ULF growing pains

[Marco Annaratone]

Dear forum,

in my voyage through the unchartered territories of ULF I got stuck in a minor point :-) that prevents me from joining this fascinating community: how does one develop the bl***y negative????????

Those of you who develop ULF film regularly may not realize it but the information present in the forums and on the net is so confusing, so conflicting, so messy that a poor soul like me is almost giving up on the idea of going ULF. Alternatively, it is possible that I am simply dumb (which cannot be ruled out), but for some reason I prefer my first theory, i.e., that the info on the subject is really all over the places.

Brush development, dip 'n dunk, horizontal trays, drums (and where on earth do you buy a unicolor drum today? Try google: well, have fun. Jobo ULF equipment is no longer with us, well maybe on Ebay, etc etc) People told me that they use print drums for their ULF film, others told me that they tried, it just does not work, no way. Huh!? Are ultra dilutions a way to avoid streaks/bands in large homogeneous areas of the negative, e.g., in the sky? When does banding occur, really? With dip 'n dunk development? With horizontal tray development? With drums? All the time?

After several months of chatting and surfing I am completely lost. Seriously, before putting down much dough I have to make sure I understand what is required in the development process, because I need to check if I have the infrastructure necessary (read: space, a darkroom, and then space again). For instance, if the answer is "horizontal trays are the thing" I may have to give up on the idea of going ULF because I do not have the necessary space. (I said "I may", ok ?)

End of ranting. Now, can some kind ULF-er provide me with the practical description of *one* method ---I do not care which one --- to develop a ULF negative from start to end. I do not mean the specific soups, I mean the operational aspects of handling and developing the film. And I mean including where to find the equipment, but without going through "... and if you look on EBay, in the next 12 months equipment XYZ will show up ..." or "...and then you can use woodworking tools to manufacture the contraption so-and-so..."?

I am not after instant gratification, mind you, but I am very interested in photography and shooting ULF and much MUCH less in routers and table saws, checking ebay every week, building custom contraptions, and so on. Am I asking too much?

My apologies if this mail vents frustration but ... well, I am frustrated.

Thanks for your help, as usual.

[Henry Ambrose]

What size is the film you want to develop?

[David A. Goldfarb]

I shuffle in trays. It works with any size, and you probably have them on hand. If you're planning to contact print, you'll need trays of the same size anyway, and you can use them for both prints and negs.

[John Kasaian]

For really big trays you could use the black plastic tubs used for mixing grout. These vary in size up to kiddie pool size. Of course you'll need counter space---which you'll need anyway for printng. Another option is to use a Unicolor processor with the 16x20 size print drum---$20 or so on eBay. FWIW I like the drum for souping negs and trays for prints. If you don't have room, you could use the Unicolor for both jobs, but I don't get much fun out of watching an image appear out of a drum!

[Michael Kadillak]

Piece of cake.

If you want to make your darkroom work a breeze with ULF (or any format for that matter) get a monocle night vision goggle so you can load holders easily, shuffle negatives in a tray for Development By Inspection (if you want to try this technique) to see what you are doing to prevent scratches or see what you are doing to insert sheet film in developing tubes with a minimum of hassle or frustration. Considering that ULF sheet film is expensive and a night vision monocle is only a bit over $200, it is money well spent and would nearly quailfy as in investment against unnecessary and unintentional errors. I load film holders, conduct DBI and put roll film on reels like a hot knife through a stick of cold butter. Second, I use a secondary infrared light source bounced off of a wall as opposed to the IR source on the goggle. I conducted some tests and one can induce a tiny bit of fogging if you are not careful. These instruments were not designed to produce 100% IR. Test this as you would a safe light in your darkroom.

Tray developing ULF I feel requires expertise in conducting this iteration AND the space to lay out some big trays.

If I were just getting into ULF I would advise that you start by getting 3" or 4" PVC pipe (7x17 or 8x20 with the three inch and 12x20 or 11x14 for the four inch) at the hardware store and glue a permanent cap on one end and use the second cap for opening and closing the tube and stand develop your negatives with either dilute Pyrocat HD or dilute Rodinal or any other developer that is effficient in high dilutions. A set of thin narrow trays for stop, fix and wash and you are set. There is a healthy dose of discussion on stand development on this forum and APUG for your review. Takes a minimum of darkroom space to develop sheet film in this manner and the edge effects associated with Stand Development are a plus. Take some sand paper and work down the outside edge of the tube to prevent scratching and cup the sheet film as you insert it in the tube. The materials are very inexpensive and you can put the whole set up together in an afternoon for a small price.

Many of us have been where you are in the frustration department so do not feel alone. Hang in there and you will be a ULF lifer.

Cheers!

[Brian Ellis]

"where on earth do you buy a unicolor drum today?"

Ebay

[Marco Annaratone]

Henry: 8x20 or 12x20.

David: I assume one sheet at a time and lots of developer and fixer. Do you replenish the developer?

John: can you point me to some literature on Unicolor equipment. I guess I need a Unicolor agitator, besides the drum, right? And probably some other accessories. Since I moved to Europe a few months ago, having one of these beasts shipped from the US (read: Ebay) costs a lot (and often the seller does not ship at all to here), that's why I was trying to understand if Unicolor stuff is still produced and if there is a European distributor. But literature on the subject seems to be really elusive (and Jobo is out of commission for ULF, I mean buying it new).

Michael: great! Quick questions: (1) I assume you do not use a mesh between the neg and the tube. What kind of material is this "mesh" anyway? (2) Once the neg is in the tube you pour the soup. No agitation or upside/down movement, you just leave it standing? (3) The "set of thin narrow trays" you refer to are filled of water and you put the tubes in for standard temperature control purposes. Do I get it right? (4) No issue re: fragility of the emulsion after long development time with diluted developer? How bad is it? (5) Diluted Rodinal means the standard range of 1:20 to 1:100 or much greater than this (say 1:200 or more)?

Come on guys, one more round of answers, be nice. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!

THANKS!!

[Marco Annaratone]

Michael,

one more thing. If the math served me well, to develop a 12x20 I need a PVC pipe with about 1.3 gallon of developer in it. That is about 10 pounds. Assuming a concentration of Rodinal 1:100 and a development time of say 10 minutes (just an example) I have to lift and shake upside-down these 10 pounds at least ten times.

Do I have to start going to the gym? I mean, carrying a 12x20 probably does require going to gym anyway :-) but I just want to make sure I am not missing something really silly here...

Thanks!

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

What formats are you shooting now?

[Marco Annaratone]

John,

I'm shooting 8x10 but color only. I develop B&W myself but only up to 4x5 (Efke and Across, and Maco IR with Xtol).

Cheers