Pinholes HIE

["J.Wood" <shopper@xxxxxxxx>]

As another approach, I soak the loaded HIE for one to two minutes in water
before developing.  During this time I give it several sharp raps to
dislodge air bubbles.  During development, usually HC-110 or D-76, I use
four shakes every thiry seconds for duration of development.  I also use a
water bath between development and fixing.  I rarely have pinholes with the
HIE-135 and cannot remember having any with Konica 750 (120).  

I'm fortunate in having a darkroom with nearly constant temperature and
always within developing range.  I usually set out filtered water from our
household system and let it sit overnight or longer so that chlorine and
other additives can evaporate--water which comes from the Potomac River has
to be beaten into submission. As a result all of the water used is at the
same temperature. Water to be heated is done in a microwave.   

I might add that this doesn't prevent flaws in Infrared sheet film.
However, in that case, I believe the problem is me.  The spots are probably
dust spots where I did not clean the film holders completely or dust
settled on the film during loading of the film holders.  I now use cotton
gloves when loading or unloading 4x5 infrared and rubber gloves during
development to prevent finger prints and other dreadful things.  

I know some people have problems with pre-soaking "modern" films, but it
works for me for everything except T-Max, which doesn't work for me at all.

Jim



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