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Thread: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Aug 2019
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    8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    Hello,

    I'm going to develop my first 8x10 sheet film in tray soon...

    I know more or less the complete process but still have 2 non answered questions...

    1. For my 24x36, 6x6, 4x5 (With the SP-445) I use in ligtroom the app "Massive DevChart" and it works great..But for the 8x10 I will have to be in the complete "Darkroom" during the whole process so I can't use this app as the light from the app could influence the development...

    So what is the best method to know when to start....when to agitate...when to stop ?

    2. I will develop 8x10 sheet one by one so concerning the washing how does it works ? Do I need a tray with fresh water only and leave the sheet for x minutes in it or do I need to replace the waters x times like for the others format ?

    Thank in advance for your help and sorry if those questions looks stupid but I start from zero for the 8x10 process.

    Dom

  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    1. Buy a use, or new, darkroom timer. Used ones are dirt cheap. Even an old alarm clock will do. Many people use the timers in their watch or telephone.
    2. Wash in the same manner you have been washing other film. If more thanone sheet at a time they need to be rotated from bottom to top every minute or so. A good method is to fill the tray with water, rotate the films 3 or 4 time, dump the water and refill. Five repeats is sufficient.

  3. #3

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    I use the Massive Dev Chart app in my darkroom, doing 8x10 sheet film exactly as you describe.
    You need to turn down screen brightness on your device to the lowest setting, and opt for the "safelight mode", which is the red star at the top of the screen. (the default is the blue star mode, which is for daylight work) The screen will still emit enough light to affect film from anything less than about 4 feet, so I place my phone somewhere that it doesn't cast light on my workspace, and once I have started the timer, I place it on my workspace FACE DOWN. You can still hear the prompts to agitate. Its perfectly usable, but you just have to be sure its set to the right mode and keep it where it can't cast light on your tray area (or turn it face down).

    As for washing 8x10 sheet films: I process one sheet at a time and wash each sheet in my print washer, one at a time. Its the exact same process as roll film, etc.

  4. #4
    Maris Rusis's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    I use a Talking Countdown Timer that I bought off eBay. The electronic voice that counts down minutes and seconds is a reassuring presence in the absolute darkness required for open tray film development.
    Photography:first utterance. Sir John Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society. "...Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation,..".

  5. #5

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    Most B&W films take about 7 minutes in the developer.
    A 12 oz bottle of really good beer takes about 7 minutes to savor.
    Coincidence?
    I think not.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  6. #6
    Les
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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    There are digital timers that have several functions, so you can also time fixer, etc. Also there are commercial kitch types....similar.

    https://www.amazon.com/XREXS-Channel...ateway&sr=8-92

    Les

  7. #7

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    My method to measure time in darkness is probably simpler, although not very fancy. I recorded myself counting time every 15s from 0 to 30 minutes: 15, 30, 45, 1 minute, and so on. I start playing the record (it is stored in google drive, any device that can access works) when I turn off the lights. I chose 30min because I’m done in 23 or 24 minutes, from prewash to fix (usually, 6 8x10 sheets). The safety margin has allowed me to deal with several mistakes in the past.

    Best,
    Pau
    Best,
    Pau

    Some pictures in Flickr.

  8. #8

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    Quote Originally Posted by Rscaboy View Post
    Hello,

    I'm going to develop my first 8x10 sheet film in tray soon...
    0) Process your sheets with emulsion up, with the notches at top right like when loading a holder.

    1) You can develop lights open if you place the tray inside a paper safe, or inside a light tight box, in that way you see the timer perfectly:

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    2) When development finished, close lights, open the paper safe and move your sheet to another tray with stop bath, after some 20 seconds (with some little agitation) in the stop you can open lights (I do it always), development is stopped and light won't harm anymore, you also fix the negative lights open so you see the fixer strength, the total fixing time should be (at least) twice the time it took to clear the yellowish bromide.

    3) If you want, you can check that opening lights after the sheet has been 20s in the stop bath is not harmful. Process two unexposed strips from a 35mm film end (or spend a sheet to cut strips) and with one of them open lights after 20s in the stop bath, compare fog. With photopaper this cannot be made, with film it can, if you have any doubt then check it. If you use plain water as stop bath then wait some 30s before opening lights.

    If you touch the acid stop batch with your fingers, then wash your hands before touching next still unprocessed sheet !



    4) Of course, Once you have the sheet in the fixer you can start to develop next sheet. In that you only need to close lights to place the sheet in the developer and for those first 20s in the Stop.

    5) You may use a larger tray with a DIY separator in the middle to develop two sheets at the same time.

    6) Yes, changing water some 5 times will perform perfect wash, for TMX/Y you may wait a longuer time before changing water to allow the pinky dye clear.

    7) Last water bath should be in distilled water with a very, very small amount of Photoflo wetting agent, you prevent drying marks in that way, that distilled water bath can be reused many times, use an additional tray for it for convenience.

    8) Operate always in a dust free environment, use a domestic HEPA air purifier for that, specially when the sheets are drying, I use this one:

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    9) You may use (cheap-ebay) sterilization mesh trays inside the developer tray (Jim Noel advice), so moving the sheet to the other trays will be more convenient, specially with like pyro developers.

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    _________________________


    Processing in trays is a sound method because you may reduce agitation to control highlights, with low agitation and diluted developer the generated bromide slows development in the extreme highlights, conserving texture there, and best, as the sheet is horizontal the reduced agitation has lower risk of bromide streaks, as gravity does not help the streaks.

    (Note: Bromide streaks in vertically processed sheets is the evidence that it is the generated bromide what makes the compensating effect when agitation is reduced.)

    Rotary is a nice processing method, but trays have agitation control. Trays are also fast, because you are developing one or more sheets while other are fixing.

  9. #9

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    Get your favorite music and record it with your voice calling out the time so you can play it in the dark while you develop, stop an fix the film.

    Works well and if you use a cassette player you can get them for almost nothing at rummage sales or thrift stores.

    CD or DVD - on your computer to record the music and sound?
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

  10. #10

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    Re: 8x10 Development in tray - How to know the time

    Resident Luddite here.

    I developed sheet film in open trays in my European "darkroom" (a windowless bathroom) for years using a cheapo digital cooking timer and a metronome. The cooking timer was preset for the full development time plus 5 seconds. The metronome was set to (softly) click once per second. The metronome was running before I turned off the lights and unloaded film. I started the timer after unloading, counted five clicks, and then immersed the sheet(s) in the developer. I counted seconds (clicks) for the agitation intervals and agitated once through my stack every 30 seconds. When the timer went off, I drained the film and transferred it to the stop bath. That method become second nature and worked fine for me for almost 30 years.

    Now I have a darkroom with a dedicated (compensating) timer for developing. It has a dim red LED display and counts up, so I simply watch it, agitating as needed and removing film at the right point. The display is shielded so it doesn't shine directly on the developing tray; no problems with fogging that way. It's easier than my earlier method (a bit), but not nearly as Spartan-feeling

    Timers are available pretty cheaply on eBay, etc. Get a good Gralab digital timer with a footswitch (like the 451) or a used Zone VI compensating developer. You don't need many bells and whistles, but the footswitch is really nice for starting/stopping when your hands are wet.

    Best,

    Doremus

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