In drum or continuous agitation in trays, reduce developing times by 15 to 20 %, in the secondaries leave the times alone.
Lynn
In drum or continuous agitation in trays, reduce developing times by 15 to 20 %, in the secondaries leave the times alone.
Lynn
Although Lynn has more experience in this than I do, I wouldn't recommend going beyond a 15% reduction on your first try.Originally Posted by Lynn Jones
Normally processing B&W by the ol' hand immersion and more recently the dip-n-dunk methods, about 10 days ago I was confronted with the same question when I decided to rotary process some 4x5 Acros negatives. After consulting the Kodak site, Fuj Guide and digital truth, I decided to use the time as published by Fuji and digital truth with a 12.5% reduction (the mid-point of the Kodak recommendation). Here is the result:
The above is not a scan of the negative but a scan of the 8x10 print on Ilford WT RC Glossy paper. Besides choosing the exposure for the paper, the only manipulations used was to dodge the right and left arches to even the density in those location. Otherwise it is basically a straight print of the negative. That said, I plan to give a 15% reduction on the next batch to try and tweak it but wouldn't want to go any further than that with Acros.
Thomas
I process 8x10 b&w sheets all the time with a Unicolor reversing roller base and 11x14 print processing tubes for 2 8x10 sheets at a time. My biggest problem is the old drums leak and the lid gaskets get old. One drum I have does okay though. 8x10 print drums work okay for one sheet at a time but be sure the plastic rib that goes lengthwise inside is in place or else the sheet sticks to the inside surface. The drums are fairly easy to load in the dark. I've had about 95% success with the roller base and print drums. A water presoak helps with more even development.
Just over the weekend I had my first "mishap" with rotary development. I have been developing minus 15% of posted times, and have been doing well developing FP4+ in Ilfosol 3.
I have Unicolor drums that hold two 8x10 sheets at a time, and a uniroller base.
On Saturday, I developed in Clayton F76, and got slight over development and splashing on the sides of my film that were on the bottom of the tank (well, when the tank is oriented correctly horizontally).
Here is one of the shots (testing out my 14" CE lens)
Any thoughts? Maybe just a bad developer choice for rotary?
UGGGG...sticking
I've perfected drums---always use a pre-soak---the BEST pre-soak is to put the tank vertically and fill it with a tiny hose---like the kind that you buy at walgreens with the litte showerheads on them....fill to top and leave the water pressure get all the water in behind that film to get that backing coating dissolved---you can make your own aftermarket gaskets with hobby thin foam---these NEVER leak again--they are tight, but work well when you do it right...and have to be held in place with tape...do it 10 times and your an expert
most important is that pre-soak----if you dont' want to fill a tank with the LOTS of water it takes, then fill it on the roller with LOTS of water to ensure pressure gets the water UnDER the film---pre-soak water should be EXCESSIVE...for the 11x14 drums I use no less than 24 oz water for pre-soak---run for 5' and then rinse about 4x1' till all the color is gone...
then you can develop with minimal chemistry (12 oz in that size for me for 2 8x10s' or 1 11x14) and no headaches at all.....
for the smaller 8x10 drums I use 6 oz chemistry per sheet (you need that much to get over the "hump" in the middle of a an 8x10 sheet---and for pre-soak it's 12 oz....that seems to provide enough liquid depth in the bottom to force the water in back of all the nooks and crannies.
I was plagued with marks till I started PRESSURE pre-soaking----you can use a LOT of developer also to get back there, but that kind of defeats the purpose of tubes---to use less chemistry.
But, wouldn't the film sticking to the side just not allow you to wash all the anti-halation layer off? It should not affect development. Also, my overdevelopment is strictly on the opposite sides of the two negatives I developed, meaning that the cause has something to do with the developing process, or how I fed the developer into the tank - at least, I would think so.
And I know that my film wouldn't stick to the sides of the tank on the side of the negatives that have the problem; the are held up on that end in a similar way the 8x10 tanks have a 'hump' in the middle - there is, what is like, a V sitting inside another V to hold the film in place. A flat text model of this would look something like: _1_\_2_\/_2_/_1_ (numbered for convenience). the filmsheets fit into slots 2, meaning the outside V forming slots 1 bumps each negative out from the side of the tank.
I'll take another couple of shots soon, and test develop using my Ilfosol 3, to see if things go back to normal.
I've used this method for years on 8X10. With 8X10 I could do two sheets in a drum.
Now I've switched to 4X10 and use a smaller drum but have to do them one at a time. I think there are spacers which would allow me to stack two sheets but I don't have any.
I use Delta 100. I use ID-11 1:3 for 14 minutes. I use 500ml of chemisty. No pre-soak but it wouldn't hurt.
If the scene was very contrasty I use less time, more for flat lighting but usually 14 min. Haven't had any problems with this method recently.
-rob skeoch
the film sticks where it touches the edges if you don't get the back layer off--once the back layer is off, you're ok
the only way I've found to reliably get that layer off is to use water pressure (height of standing water in the tube) to wedge between the film and the drum --ESPECIALLY at the hump for 11x14!!!!!--that's a problem area--it presses on there and the back layer won't come off. once it comes out...rinse rinse rinse till the bubbles and smell are gone and you're ready to develop without fear of sticking marks.
Unless you use a LOT of developer--which will provide the pressure of it's own.
the problem really shows itself in some other drums with larger flat spots....and particularly for 11x14 and larger film---it takes a LONG time for the liquid to migrate behind the filmi...8x10 with like 10' development time you'll probably only have sporadic problems with the drum your using....but why take a chance? soak it and be sure EVERY time.
I just wanted to pipe up again with regards to my Clayton F-76 experience in rotary tanks:
I tried a second time to develop some negs in F-76 in rotary, and again I got inconsistent negatives, so I've given up on F-76 for rotary development. My experience with Ilfosol 3 has been nothing but good! I have not done any tests, or densitometer readings, but to the naked eye, there are none of the inconsistencies that I've found in the F-76, which is sign that it works better, at least to me.
My dev time with F-76 was something higher than 5 minutes, while my Ilfosol 3 times go form 3:36 for normal development, to 2:32 for attempting to compensate for overexposed highlights (I would call it N-1 development, but it's really me just under developing 30% after doing some rash "zone" readings). 3:36 is an adjusted time for rotary development, 15% shorter than the time listed on Digital Truth Massive Dev Chart.
Other than the developer, my technique has always been the same, including the pre wash, so it doesn't seem like my prewash is the problem.
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