Example of Semi-Stand vs Tray processed 7x17 negative

[Steve Sherman]

Explanation of negatives made in the very beginning of experimenting with the Semi-Stand method of film processing 11 years ago:

Two sheets of 7x17 FP 4 film identically exposed less than a minute apart. One of the sheets was tray processed in ABC Pyro for 24 minutes @ 1-1-1-7 which yielded a density of 1.79
The other sheet was processed using a Semi-Stand method, 5 minute presoak, 2 minutes initial agitation and 1 minute agitation @ 30 minutes in Pyrocat HD @ 1-1-175 in a large tank. Total development was 60 minutes, density of 1.33

Each negative was scanned on an Epson 750 scanner @ 600 DPI with emulsion facing up, opposite sides of the two separately processed negatives were stitched together via CS 4 with no manipulation or sharpening of any kind other that converting to grayscale.

Cheers !

[Lachlan 717]

ABC on the left/HD on the right?

[Bill_1856]

I only get ONE image.

[Lachlan 717]

I only get ONE image.

It's stitched down the middle.

[Steve Sherman]

ABC on the left/HD on the right?

Two separate negatives, one processed in a tray the other using the Semi-Stand method of film processing then opposite sides stitched together. The SS neg on the left side @ 1.33 density and the right side tray processed neg @ 1.79 density

[Ironage]

The left side is definitely better. Thanks for sharing this.

[Peter De Smidt]

Steve, how is the negative held in the large tank? What type of agitation?

[Michael Kadillak]

I am impressed that you could get anything out of FP4+ and ABC pyro. This combination for me was a complete disaster which could have been the water or ? In dilute pyrocat FP4+ rocks. The other benefit of this process is the increased film speed. I shoot FP4+ as well as aged original TMY at full film speed which is a 2X improvement over what I exposed TMY with in ABC. With ULF every little bit of film speed is a huge benefit in the field when filters and/or bellows corrections are deployed.

Clearly the high acutance associated with the semi stand development is exemplified in this image. I use Home Depot PVC tubes as my tanks and they work great. Hard caps glued on the bottom and soft caps on the top with some room to exchange the developer during the agitation period.

[Steve Sherman]

Steve, how is the negative held in the large tank? What type of agitation?

Peter, back in the early days I used a large can which held 4400 ml of solution. In the very beginning I used a stirring motion to agitate, big mistake, increased density at the bottom of the neg, went to a plunging action like a washing machine and that cured some of the initial agitation hurdles. 4400 ml for one 7x17 "piece of film was not efficient in spite of the low cost of PyroCat HD. I now use 3" Grey Electrical conduit (plastic). A terrific idea devised by my good friend Tim Jones (climbabout) a 7x17" piece of film requires 2400ml to process and I use an version method of agitation. Usually, 2 minutes initial agitation for most normal contrast scenes. However, most of my photography is done under unusual lighting conditions and there in lies the real reward with this type film processing.

Michael, while I have never tested the "White" PVC tubes I have been lead to believe there are not opaque like the Black ABS is, just a word of caution. The rest of my tube setup sounds very similar to Michaels with the glued bottom piece and a removable cap on top. The one word of caution I would offer for those who chose to make their own, the amount of "free" space above the film is necessary as some solution does leak out during inversion, that space can not be so much as to not allow your hand to get down to grab the neg once the processing is over. I only put developer in the tube, remove to stop and fix in trays in the dark.

The ABC Pyro was chosen as it has the reputation of being the most aggressive and yielding a high density which is exactly what I wanted to illustrate with this comparison. The Pyrocat neg @ a density of 1.33 has considerably greater micro contrast than the ABC neg @ 1.79 density, conventional thinking would be the exact opposite to be the case.

In posting the pix to the forum I see that it is automatically converted down to 25.7 KB which does not begin to allow any of you to really get a feel for how dramatic the difference is with these two negatives that have been stitched together.

[sun of sand]

Can you stitch them the opposite way for real comparison now?
Left side has the detail and interest to begin with
Who knows what focus issues were present etc