Divided Procat HD

[sanking]

If one were using BTZS style tubes for divided Pyrocat would it still be possible to use a small quantity of developer as usual (50ml for me) or would more be required to minimise problems. If I can continue to use a small quantity, that would make it an economical aproach for me. My best negatives over all, come from BTZS style tubes, but minimal agitation has worked well too. I will give it a try anyway.

David

Yes, I often develop sheet film myself in BTZS type tube with divided Pyrocat. You should have two caps for this, however. Cover the tube with one with the film in it, fill the other with developer. Presoak the film, then when you are ready to develop drain the tube and place it over the cap with the developer. When you are ready to develop just turn the tube over and immediately began agitation by moving the tube up and down and side to side. After a minute you can put the tubes in a water bath and bob them around as with standard BTZS technique.

Sandy

[pivot]

Weaker dilutions can be used but with any given film will result in less contrast. Of course, if you are developing to scan, which is the main reason this work flow is being promoted, less contrast does not make any difference, within reason. So a 1:20 dilution, or even weaker, may be used in place of 1:10. In fact, for some high contrast films, Efke 25, Rollei Pan 25, etc. a 1:15 or 1:20 dilution would be recommended as the standard since 1:10 might give too much contast.

The basic rule is that higher dilutions result in less contrast, but each film is different so there is no one magical dilution.

I have developed over a hundred sheets of 5X7 film and at least two hundred rolls of 120 film with divided Pyrocat-HD and have not seen any mottling or streaking once I got the technique down. I develop 5X7" film one sheet at a time in an 8X10 Beseler drum, on a motor base. The mechanism of development is such that the developer pretty much comes into contact with the film evenly and immediately. After development in Solution A, drain for 15 seconds, then begin Solution B. The basic procedure is.

Step One -- Five minute presoak in plain water. My water source if quite pure and I don't use distilled.
Step Two -- Five minutes in Solution A, then drain for 15 seconds.
Step Three -- Five minutes in Solution B, then drain for 15 seconds.
Step Four -- Wash for twenty minutes with distilled water.
Note that with rotary agitation I use a weaker dilution than with intermittent agitation, so instead of 1:10 which would be my standard for development of Acros in tanks on spiral reels with intermittent agitation I use 1:20.

With 120 film my procedure is as follows. Note again that the film comes into contact with both Solution A and Solution B immediately and completely.
Step One -- Five minute presoak.
Step Two -- Five minutes in Solution A. Drop the reels with the film loaded into the tank which has been filled in advance. Agitate vigorously for one full minute, then agitate vigorously for fifteen seconds every minute thereafter. Remove reels and drain.
Step Three -- Drop the film into a tank containing Solution B. Agitate vigorously for one full minute, then agitate vigorously for fifteen seconds every minute thereafter. Remove reels and drain.
Step Four -- Wash film for twenty minutes.

Please note that I have never advocated shuffle agitation with sheet film, or any other type of development that does not allow for the film to be immersed completely and all at once in the solutions.

Sandy King

Thank you for sharing your technique.
As I read elsewhere an alkaline stop bath instead of washing the film for 20 minutes should be fine as well. However, I am not certain about the concentration. Is a 1% stop bath ok?

Regards
Stephan

[sanking]

Thank you for sharing your technique.
As I read elsewhere an alkaline stop bath instead of washing the film for 20 minutes should be fine as well. However, I am not certain about the concentration. Is a 1% stop bath ok?

Regards
Stephan

Film washes clean very quickly without any clearing agent. You only need about 10-15 changes of water for archival washing of film. I just wash for 15-20 minutes and don't bother with a clearing agent.

Sandy King

[pivot]

Film washes clean very quickly without any clearing agent. You only need about 10-15 changes of water for archival washing of film. I just wash for 15-20 minutes and don't bother with a clearing agent.

Sandy King

Perhaps I am missing something here... but don't you fix your film? Or are you talking about washing the film before and after putting the film into the fixer?

Stephan

[Andrew O'Neill]

Drop the film in the fix right after stop bath. No rinse before fix is necessary. If you are planning on using HCA before the wash, you should give the film a good rinse. Like Sandy, it's not necessary to use a HCA for film as the emulsion is on a pervious substrate and washes quickly. I only use it for paper.

[sanking]

Perhaps I am missing something here... but don't you fix your film? Or are you talking about washing the film before and after putting the film into the fixer?

Stephan

I must have misunderstood your question as I thought you were talking about washing the film in a clearing bath after fixing. So I was just remarking that a clearing bath is not really necessary with film.

Sandy

[Jay Decker]

I too get blotches in about 1 sheet in 5. I am processing with Jobo CPP and a Jobo 3005 drum. One solution that I have considered is keeping the Solution A dilution at 1:10 and changing the Solution B dilution to 1:20, which is more dilute than the 1:10 dilution I have been using.

Do you think this might have some merit?

If so, do think that increasing the Solution B processing time will be necessary?

[walterb]

Sandy
Another test with my divided pyro. Changed the dilution to 1:20 both A & B 600 ml ea
added 2ml of Kodak photo flo to the A. Developed both negatives at the same time 5 min ea., 1 min distilled water stop, 5 min tf4 fixer, 20 minutes wash distilled water.

I loaded one negative with the emulsion side to the outside on the JOBO reel, the other one was loaded correctly with the emulsion to the inside. The one loaded incorrectly shows streaking, the one loaded correctly show no blotches or streaking. I know it is only one negative but it appears that the photo flo has corrected the problem. This is the first time for me at least with no blotches.

Walter

[Ken Lee]

Walter: Congratulations and thanks ! Your patience and persistence are helping us all.

Sandy: What does the wetting agent do, if it is applied in solution A ? Does it promote absorption of solution A into the film emulsion ?

If that is the case, would a longer pre-soak accomplish the same thing ?

Given that films have dyes which are removed in pre-soak, would it be helpful to perform more than one pre-soak, or to perform pre-soak with a large volume of water ?

What is the difference between a wetting agent (which breaks up surface tension in water), and something that changes the pH of the water ?

Walter - Are you sure the streaking in the first photo, isn't really a rare 'double twister" in the sky ? Also, could you share with us the Zone values for your photo ? I'm very interested in how things play out doing landscape photography. Did you use a filter for separation in the clouds ?

[sanking]

Sandy
Another test with my divided pyro. Changed the dilution to 1:20 both A & B 600 ml ea
added 2ml of Kodak photo flo to the A. Developed both negatives at the same time 5 min ea., 1 min distilled water stop, 5 min tf4 fixer, 20 minutes wash distilled water.

I loaded one negative with the emulsion side to the outside on the JOBO reel, the other one was loaded correctly with the emulsion to the inside. The one loaded incorrectly shows streaking, the one loaded correctly show no blotches or streaking. I know it is only one negative but it appears that the photo flo has corrected the problem. This is the first time for me at least with no blotches.

Walter

Walter,

That is great to hear. We will need to test this more but from here it appears that the wetting agent did its job.

Sandy