I develop in trays. I abandoned tanks and hangers because of uneven development and when I learned that if I shuffled carefully I would seldom scratch a negative. Now I will only shuffle four to six 4X5s at a time and do only single sheets of 8X10. I recently bought a "Slosher" for 8X10 and intend to buy one for 4x5, but have not tried it yet. When I develop a stack of films, I conditition them first in a water bath and bring over the whole stack to the developer tray. I reverse the top sheet so I can feel by the notches when it is back on top again. When I pre-soak, I add thirty seconds to the development time. Single sheets I just push down into the developer emulsion side up. I shuffle and agitate stacks slowly but continuously and single sheets for the first thirty seconds and then five seconds every thirty seconds thereafter.
With HC110B (1:31) at 68* and TXP or HP5+, my time for a normal negative is 5:00 when film is rated at 100, and 7:30 when film is rated at 400. I expand and contract by varying HC110 dilution and keep all else constant. I adjust film speeds up and down for the N+ and N- negatives. I determined those speeds expermentally with careful testing. I found that when I dilute, I have to use at least 1/2 oz. of concentrate for each 8X10 sheet or four 4X5s.
In the 1980s, When I produced many overly dense negatives using long exposures using Kodak recommended receprocity failure corrections, I did my own tests and found no failure out thirty seconds. Of course your development times and film speeds may well be different than mine, so it is best to do your own tests.
I start with a test for the Dmax developing time with fully exposed sheets in room light, pulling a sheet out from the stack and into the stop bath every thirty seconds for the four minutes around the suspected developing time. When I have the time for a good Dmax, (This will depend on your printing method, enlarger type, and your personal taste) I will do a film speed test strip in the camera by pulling the slide a half inch at a time of the white side of the house in full sun. I make a "proper proof" of that negative and pick off the best Zone VIII rendering. When I took the photojournalism course at Boston University in the 1970s, a good Dmax for a 35mm negative to be printed on grade 3 paper in a condenser enlarger would just allow a viewer in bright light to read newpaper type through a negative pressed upon the paper. Today, I prefer much more Dmax density, at least two stops, for diffusion printing on grade 2 paper.
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Originally Posted by Sal Santamaura
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