Kodak HC-110 film developing question.

[zoom2zoom]

i tried to develop my first B&W tri-X 400 today and it came out underdeveloped..


i am using kodak HC-110 developer.. what working dilution should i be using A, B, C, D, E, F?

and how long do i need to develop for?

thanks in advanced for the clarafication.

[Bruce Barlow]

For Tri-X, start with Dilution B for, oh, six minutes. That should get you in the ballpark, then you can adjust as needed. Friend Richard Ritter makes pictures of his white clapboard house, proofs them, and based on whether the white claps in sun are gray, overly-white, or just right either lengthens, shortens, or keeps his development time. Figger a 30 second adjustment to try, then you can split the difference if need be. +/- 15 seconds is close enough for photography. If you go under five minutes (unlikely) go to a more dilute strength.

BTW, there are some simple tests for calibrating film and developers. Try the View Camera web site free articles.

Good luck!

[Anupam]

I do dilution B for 6mins with rollfilm. It might be a starting point with sheet film in trays but testing on your own (even if it is a simple visual - is the white white enough test) is the best way.

[Turner Reich]

Did you under expose them?

[j.e.simmons]

Is it really Tri-X 400 that you have? Is it roll film? If it is sheet film, it's Tri-X 320 and a lot of folks shoot it at 200 or so. I haven't tested the 400, so I don't know if it should be rated lower, too. Otherwise, I agree that about six minutes (dilution B) should be close for development.
juan

[Michael Graves]

As John said, Tri-X sheet film is rated at 320. You really need to do your own development tests to arrive at a personalized time. I like to work in metric, and I came up with a dilution unlike anything Kodak published. I dilute the syrup 1/50 (10ml of syrup to make 500ml of working solution). My time on a Jobo for 5x7 Tri-X was 11 minutes at 68 degrees.

[Laurent]

I'm using dilution B for 7 minutes at 20°C in a Combiplan, to get nice results.

[Alan Curtis]

If you can maintain a 68 degree developer, B should work well. I live in Florida and we have 68 degree water about once a year. I use a Zone VI compensating development timer and found that with dilution B my normal and N+ were fine, but my N-1 and N-2 were variable. Too short time in the developer, real time, so I went to a higher dilution of HC-110 and the N-1 and N-2 were fine, the N, N+1 and N+2 just took longer to develop . This is with Tri-X 4x5 320 adjusted to ASA 160.