There is a step by step description of my tray processing technique on the View Camera web site
www.viewcamera.com
go to Free Articles
steve simmons
There is a step by step description of my tray processing technique on the View Camera web site
www.viewcamera.com
go to Free Articles
steve simmons
The only time I develop film in trays is when I want to develop by inspection, and then I process one sheet at a time and use brush agitati0n. Slow and methodical, to be sure, but absolutely reliable. Never a scratch, never a sign of uneven development. I use a variety of other methods, depending on the circumstances, all of which I prefer to tray development. Good luck, and enjoy yourself, whatever method you choose.
Jay
learn brush development....you'll never scratch another negative.... just do a search on this site and it will give you all the details
Kevin:
Unicolor Processor---costs not much more than a set of trays and you don't have to stand around in the dark! Takes up less space, you don't have to stick your hands in the soup and uses less chemicals to boot. While it kind of limits the # of negs you can develop at one time, you can have a Guiness---and a second and a third---while developing your negs. Brilliant!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I use tray development with Efke and, after practice, have good luck. Certainly I'm not perfect and still get occasional scratches but it's now unusual. The cool thing about LF is that you can retouch the negative. One strange thing I find is that I scratch my 8X10 negs less often than 5X7. I think it's because I take the 5X7 size for granted and am a little sloppy with it whereas my 8X10s I have to be cautious.
I use the emulsion up method. Having the emulsion pointed down towards the bottom of the tray scares the bejesus out of me.
Cheers, James
I use a homemade slosher to develop my 4x5 negatives too. It works just fine. I can't see any reason it would not work for 5x7 negatives.
25 years, emulsion down, thousands of negs, one scratch. Read the process on the View Camera web site. I leanrned it from Jim Galvin and Morley Baer.
www.viewcamera.com
steve simmons
The trouble with the Slosher is that the 5x7 model requires 16x20 trays.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Infrared monocle - nitrile gloves and a slow methodical cycle from the bottom of the stack to the top and a gentle push down to get the sheet under the surface of the developer.
Being able to view the process like the lights were on in the room is a great asset both from being able to manage the sheets within the trays, but to also use development by inspection and process different films of the same format at various processing times greatly improves the efficiency of my darkroom time.
Find out what works for you and stay with it until a better process comes along.
Cheers!
I have been developing sheet film in trays for over twenty years, usually shuffling 6 to 10 sheets. When I started, I developed emulsion side up, in accordance with Kodak's recommendation. But scratches were a problem that didn't end until I started developing emulsion side down. That put an immediate end to the problem.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks