To the OP
you mention having a red safelight, you may already know this, however in case you don't red safelights are used with black and white enlarging papers (which are not sensitive to red light) however they are not used for handling modern film.
Yes. I use it to load/unload the dry plates. Will also use it when processing dry plates.Originally Posted by Ted R
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
B&W is a piece of cake - I think I did my first B&W developing when I was around 4 years old (almost 75 years ago) because my father used to develop and print and I got curious about it and started helping and pretty soon it was my job.
Color - well, it isn't really any harder but temperature control is critical - I use a Jobo but you might (MIGHT) get away with a large water bath. Did I say MIGHT??? Of course you might not get away with it either - commercial operations hold temperatures +/- 0.1 degree C (or 0.2 degree F.) Not controling temperatures can lead to strangeness in the color balance - if you don't do a lot of color I'd suggest you keep sending it out for now.
You might start with something basic like HC-110. The syrup keeps damned near forever. I used some the other day that had been sitting arounf 10 - 15 years or so. I like Ilford DDX but if you leave the stock solution sitting around too long after you open the bottle, it can fail. I wrte the date on the bottle when I open it, and adter 3 or 4 months I dump it.
I called up Freestyle earlier today and ordered: SP-445, small bottle HC-110, small bottle Photographer's Formulary t4, small bottle Photoflo, box of FP4 4x5. I called Freestyle partly because they had all this in stock and partly because I thought they'd have someone who could advise me. The person taking my call knew very little about film processing! Luckily I remembered the advice from above. Anyway, stuff should arrive the end of this week. No turning back now! I just need to find a thermometer and distilled water locally somewhere and I should be ready to go!
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
I picked my thermometer at a home brewers supply store. Distilled water at the grocery, 2-1/2 gallons at a time. Dual purpose as my wife uses it in her CPAP.
I found a digital thermometer at Walmart for $8. It has two paragraphs of instructions! I'm eagerly awaiting all the stuff to show up this week. I've been watching Youtube videos on how to use it all. At first I was a little dismayed that they all seemed a little different, but that made me think it's actually hard to screw up. Looks like the tank holds 500ml so I just need to figure out how much HC110 to mix up, and also how much tf4. I'm also looking around junk stores for an amber gallon bottle or two. I could well have them already in my wife & I pharmacy collection.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
If your tank holds 500ml you mix up 500ml. It's not that complicated. Amber bottles aren't really necessary. You'll use the developer one shot and the fixer stores perfectly fine in any old glass or plastic bottle.
Makes sense. I'm keeping everything in a dark cabinet in a downstairs bathroom anyway.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
Stearman Press (manufacturer of SP-445 processing tank ) also makes various sizes of plate holders for j lane glass plates for its processing tank.
Yes, but I'm thinking of tray developing those. They are expensive, and generally I'm shooting something "special" with them, like portraits. Tray development under red light will allow me to stop the processing when the exposure looks at its peak, right?
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks