I recently bought a Gra lab 300 timer which has glow in the dark numbers and hands. It is pretty bright in the dark. Does anyone know whether this "glow" will have an effect on unprocessed film? I just loaded a bunch of 4X5 tri-x and noticed how bright this timer is. Any thougths would be appreciated.

Thanks

-- Mark DeMulder (mdemulde@usgs.gov), April 17, 2000

Answers

You're right to be concerned. I found it necessary to block the glow of the 300 with the lid of a paper box to keep from having slight fogging of film.

-- steve singleton (singleton1@bigfoot.com), April 17, 2000.

Mark, Just put the timer where you can see it, but your film can't and there should be no problem. Regards, ;^D)

-- Doremus Scudder (ScudderLandreth@compuserve.com), April 18, 2000.

Doremus has it right. Put the timer where the film can't see it.

I've never experience any problems, but I've always had the timer quite away from the film. Also, the glow isn't very bright if the timer hasn't been exposed to light very long.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), April 18, 2000.

For a while I thought my fogged tray developed negs were the result of those bright Gralab numbers. After a few frustrating experiments, I found the culprit was the dim afterglow of a one-tube fluorescent fixture above my sink. Those tubes have a subtle glow long after shutoff and fog film. The Gralab appears brighter but for some reason doesn't fog from even a few feet.

-- Ted Davis (teddavis@exactphoto.com), April 19, 2000.