Ok, so I started developing my 4x5's because the distance to a lab that would develop them is too big to go back and forth with 6 shots each time. And the price would drive me to sell the camera pretty quick.

At the moment I'm using Foma 400 because it is cheap and a fast film (given the season). As developer I got some Ilford LC29 and Kodak HC-110. Stop bath and fixer is Ilford as well. I also have a Jobo CPE2 with a 2509N so I can do 6 sheets at a time.

Now last time I got the camera out I took 2 shots each time and then developed 6 of them in LC29 and 6 (identical) in HC-110 dilution B. Stop and fix were identical.

If I look at it on a light table I don't see problems. But then I'm a complete noob at development. When I scan it, I have a very reduced greyscale range so I end up with a scan that is very darkish grey, with not much contrast (well at least much less then I can see on the lighttable). Now I can get an acceptable result when I set the black, grey and white points but I have a feeling that something is wrong that I shouldn't need this. Maybe also less sharpness. And I never see the grain as I do in some scans on the forum.

But being noob I geuss there are a lot of variables at play. So I'd like to get a bit more input for the following:

- temperatures. I put the Jobo at 20°C and I also have a thermometer in the bath at the position of the drum. Now if I look at development tables, then I see things like "8 minutes at 20°C" and "7'40" at 21°C". That is almost half a minute difference for a 1°C change in temperature. But if I look at the thermometer, then it is going up-down at least 2°C with the bath just sitting there (and the CPE2 set at 20°C). So I cannot imagin that when pouring in/out, and then the tank only partially in the water that the bath inside the tank isn't changing more than those 2°C. So how critical is this really?

- same with times. There is written 7 minutes, but between stopping the motor, taking the tank out and draining it there is at least 20 seconds. Same between pouring in, placing the tank and starting the motor. Makes more than 30 seconds easily. How critical is this timing? From what I remember from chemistry, reactions are proportional to concentrations and some constant (iirc depending on the specific reaction). On the other hand, diffusion into the gelatin is also part of the whole and that is slower. Will 10-20 seconds more or less matter?

- scanning. Now I understand that I will lose both definition and range of greyscale, but is it normal to lose about 1/4 to 1/2 of the greyscale after a scan? This is on an Epson V500 with the provided software and holder at 4800dpi.

- when I look at the developed photos with LC29 and those with HC-110 I fail to see a difference. Again, is this to be expected? Would any of these developers give more or less lattitude with time and/or temperature? I do not expect a developer to make a change in definition/detail, this being more the lens and the dummy doing the focusing. Or does it?

- would it make sense to change to a different film? Or should I persist (at least till better weather) with the Foma?