Stop using stop
Is stop bath necessary when developing 35mm film? Yes. And no.
Yes if you’re using some homebrew concoction of a developer and intend to re-use the fixer bath over and over.
No, if you’re using mainstream (i.e. all of Ilford’s) products on a one-shot basis.
I hope that clarifies matters! The acidic nature of fixer will stop development of the mainstream developers dead their tracks, as well as doing its main job of fixing. Obviously the fixer will become contaminated with a any residual developer that is left in the tub. Hence the logic of using the fixer as one-shot.
What about the cost of doing this the one-shot way? From my sums, it costs about 55 pence to develop a single 35mm film to do it this way. In relation to the total cost of cameras, lenses, scanners, endless lists of accessories and the film itself, this really isn’t very much….is it? Add to that the time and faff saved from not having to measure out stop bath and store the working solutions of fixer and stop. Why worry about if the fixer or stop is depleted?
Now perhaps if I were running tens of films per day it might be wasteful but on the smaller number I’m actually doing there’s no problem, IMHO.
