All, Thank you for the good tips. Normally Google is my friend, but I think I just panict.
To learn to develop all those film in a short time and don’t make mistakes....
After some searching I found all the information, and ordered all materials. Now hoping they deliver in time
Patrick
Very wise and important advice!Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer
First, read up, watch some videos and decide what developing method you are going to use. I develop in trays and like it very much, but it takes some practice, especially if you are going to develop in batches (I like 5-6 negatives per batch). There are tanks that may be good as well, but you may have to order them from the U.S.
Since time is obviously a factor for you, so I recommend you learn tray developing. It'll take an afternoon or two.
You'll need developer, stop and fix (you can use a water bath for stop, but an acid stop is a lot better IM-HO).
Any standard developer you can lay your hands on easily will work fine. Ilford ID-11 (D-76) is a standard. DD-X should be fine too.
Any standard rapid fix will be fine too; use as directed (Ilford Hypam or Rapid Fixer, Tetenal Rapid Fix, etc.)
Your dealer should have some stop bath as well; any stop bath will work.
If you decide to tray develop, get 5x7 trays (or 8x10 trays, but I find the 5x7 trays easier to work with). Paterson trays are really nice. You'll need at least four trays; five is better: Pre-soak, developer, stop, fix, wash. Everything needs to be done in total darkness till you're halfway through the fix, at which time you could dump developer and re-purpose the tray for the wash; still, five trays is really nice.
Sacrifice a couple of sheets of film and practice your batch-processing routine. Practice in a tray of water (like your pre-soak will be). Sheet film sticks together if you just put them all in the water at one time; they need about ten seconds or so to soak before the next sheet goes in (hence the need for a pre-soak before the development).
Process emulsion-side-up. Agitate your film by shuffling; pull one sheet from the bottom of the stack, turn it 180° and then resubmerge it. Here's where you need to practice so that you pull the bottom sheet without scratching it or others and lay it back down in the solution flat so you don't stab the sheet under it with a corner and scratch it. Practice with lights on, then with eyes closed, then with lights out.
After a short time, you'll have the hang of it. Then develop some test negs. Don't develop important stuff till you've done this and you're confident with your abilities. You'll need to practice lifting the stack out of one tray and then re-submerging it in the next. I like to fan the negatives out in my hand like a hand of cards and immerse them one-by-one for the development and stop, but often just transfer the whole stack from stop to fix and then shuffle through it. Practice...
Hope this helps,
Doremus
That’s what I’ve been using. Very easy. I don’t process a lot so for every 4 films... 450 ml of DD-X 1+4, 450 mil Ilfostop, 450 mil Ilford rapid fix... and about 1 gallon of water to rinse. One shot.
I’m sure that since you have a lot more to process that you can reuse chemistry to some degree or another. At least the stop since it has indicator.
The biggest challenge you may have is the downtime so the racks and tank can get dry before loading again.
Maybe look into Diafine? I know it's not the most exciting developer, but it's reusable so you don't have to worry about burning through your supply of chemistry as you learn and get the hang of the other parts of the process.
Ok, I have just done the development of my two test images and it’s a success.
I have followed the YouTube instruction of Ilford. The loading of the thank is quite easy, it leaks a bit but I suppose that’s just getting to know it.
Now I can start tomorrow on the ‘real’ images, 4 each day.
One last question, the video says you can reuse the fixer, but it don’t say howmany times and if I need to change te time then.
Thanks for all you help
Never mind, just found the information
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...se-fixer/page2
You need to read up on fixer life. It’s a balance of quantity vs amount of film.
Regarding the tank leakage. Heed the “squeeze and seal” directions. It help a lot but doesn’t eliminate all leakage. I stopped inversion and have a side-to-side-while-twisting agitation scheme that works and minimizes leakage at the same time.
If you have a sink or a decent sized tray do your developing in that and dont worry about the minor leaks. You might want nitrile gloves in case you have any allergies to the developing agents.
Yesterday I developed the first batch of 4 real films. And they are not so good as the test films, they lack some contrast and the white parts don’t have enough information.
According to the instruction video I have developed 10m35 sec, should I increase the time with one minute. Also I had the impression that the temperature was a bit low 19° instead of 20°.
Just a quick iPhone scan to show the image
Last edited by PatrickMarq; 25-Mar-2020 at 03:21.
That is just fine. Don’t increase the time. That will only overcook the highlights. You have plenty of shadow detail already.Yesterday I developed the first batch of 4 real films. And they are not so good as the test films, they lack some contrast and the white parts don’t have enough information.
According to the instruction video I have developed 10m35 sec, should I increase the time with one minute. Also I had the impression that the temperature was a bit low 19° instead of 20°.
Just a quick iPhone scan to show the image
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks