Digital BW, The Print

Paul -
If I were you I'd be very careful about messing too much with the chemistry.  David's advice about "fixing the stuffing out of it..." is not even close to a
good idea, because it's very easy to start loosing shadow details in a negative from too strong or long fixing.  You mentioned that the test prints
look good in spite of the blue base color. Why worry about it then?  You may know or remember that there were developers that stained the film 
base - Pyro Developer for example, stains the base greenish/sepia, but the negative and print quality from it can be magnificent.  
Film base color may cause a little adjustment in contrast settings for variable contrast papers, but that's easily corrected. If you find your Eastern European
film base unstable, the safest solution would be to make  good quality scans of your best shots,  before bleaching (which is what extra fixation would do)
or otherwise altering the chemistry! The sodium sulphite might help, even tho I personally never ran into a blue anti-halation coating in over 50 years of
working with B&W films.  In any event, use a negative you don't need for your tests.

Let us know what happens.

Best,
Clayton Price


<david kachel wrote:
<One of two things is going on:

<1. Inadequate fixation. Fix longer, agitate more. Eastern Block films tend to be older technology, thicker emulsions, longer fixing times.
<2. Anti-halation dye isn't clearing. Usually due to inadequate fixing, but... If you fix the stuffing out of it with fresh fixer and the blue still remains, <soak for 5-10 minutes in a 10% solution of sodium sulphite to clear the dye, then rewash.

David Kachel


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