The other night I printed some test strips of three varieties of Grade 3 paper: Galerie, Bergger NB, and Bergger CB. (Previously I'd always used VC, mainly Ilford MG IV.) I developed them in Photographer's Formulary F130. The F130 started out at 68 F, but it's cold in my basement. It's been very cold for the past several weeks and hasn't broken 60 F in the darkroom even with the space heater running full blast. (Not a big heater.) As a result, the developer cools over time. I try to keep the temp relatively stable by sitting mason jars full of hot water in the trays. With the mason jars refilled every half hour or so, the developer temp varied between about 66 and 71 F. My observation: the exposure scale of the paper, i.e., the effective paper grade, appears to be strongly correlated with the developer temperature. Although I didn't note the temperature at each strip was developed, I remember when I refreshed the hot water in the mason jars and the ES tracks the refills very closely. NB: Dmax didn't change, just the effective paper grade - varied from hard #3 to mid #5.
My observations seem consistent with Adams' comments in "The Print" re: temperature effects, but I'm curious to hear about other people's experiences. Are swings of over one grade for a 5 deg temperature change consistent with your experience? Controlling the darkroom temp would be a challenge. Any favored methods for holding developer temp constant? (Something better than a fishtank heater?) Do I need to invest in a temp control value and sit my developer tray in a constant temperature bath or is there a quick and dirty solution which will accomplish the same result at a fraction of the cost?
Thanks, Chris
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