Washing PMK negs

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I have recently begun using Delta 400 with PMK. In Hutching's book, and in other places including the threads of this forum, it is recommended to wash PMK negs for a while, say 20 minutes. This is suppose to increase the stain. For me, there are two possible methods of washing.

1) Use a variation of the Ilford washing procedure, where I have water at the same temperature as the other chemicals and fill the tank 3 times, inverting 5, 10, and 20 times respectively, letting sit 5 minutes between changes.

2) Wash the film by putting it in my print washer after having removed the dividers. I don't know if anyone has tried this method, but it seems that there is a flow of water being squirted through the reel, although I am not sure if it is sufficient. The problem with this is that my water temperature drops to a frigid 7 celcius (45 Fahrenheit) in winter and goes up to above 32 C (90 degrees F) in the summer.

By the way, this is followed by by a bath in Photo-Flo put in distilled water. Hutchings recommends using a new bath for each film, although I don't quite see the need if the negs are well washed in the first place. What do others think? Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

-- Raja A. Adal (d60w0635@ip.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp), February 11, 2001

Answers

I use the first method. However I do an one minute water rinse at the beginning of the washing and at the end. The first rinse gets a lot of the chemistry out. I do the 2nd water rinse out of habit. I process at about 70 degrees F. For the washing I avoid going lower than this temperature and I will go up to 77 degrees F to make sure the negatives are cleaned completely. If the water is too cold it doesn't get the senstizing dyes out. Photo-flo and Distilled water is used one shot because this last bath can deposit minerals onto the negatives when reused. Therefore its one shot and out it goes. Photo-Flo is cheap and last lasting and distilled water does make a difference.

-- David Payumo (dpayumo@home.com), February 11, 2001.

Are you buying your PMK Pyro in Japan (and if so, where?), or are you importing? When I lived in Tokyo I could not find a domestic supplier for PMK, and had to rely on mail order from the UK.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), February 12, 2001.

Importing, from Photographer's Formulary, who, unlike most other mail order companies I've tried, don't seem to be trying to make a profit on shipping rates and charge very reasonably for shipping to Japan. Customs were, in this case, also no problem.

By the way, in the question above, I gave a brief synopsis of the Ilford Washing Method, and omitted the fact that the tank and lid have to be washed between each cycle, something which Thomas had reminded me in an earlier thread.

-- Raja A. Adal (d60w0635@ip.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp), February 12, 2001.


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