Stand and semi-stand development...is there a primer?

[Kimberly Anderson]

Looking around I haven't really seen any kind of an 'archive' that discusses stand and semi-stand development.

I am wondering what developers people seem to gravitate towards, times, dilutions, techniques, equipment, etc...

I've got a slew of hard-rubber tanks of various sizes and a wide variety of sizes of film hangars from 8x10 to 2x3.

I can also mix any developer from scratch, so relying on what I've got on hand is not an issue.

I will say I am prone to using Pyro PMK in my JOBO and I shoot a lot of HP5+.

Kind of wondering what I should expect from stand development. I've done some reading and am seeing what to expect 'in theory' and yes, I do understand the limitations of personal EI + scanning a negative or a print + the limitations of showing a .jpg online + personal preferences, etc...

Looking for any and all input honestly. I am considering doing the majority of my processing with hangars and tanks and slowly phasing out the JOBO. I do shoot an awful lot of 4x10 though, so I think I will need to continue to use the expert drum to process those. I do not know of any 4x10 film hangars. I do have some 4-up 4x5 development hangars...maybe I can modify them to process 4x10...that is another thread though I think.

Anyway, thanks for your comments in advance. I'm very interested in real world experience to see what you all have done.

Adding some links while I can:

Melka Martinez

J B Hildebrand

Matthew Osborne

Jason Watts

Daniel Hewes

[Max Hao]

Michael,

I have been processing 8x10 Fomopan film in Obsidian Aqua (1:750) semi-stand. I stir for the first 1.5 minutes, then let it sit for 30 minutes, and stir for 30 seconds. After another 30 minutes, I stop the processing with water, then fix in TF-3 for 4 minutes. I also get very good results using Rodinal 1:100 with the same method.
BTW, I use an orbital tray and at least 350ml working solution to get the film fully submerged. Hope this helps.

Max

[Monty McCutchen]

Search Steve Sherman's posts. He is the master of Semi-Stand as well as Sandy.

best,

Monty

[Bob Mann]

It is fairly easy to shorten an 8x10 hanger to take 4x10 film. I cut the sides shorter and used epoxy to reattach the bottom rail, not pretty but they work OK.

[Kimberly Anderson]

Thanks for the idea Bob. I'll try one and see how it works. I think I have about 40 8x10 hangars...

It is fairly easy to shorten an 8x10 hanger to take 4x10 film. I cut the sides shorter and used epoxy to reattach the bottom rail, not pretty but they work OK.

[jbenedict]

When I have used stand or compensating development, I used HC-110, diluted 1:60 from stock. I don't use the 'syringe and syrup" method. With such dilute developer, a lot of developer needs to be present, 25ml of stock for each 8x10 sheet or its equivalent. (56ml stock = 3360 ml water for 8x10) I have used a piece of 4" PVC tube, 14.5" long with caps on both ends. Inside the tube, I glued window screen material (plastic) to allow chemicals to flow behind the film. I used RTV caulk around the ends of the tube to glue it and used a long screwdriver to spread the caulk inside on the seam of the window screen. Plumbing stores have the caps for the ends in with all of the other fittings. The PVC caps are tight but are relatively easy to loosen up with sandpaper if necessary. There are also rubber caps available in the plumbing section. I float it in a plastic washpan filled with tempered water. I have used this tube for all of my 8x10 work, not just compensating development. This tube will hold the 3416ml of developer needed and will keep the film immersed in developer when the tube is stood on end. That's a lot but you won't need that much stop or fix.

When developing with the tube, I rotate it so there is one revolution of the tube every 2 or 3 seconds, for both regular and compensating development. Agitation with normal times is constant. Agitation for compensating development is 30 sec. out of each 4 min. of the 26 min. used for processing. Temperature is 68F In the times between agitations, the tube must be motionless and upright. I have used a 5 gal. bucket with tempered water to stand the tube. Again, the large amount of developer present is necessary to keep the film immersed in developer during the time the tube is upright. Any corrections for reciprocity failure are applied at this time.

Regular procedures can be followed for the stop bath and fixing bath.

I use Tri-X 320 for this and, when I do, I rate it at ASA 40. YMMV depending on the film you use. For HP5+, these times/dilutions/ASA would be where I would start.

It works really well, I have gotten N-2 to N-4 with this method.


Jeff

[Michael Graves]

I like semi-stand personally. I use my Jobo 3010 for the purpose. I've had success with Rodinal, diluted 1:200 and with HC-100, diluted 1:400. Both developers are used by presoaking the film for 3 minutes, as close to developer temp as I can keep it. Then I pour in the developer--fill the drum all the way up. Agitate continously for 2 minutes (which I do on the Jobo) and then I let it stand for 30 minutes. Agitate for 2 minutes and stand for another 30 minutes. Agitate for 2 minutes, rinse and fix. I know this is somewhat different than the general recommendations, but it is what has worked for me. I haven't had major issues with streaking.

[Kimberly Anderson]

Michael, when you fill your 3010 drum all the way up, doesn't it weigh about 10lbs? I would be nervous to run my JOBO with a drum full of liquid. I'm sure you have some other tricks to do this, would you share them?

Also, is anyone using PMK for stand development?

[Andrew O'Neill]

I rarely use stand. For me, what it does to the negative is too aggressive. It's also risky and one should shoot a backup just incase. I prefer Semi-stand in Pyrocat-HD. Film usually gets an hour in the developer, with agitation occuring every 15 minutes for 5 seconds. I use BTZS tubes. 4x5 and 8x10. Another excellent developer for semi-stand is Obsidian Aqua.

[Steve Sherman]

When I have used stand or compensating development, I used HC-110, diluted 1:60 from stock. I don't use the 'syringe and syrup" method. With such dilute developer, a lot of developer needs to be present, 25ml of stock for each 8x10 sheet or its equivalent. (56ml stock = 3360 ml water for 8x10)
It works really well, I have gotten N-2 to N-4 with this method.


Jeff

Greetings, I agree with the comment about an ample amount of developer solution needs be present with such a dilute ratio.

Having recently taught a Power of Pyro workshop those in the class can attest that the difference in negative acutance between Pyrocat HD and HC 110 is striking to put it mildly. Very quickly, the way that HC 110 permeates the emulsion silver migration begins and continues on throughout the entire time in solution, Silver migration degrades the acutance and softens the edge of the grain structure. Whereas Pyro based developers are topical in nature, Pyro hardens the gelatin layer preserving a tight grain pattern and does not allow the emulsion to swell and lose acutance. PyroCat is a Pyrocathchin based developer yielding extremely fine grain while Pyogallol (Weston's ABC formula) is derived from Pyrogallic acid. Pyrogallol is very fast acting, suffers from ariel oxidation rapidly and yields considerably larger grain structure. Pyrogallol (also PMK Pyro) yields a green stain good for UV process negatives whereas PyroCat yields a decidedly brown stain which enhances contrast with Multi Grade Silver Papers while still producing good results with UV type final process prints such as PT / PD or other alternative processes.

Here is a great link which came about 10 years ago when I first perfected the modern day Semi-Stand technique.
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/2...vie-photo.html