# Purple Negs and Low contrast prints



## sensimilla (Mar 27, 2013)

Hi all, I'm new, I've been meaning to sign up for a long time and this recent issue and urged me on to doing so. Anyway onto the subject..

I've been developed 35mm film with a Durst Magico for about a year and recently bought myself a Durst M605 so I can move onto a bit of 120 printing at 6x6.

I also decided to have a go with Kodak D76 . 

So I mixed everything up ready blah blah blah only issue being I might've mixed the D76 a few degrees above 55 Celsius. 

I went on to develop some rolls only to come out with quite transparent looking negs with quite a pinky/purple tint to them. The fixer i used also came out pinkish when i removed it from the tank despite it being completely clear when I poured it in....

Anyways I thought nothing of it having a combination of lack of experience with 120 and D76 and a hint of idiocy. I did some prints with the new enlarger (first time I've used it) and they came out with awfully low contrast and almost looked like they had been solarised.

I fiddled around with the dial in filters and this didn't seem to solve the issue and I am confused as to whether the chemicals are to blame, or the enlarger or what?

The 2 photos I have attached are a scan of one of the prints (most look similar to this, some worse) and a photo of the negatives (they are even more pinky/purple in real life)

Any help or suggestions will be very much appreciated as I am currently working on a project where the prints need to be completed in roughly 3 weeks.  

Cheers guys!


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## ann (Mar 27, 2013)

which film ? Tmax tends to turn the fixer pink.

The negative looks underexposed, seriously underexposed, and perhaps even undeveloped, which of course creates a serious loss of contrast.


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## sensimilla (Mar 27, 2013)

I shot with Ilford HP5+. And some of the negs are underexposed but there are some that definitely aren't and I get the same result


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## compur (Mar 27, 2013)

What paper?  Is it fresh?  What print developer?  Have you successfully printed in the past or just starting out?


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## sensimilla (Mar 27, 2013)

compur said:


> What paper?  Is it fresh?  What print developer?  Have you successfully printed in the past or just starting out?




I used Ilford Mutligrade IV RC and well no I wouldnt call the paper fresh but it has been kept in complete darkness. And developer I used was Ilford Universal Paper Developer. Yes, I have been developing and printing 35mm on and off for around a year now.


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## vintagesnaps (Mar 27, 2013)

I read a similar discussion not long ago on the Film Photography Project's Flickr page discussion - I'm not sure if you can search on there and find it or not. The consensus seemed to be that it was a particular film and the type of developer used that weren't compatible.

You could post a question about your situation on there and ask among others Leslie (user name Utchat - avatar looks like Charlie Chaplin but it's a woman), she owns a shop and seems to have extensive darkroom experience. I have done some darkroom work but don't know enough about the various types of chemistry etc. 

On your strip of negatives some look more exposed than others, so to me that would seem like it isn't that the negatives are too thin/underexposed. And since there was purple color rinsing off then I'm guessing it had something to do with the chemistry or development process. Good luck w/your project.


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## amolitor (Mar 27, 2013)

Fix 'em more and wash 'em more if you don't want 'em pink.


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## timor (Mar 28, 2013)

Never have had a HP5+ with pinkish hue. Also this persisting pinkish color of a fixer is curious to. Tmax is staining fixer but usually just after a few moments pink is gone. Ann is right, for HP5+ most of the frames is under exposed. The print  looks real bad, like under exposed under enlarger and than forced in developer until heavily fogged, but not reaching blackness anywhere. What was the temperature of paper developer ? Not to high ?


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