Poll: Development Method

[Ole Tjugen]

There's one absolutely right way for each person here, it seems.

I must have forgotten to mention...

I also do tanks and inversion, tanks and stand development; trays and "shuffling", trays and stand development, trays and "soaking" (two-bath developing), and trays with inspection.

There are different goals and reasons for all these methods, and I often use rather unfamiliar films - how do you develop a 50 years old Perutz Perortho glass plate for POP printing? My answer to that is a staining developer, KBr at the ready, and develop by inspection. Much of the time I have no idea what the final developer is, nor how much of the "additives" I've added.

The other extreme is when I have several different films, all with a single notch, exposed under very different circumstances. 90 minutes stand development in FX-2 makes printable negatives from just about anything!

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Jobo CPP2 with expert drums for 8x10, brush development for 12x20

[Aggie]

I think I've tried every conceivable method for 4x5. The one I was most impressed with lately was the method I was taught by Cristina Kahlo. Her great grandfather Guerillmo Kahlo (Frida's father) used some tricks with a yankee 12 sheet tank. I got the best results using this method. I'm hooked. Daylight, 12 sheets, and no problems. But when I'm home here and not on the road, I use my jobo 2500 series to do 18 sheets at a time. I have two of those tanks and 6 reels so I can do 36 sheets back to back rather quickly. If I feel overwhelmed with lots to develop, I take part of it to my partners house and let him run it through his alt 3000 with his expert drums while I do some at home. He use to own a custom lab in Irvine California.

[John Bartley]

Home made ABS BTZ type tubes for both 4x5 and 8x10.

[Matt Miller]

I shuffle negs in a tray and develop by inspection with a night vision monocular.

[Philippe Gauthier]

Unicolor roller with Beseler tubes. I was easy enough to pick this kit for 5 dollars some years ago.

[Per Madsen]

HP Combiplan with presoak and Rodinal 1 + 100.

[Bill_1856]

Standard Tray deveopment seems the winner so far, but it would be more instructive to ask whether its TAT, "time and temperature," or DBI, "Development by inspection."

[Don Wallace]

4x5 - Jobo CPE-2
5x7 and 8x10 - Jobo Expert Drum, hand-rolled on Jobo base

[rfesk]

Unidrum method for 4X5 and 5X7. Would like to try semi-stand but with what?