4X5 Development

[crowgraphy]

Hi,

Can anyone please suggest some good books or links for learning 4X5 Film development at home? I have recently bought HP Combi Plan kit for development but need to learn the process.


Thanks
Girish Sharma

[Guenther]

Hi,
you can find a lot of videos about developing in you tube.

regards
Guenther

[crowgraphy]

I could not find the proper information on youtube. For example time of processing each chemical etc.


Thanks

[Jesse1973]

What chemicals are you wishing to use?

[David de Gruyl]

if you know how to develop film in an inversion tank, you know how to do it in the HP Combi Plan (with a couple of caveats).

For developing times: http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php (That only covers the developer / film combination. 4x5 film is "sheet film"). Remember that all times are just general reference, and are meant to be adjusted to your workflow (specifically how you process the film and how you shoot it).

Stop / Fixer / Hypoclear / Wash / Photoflo etc times are subject to some debate.

Stop bath can be replaced with water, and I use 1 minute of water with continuous agitation.

Fixer should be used for twice the clearing time. This can be determined by this method: http://rogerandfrances.com/subscription/fixer%20exhaustion.html Or you could wing it based on manufacturer's recommendations. For unused rapid fixer and non t-max films, that is usually around 4-5 minutes.

I use 2 minutes of Hypoclear and 30 minutes (running water) wash, followed by a dunk in distilled water + a couple of drops of photoflo. I am given to understand that this is wasteful of washing water, but it seems to work well for me.

Caveats specifically for the HP Combi-Plan
1. Read the instructions
2. Follow the instructions
3. Make sure you take the time for pouring in and out into consideration if you have a very active developer.
4. Make sure you close the vent before inverting the tank, and open it before attempting to pour in or out.

[crowgraphy]

What chemicals are you wishing to use?
I have ILFORD Developer and Fixer.

[crowgraphy]

if you know how to develop film in an inversion tank, you know how to do it in the HP Combi Plan (with a couple of caveats).

For developing times: http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php (That only covers the developer / film combination. 4x5 film is "sheet film"). Remember that all times are just general reference, and are meant to be adjusted to your workflow (specifically how you process the film and how you shoot it).

Stop / Fixer / Hypoclear / Wash / Photoflo etc times are subject to some debate.

Stop bath can be replaced with water, and I use 1 minute of water with continuous agitation.

Fixer should be used for twice the clearing time. This can be determined by this method: http://rogerandfrances.com/subscription/fixer%20exhaustion.html Or you could wing it based on manufacturer's recommendations. For unused rapid fixer and non t-max films, that is usually around 4-5 minutes.

I use 2 minutes of Hypoclear and 30 minutes (running water) wash, followed by a dunk in distilled water + a couple of drops of photoflo. I am given to understand that this is wasteful of washing water, but it seems to work well for me.

Caveats specifically for the HP Combi-Plan
1. Read the instructions
2. Follow the instructions
3. Make sure you take the time for pouring in and out into consideration if you have a very active developer.
4. Make sure you close the vent before inverting the tank, and open it before attempting to pour in or out.

Thanks David for the detailed response. As I will be doing it for the very first time, I was looking for step by step kind if tutorials for developing 4X5 Film (specially in HP Combi Plan)

[Tim k]

I could not find the proper information on youtube. For example time of processing each chemical etc.


Thanks

Ilford will have times and mixing instructions on their website.

[Peter Latner]

Combi tanks are great. Their biggest drawback is the tiny funnels, which make pouring in chemicals a very lengthy process. Everyone I know who's used those tanks successfully sets up a line of 3 or 4 of them: Water for pre-soak (if you like to use it), developer, stop, fix. You have to keep the lights off much of the time, since you're lifting the rack of film from one tank to the next, i.e., with the tank lids off.

But when I put the rack into the developer, I quickly snap on the lid, then agitate the tank similarly to roll-film tanks. Once the film's in the stop bath, I just jiggle the rack with the lid off; same with the fix.

The Combi system looks really daunting because of all those small parts. But once you know how to put it together, it's surprisingly simple. As to whether you want to use the orange plastic film-loading 'guides,' that's a matter of choice. I think it's less trouble to not bother with them.

Just be sure to put it together so the clear sidewalls are set up for film rather than glass plates. (The film side has curved grooves; the glass plate side has, obviously, straight grooves.)

And be gentle with the small orange piece that snaps onto the top to hold the sheets of film in place. First, it's easy to attach it so there's not enough space between the sheets, i.e., if you're not careful it can bunch up the sheets at the top. Second, it's the most fragile part of the system, and can break easily. (I think B&H sells replacement pieces, although I've heard that the Combi people will often send replacements for no charge.)

Take some practice sheets and do a run-through or two. It's worth the learning curve. If it wasn't for the Combi tanks, I'd never use 4X5--they're great for even development.

[David de Gruyl]

Ilford has some useful information on their website. Particularly: http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20114271219521241.pdf

Which is the source data for the Massive Dev Chart that I linked to earlier (for ilford film and chemistry).

Each of their films also has a technical datasheet (kodak has them too) such as: http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2010712125850702.pdf for FP4+, which includes processing times in various chemicals. On Page 5 of that document is instructions for processing, including inversion processing. The only specific differences for the HP Combi-Plan are how to load and how to fill the tank (or, as mentioned by Peter, transferring the rack from tank to tank).

I use the tank by filling and emptying, but I did film tests to determine the proper development. I get even development, but I don't deny that it would be easier to get with multiple tanks. One thing I do is make sure that I do quarter turns before each inversion, and invert slower than roll film (about 1 inversion cycle over two seconds). I also use D76 1+1 rather than stock. That is very similar to ID-1 1+1, by the way.

Honestly, I would make sure that I understand small tank processing (typically for roll film) before I tried to find a specific tutorial for this tank. It is much more difficult to describe than to work with.