Film Testing for ULF?

[Hugo Zhang]

Hi,

I am using Kodak Aerographic Plus-X film for my 10x20 camera. I have exposed and developed a few negatives and have not printed them yet. The developer is Pyrocat HD. I rated one sheet at 80 and others at 32.

Somehow, the negatives came out quite different from JandC 100 I normally use for my 8x10. Low contrast and quite dark overall. I don't think I got the speed right. Richard Ritter has a film speed test service and I called him up and he said he would read the speed for my film if I develop it NOT in a Pyro developer and suggested that I expose my normal film and this new film at zone one and develop them and go from there.

I am kind of in a loss what to do next. Don't want to spend too much time and effort on this thing. But maybe I have to.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[sanking]

Hi,

I am using Kodak Aerographic Plus-X film for my 10x20 camera. I have exposed and developed a few negatives and have not printed them yet. The developer is Pyrocat HD. I rated one sheet at 80 and others at 32.

Somehow, the negatives came out quite different from JandC 100 I normally use for my 8x10. Low contrast and quite dark overall. I don't think I got the speed right. Richard Ritter has a film speed test service and I called him up and he said he would read the speed for my film if I develop it NOT in a Pyro developer and suggested that I expose my normal film and this new film at zone one and develop them and go from there.

I am kind of in a loss what to do next. Don't want to spend too much time and effort on this thing. But maybe I have to.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

How old is this film? Sounds to me like it may have a lot of fog.

Do you have a non-staining developer available? If so, do the same test and compare the clear areas of the film to your JandC 100 negatives.

If the film has a lot of fog you may be able to cut it some by adding 2-5ml of a 1%
Benzotriazole solution. But you will have to adjust speed.

Sandy

[Hugo Zhang]

Sandy,

I don't know how old the film is. I bought 5 rolls from mrfoto1. One thing I noticed the exposed and undeveloped negative is milk white like a color negative.

For the last 6 years I have been using Pyro. Maybe I will have to find some D-76 to develop the next negative and send it to Richard for a speed reading.

Thanks.

[sanking]

Sandy,

I don't know how old the film is. I bought 5 rolls from mrfoto1. One thing I noticed the exposed and undeveloped negative is milk white like a color negative.

For the last 6 years I have been using Pyro. Maybe I will have to find some D-76 to develop the next negative and send it to Richard for a speed reading.

Thanks.

Hugo,

The fact that the negatives came out dak and low in contrast strongly suggests to me a lot of fog. Film ages and as it does it develops fog. Storage frozen helps but does not completely stop the process. For example, Super-XX film, stored frozen since about 1990, around when it was last manufactured, generally has a B+F of around log .60, so when you add shadow density the actual printing density is around .080 or more.

I would certainly recommend a non-staining developer for any film that has a high B+F. Since stain density is proportional to silver density a B+F of .80 with a non-staining developer could go be 1.20 or higher with a staining developer, which means another whole stop of printing time. You could use D76 or Xtol of course, but a good very inexpensive soup for LF film is Pat Gainer's PC-TEA or PC-Glycol, which use just a bit of ascorbic acid and phenidione in a very stable TEA or glycol base.

In any event, a film that has developed a lot of fog can not be developed to as high an approximate CI as would be possible with the same film when fresh. Depending on the exact amount of fog, and the process you use, this may or or may not be a consideration in the present case.


Sandy

[Hugo Zhang]

Sandy,

I am interested in ordering some PC-TEA developer. I have checked the websites of two stores I normally use and found so such film developer. Can you point me to a place to place my order?

Thanks.

Hugo

[sanking]

Sandy,

I am interested in ordering some PC-TEA developer. I have checked the websites of two stores I normally use and found so such film developer. Can you point me to a place to place my order?

Thanks.

Hugo

Hugo,

PC-TEA is a formula created a couple of years ago by Pat Gainer and so far as I know it is not available commerically. However, if you do a search on APUG you will find lots of threads about it. The following mixing instructions were given by Gainer.

PC-TEA:
triethanolamine, 99%: 100ml
ascorbic acid: 9g
phenidone: 0.25g

Add the ascorbic acid to the TEA and slowly warm it up while stirring. It wil dissolve by the time the temperature of the solution reaches about 125F. Then add the phenidone and stir until dissolved.

The working solution is prepard by mixing the stock 1+50 to 1+100 with water.

Stock solutions mixed in TEA are very viscous and some people find this inconvenient. If you do, you can mix a Stock A solution of ascorbic acid and phenidione in glycol, and prepare a separate Stock B solution of 30% sodium metaborate. You mix 1+1+50 or 1+1+100 for use. I prefer this alternative, which is called PC-Glycol.

Either way you have a very inexpensive formula.
You can find a lot more information about these formulas in threads on APUG. A quart of this stuff should cost less than 10% what you would pay for a commercial formula, and will last for years, like HC-110.

Both PC-TEA and PC-Glycol are non-staining developers.

Sandy