8x10 developing

[terry_5379]

Hi
I am developing 8x10 HP5+ in a tray, the development is not as even as i had hoped for, i am using Tmax rs 1+9 - 600ml of dev in 10"x12" tray for 7.30 mins.
I would be grateful for any suggestions to improve uneven developement problem.
Thanks terry.

[tim atherton]

I really like HP5 in 8x10, but I've always found it more susceptable than other films to uneven development for some reason.

Apart from any possible problems with your "tray technique" try Ilford DD-X instead and see if that helps (1:4 or 1:9)

[clemenstriest]

If you develop one sheet in the tray at once only: try n o t to move the tray, but the sheet in the tray only (for instance, take the sheet out and on the other edge in or so). With this trick I do not have any problems

[Kevin M Bourque]

I know this doesn't address your immediate question, but if you can find a deal on a JOBO expert drum, they do a fabulous job. You don't even need the motor base. I spun one by hand on a homemeade roller. Tedious, but I got better negatives than I ever got in a tray.

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

Terry.
Good advice already given. To me your method of developing a sheet of ten by eight in a tray with only 600mm of developer is fraught with many dangers. It will be much easier and lead to consistent results if you used a tube that can be made from suitable plastic with sealed ends.
You will still get economy of developer by using the Tmax RS developer working solution 1:1 about a litre, which will give an average temp/time of 10 mins. I just does not pay to be mean on the volume of developer. Good luck

[Andrew O'Neill]

Stick with trays if you want sharp negatives. Working with trays allows you to play around with agitation. Also, I don't recommend Tmax rs developer with HP5+ 8x10 or 4x5 for that matter. D76 1+1, Xtol 1+1, DD-X, and Pyrocat-HD work very well with this film. I've used 500ml in an 8x10 tray with no problems at all.

[Daniel Grenier]

Try brush-processing your neg when you develop.

I use a 10x12 tray with500ml Pyrocat HD 2:2:100. With a 5m water pre-soak, one sheet of 8x10 HP5 goes in at a time in the dev emulsion side up. With an Artist`s soft 2in brush, I simply "paint" the negative in an up and down manner, slowly and without much pressure. Do this for the entire processing time. Stop and fix as usual. Throw the dev out after one neg. This is more time consuming as you can only do one neg at a time but will eliminate your unevenness issues and give you clear skies when what you shot is clear skies.

Try it and see if this works for you.

[robert_4927]

brush developing is just great. try it.. you'll eliminate your problems...fantastic negs and scratch free efke pl100

[Brian Ellis]

You can buy Unicolor or Beseler 8x10 or 11x14 paper drums very inexpensively on ebay, about $15 each. The 11x14 drums will allow you to process two sheets of 8x10 film at a time. If you don't want to rotate by hand you can also buy the motorized rollers inexpensively. There's an article on this site about using these drums for 8x10 film processing, you might want to check it out. If you go this route be sure to get the paper drums, not the film drums. The film drums were designed to take reels. But I suspect your uneven development problem would be cured if you did as others have suggested, use a larger tray and more developer.

[julian_4860]

If using brush development, do you need to adjust developing time?

[Ken Lee]

I recommend Development By Inspection, and the use of an IR viewing device makes this effortless.

The other day, while developing 8 sheets of 8x10, I noticed that there was something wrong with the developer: after the required time had passed, they were still barely done. The stock solution was past its shelf life. Oops !

I just added some more stock solution to the soup, right then and there, and continued to develop the negatives until they were done. No big deal. It took around 5-8 minutes, but to tell the truth, I didn't care how long it took. I just just kept going until they were done. Some came out before the others, but that's normal...or N-1 ;-)

Had I merely developed the negatives in the dark (or in tubes) strictly "by the numbers", all the images would have been lost.

[robert_4927]

Julian, I used the rotary development times as a starting point. You can adjust from there. Just be consistent with what ever you do... prewash time, temp, fresh developer, fix, stop, ect...ect... just be consistent. Brush development works beautifully.

[julian_4860]

Thanks Robert. I've got an 11x14 to play with this weekend, and I've never tried brush development so I'd like to try it

[Brian Ellis]

Ken - What sort of "IR viewing device" do you use? In my extremely limited experience with developing by inspection we used a green light and I thought that was the standard procedure. I've never heard of using an infrared light though I'm certainly no expert.

[Brian C. Miller]

IR device: infrared goggles (http://salestores1.com/niowlno3nivi1.html), widely available. Just do a Froogle search, you'll come up with lots of stores.

[Ken Lee]

Brian -



Here is a link to a recent thread: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/501853.html (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/501853.html" target="blank)



The thread contains a link to an even more extensive discussion, on the Azo Forum.

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks Ken, that's very interesting and a new one to me. Live and learn.