Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 7/29/01 12:00 AM, onetreehillclw at onetreehillclw@compaq.net wrote: > Being in New Orleans, the water here is terrible. > Sometimes when I am drying the negatives, I get water spots on the film(b&w > film).And I do use Zone IV photo-flo to eliminate this problem. Any > suggestions for properly wiping or drying negatives? yes we have all suffered from this (ever tasted London water :S ??) I finally killed drying marks for ever using the following method has not failed yet wash as normal THEN soak for 1 min in Anionic (steam distilled) water with EXACTLY 1 drop of photo-flo per liter added. Available from your local pharmacist or pharmacy dept of the bit grocery store for next to nothing. Now hang up to dry. the point is there is NOTHING in that anionic water to cause drying marks nothing but photo-flo :( It kills me to add that drop of photo flo but if you don't, with 35mm at least you risk drying marks from where the emulsion stayed wet under a water drop. With larger formats it seems to matter less as the water sheets off more easily. With 4x5 I often leave out the photo-flo. If you add MORE than the 1 drop, as Kodak tell you to, the damn PHOTO-FLO leaves drying marks. Hard to believe, but true. How do you get 1 drop of photo flo? Either use a pipette, or if you're a cheap bastard like me, pour a little photo flo into the cap of the bottle and then pour it back into the bottle until there's just a *tiny* amount left. Now a single drop will come out easy. Since I've been doing this, wonderfully sparling negs. hang them somewhere clean, please. - -- John Brownlow http://www.pinkheadedbug.com ICQ: 109343205