tap water is a high-mineral disaster. Beyond watermarks -- the suitable term is 'scale'. Ted Grant put up a good post -- search 'Ted Grant drying marks' in the LUGchive. While his post did not solve my problem, it reduced the size and number of the marks. I dug around on the Internet and asked around, and the best I could conclude was that this is a highly-variable local problem that requires a local solution, a YMMV issue, depending on your local water together with more mysterious factors. I solved it for my location: kept using the sludge from the tap for mixing chemicals, but use distilled water for 2 final rinses -- 2x250 ml per reel at $.30/liter is $.15 per reel. And I quit using Photo-Flo. No squeegie, no thumb-and-forefinger, and no heat. Just hang them up sopping wet and come back in 3 hours. This sounds stupid, but make sure you're buying real distilled water, not mineral water, mountain spring water, or other classy water. It should have that classic strange distilled water taste. Results: No drying marks for about 80 rolls. (I sure have other problems, e.g. HP5 negatives that are grainy in the zone of focus but smooth elsewhere. My greatest strength as a photographer is my mark-free negatives. If you saw my work, you would agree.) - -Al >From: Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu> >Subject: [Leica] @#&$$& Watermarks!! >References: I'm sick and **** tired of watermarks on my >negs. I use a condenser >enlarger and the crap just shows up in every print. >AFAIK, I'm using >every trick in the book when I process my film: __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/