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The Easiest Film Fixer Made the Easy Way!

Pictorial Planet

9,616 views

In this video I demonstrate the simplest and easiest way to make fixer. It's a very good fix and particularly good for maintain your 510-Pyro, Pyrocat, or PMK stain as well as all other regular developers. This fix is so easy to make and so cheap that I hope you try it. Best with regular films like Ilford FP4, HP5, PanF, and TriX.

1 teaspoon = 5g
1 tablespoon = 15g

1 Litre of this fixer will fix 10-20 films or 40 10x8 inch papers.

My name is John Finch of Pictorial Planet. I want to preserve the art of analog photography through my youtube videos, my books and my website. You can find me at Pictorial Planet, where I combine classic techniques with modern technology.

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John
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20 Comments

@amilcardeoliveira1287 1 year ago

I found this technique in an old Ilford formula book, if for some reason you need a more accurate measurement of clearing time: submerge half of your piece of film until you're sure it's completely cleared. Do not bother to time it. Now submerge the other half, beginning to measure the clearing time. There will be a sharp frontier between the halves, which will fade when clearing time is completed.
Thanks for the excellent information you give!

@HaroldEscalona 1 year ago

I first used that formula over 30 years ago, and recently, just for fun, I thought I'd revive it. Now, thanks to your video, I have no doubt I'm going to revive it. Thanks.

@KAUSTUBH447 1 year ago

Love it. Could you give me the quantity of the chemicals in grams?

@raybeaumont7670 1 year ago

I just use a 10% solution of Sodium Thiosulphate. Nothing added. Cheap and cheerful - cheap enough to use and discard. Cheers from The Rhondda.

@guillermoperezsantos 1 year ago

I´ve been using more less the same fixer and I can certify that it last longer than stated here. The fixer shelf life is 12-18 months! even in half filled bottle. and you can fix from 20 to 30 rolls of film.
Its the BEST fixer.

@achimboers 1 year ago

Feel like jumping in the dark room !!

@raywilson9450 1 year ago

If you are near a swimming pool supply shop, Sodium Thiosulphate is on the shelf. Look for 'chlorine reducer'. Sometimes called 'after shock'. They may have big quantities fairly cheap, but I just buy a small container to tide me over till father Kodak ships me hardening fixer. Cheers!

@arneheeringa96 1 year ago (edited)

Teaspoons in Germany are much bigger in than in The Netherlands. I always mix Ansel Adams Plain Fixer, from the recipe from Lloyd Erlicks website. It isn't acidic as well. It's 160 Gr. Sodium Thiosulfate anhydrous and 20-50 Gr. (Keeps anyway about 6 months) Sodium Sulphite for a litre.

@rogerharrison4316 1 year ago

I haven't used commercial fixer for about 5 years now. I mix Agfa 304 (for 1 litre 200g sodium thiosulphate, 50g ammonium chloride and 10g sodium metabisufite) which I use for film and paper. No problems so far - I use different batches of fixer for film and paper though.

@ΣτάθηςΒαρλάμος 1 year ago (edited)

in wine producing countries, like greece where Im, its much easier to find potassium metabisulfite and with that I make Agfa 304, as demonstrated by you already (and lots lots of thanks for that!!!!). I also succeeded substituting sodium sulfite with potass. metabisulfite in making (Pa)Rodinal with excellent results (combined with your grain reducer formula!)! Also no crystals are formed on the bottom of the bottle. Also, although many people say that you can find hypo in swimming pool supply shops, I didn't manage to find it here in Greece, except in a few general chemical supplies stores.

@davecarrera 1 year ago

Excellent presentation John. Wishing you well and safe journeys.

@randallstewart1224 1 year ago

Hopping into my way-back machine, I go back 65 years to a time when I purchased hypo in bulk at my photo store. They repackaged the crystals into 10 pound bundles, sold in brown paper heavy-duty grocery shopping bags ($5/bag). In a pinch, you could throw a handful of hypo in a quart of water and go for it. Normally I made DIY Kodak Fixer, which was the ingredients used in the video, plus sodium sulfite as a preservative and potassium alum as an emulsion hardener. Note that this was before film manufacturers routinely pre-hardened their emulsions, as they do now, and scratched negatives were a relatively big problem. That also pre-dated by a few years, the introduction of retail rapid fixers.

@filmic1 1 year ago

That was wonderful. Liked and sharing. Thank-you.

@robertchavez3362 1 year ago

thank you

@davidottman9501 1 year ago

Thanks John! Without fixing, developing would be useless. Hmm, you've got me thinking, wouldn't it be easy to throw together a small kit of environmentally benign chemicals to take when traveling? I mean for like weekend trips to the beach or something, not international air.

@ManCalledMif 1 year ago

Thanks for the information 🎉

@theoldfilmbloke 1 year ago

When I was a Photographer for the Geology Dept at University College London Sodium Thiosulphate was REALLY CHEEEEEP ! I used to order a Hundredweight SACK of it and it cost about £4 -- now it is No Longer CHEEEP !

@elcharras 1 year ago

Can u used sodium sulfite or potassium metabisulfite instead?

@anzaeria 1 year ago

I have a few questions about this fixer:

1. Are there any health risks? I recall someone else making a home made fixer (can't recall the ingredients) and there were some potential health issues if it was inhaled. Very nasty stuff.
2. Can this fixer be used with paper?
3. Would it need to be disposed of in a safe environmental manner like store bought darkroom chemicals? I assume it can't be poured down the drain after use?