Q. How much working developer per sq inch is too much?

[swmcl]

How much working developer (in ml per sq inch) is too much for you ? Is there an absolute limit ? Would you give up on LF photography if you had to use a certain amount of developer per sq inch ?

I would very much like to persue this conversation privately with a number of you if I may. Please indicate in your response if you would help me out by answering a short questionnaire. I would send the questionnaire via PM or email if you would consent. It would be good to have a range of respondents from the newbies to the seasoned 'old salts' (and please don't tell me LF only has old salts !!!)

Cheers,

Steve

[Maris Rusis]

When I develop film each square inch of that film "kills" about 1.1 ml of developer. Or to put it another way an 8x10 sheet of film in a one litre tray of Xtol ( my standard dev) requires a replenishment rate of 90ml per film. Last time I checked the cost of the developer consumed it was 27 cents per 8x10 film processed. If the cost was double I wouldn't feel it. Double again and I still wouldn't care. Questionnaire? PM me.

[Nigel Smith]

Does not even enter the equation.

[Tin Can]

This is not a concern unless Rodinol went up 10 times in price. Then I would make it. PM me anytime.

[Liquid Artist]

I develop no more than 3 sheets of 5x7 film in 1200ml of HC-110. Any more and I can really notice the difference.

[Michael R]

How much working developer (in ml per sq inch) is too much for you ? Is there an absolute limit ? Would you give up on LF photography if you had to use a certain amount of developer per sq inch ?

I would very much like to persue this conversation privately with a number of you if I may. Please indicate in your response if you would help me out by answering a short questionnaire. I would send the questionnaire via PM or email if you would consent. It would be good to have a range of respondents from the newbies to the seasoned 'old salts' (and please don't tell me LF only has old salts !!!)

Cheers,

Steve

You can PM me if you'd like. I'm not clear on what's driving the question though.

[Donald Qualls]

I can make Parodinal for about a nickel per 8x10, Caffenol C for a few cents more, and D72 for printing for under a dollar per darkroom session with purchased metol and hydroquinone. Chemistry cost is never likely to be a deciding factor in LF or other film photography.

[Tin Can]

How much working developer (in ml per sq inch) is too much for you ? Is there an absolute limit ? Would you give up on LF photography if you had to use a certain amount of developer per sq inch ?

I would very much like to persue this conversation privately with a number of you if I may. Please indicate in your response if you would help me out by answering a short questionnaire. I would send the questionnaire via PM or email if you would consent. It would be good to have a range of respondents from the newbies to the seasoned 'old salts' (and please don't tell me LF only has old salts !!!)

Cheers,

Steve

The question is odd, he asks for fluid amounts not cost.

[Winger]

My time is much more rare than the money for the materials. The last thing I'm thinking when I finally get to shoot, develop or print is how much it's costing me. But this is a hobby for me, not my living. I wouldn't mind getting money from it to balance what goes in, but I do it for the love of it.

[jbenedict]

If you mean the amounts that I use for processing:

I used to use a tube tank big enough to hold two sheets of 8x10 and two gallons of fluid. I would need the entire two gallons when doing high dilution compensating developing. After developing, I would dump the developer out, remove the film and finish it off in 11x14 trays for the stop and fix. I think I used about a gallon in the trays. That was a lot of fluid to flop around so I went to a smaller tube which i used for one sheet at a time. It was a tube made of 4" PVC with window screen material lining the inside. I used rubber caps on the ends.

I also have 3.5 gallon rubber tanks which can hold 10 sheets of 8x10 in hangers and quite a few 5x7 or 4x5 sheets in hangers. Never used them in a smaller size. If I was running a commercial lab where I would process upwards of 50 sheets of 8x10 daily, I would consider using these tanks and replenishing the chemicals. For the amount of film I process, that is severe overkill.


If you are talking about the amount of money I spend on chemicals including developer, I don't really think about it. Chemicals are cheap. Time is expensive. Don't lose your investment in time by cheeping out on chemicals.


Photographers who need to follow strict budgets in order to make a sufficient amount of profit are shooting digital.