Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 40

Thread: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

  1. #11
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    6,286

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by nolindan View Post
    If I had 45 rolls to process I would find a commercial dip & dunk and and scan/proof lab. My darkroom is reasonably well equipped but any job of that size would overwhelm it and me. It may not be that you are lazy but that you are not lazy enough.

    I played around with monobaths in the 60's. I decided they worked when, accidentally - given a certain combination of film, monobath, technique and phase of the moon - they failed to fail. 35mm Tri-X worked the least worst. I think that is still the case.

    I've never heard of anyone using a fast acting monobath and sheet film - but I'm sure someone is doing it. I imagine there would be a steep learning curve.

    I rarely shoot more than a few sheets of 8x10 at a time so I don't find traditional tray development to be a big deal.
    Reading up on it recently, it seems like it does work with sheet film, so I'm willing to give it a try.
    And admittedly, the 40 rolls I shot was a bit of an anomaly, but I don't hold back when I want to shoot.
    I keep plenty of film around, and I prefer that it gets used.
    But yes, the post-production really drained me.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    334

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    to me the developing is the easy part. the time consuming part is the digital post workflow or the analog post workflow. I'm not doing the digital post any more (hate, hate, hate photoshop/lightroom), but the analog post (enlarger, paper, etc.) is still 10 times the work of shooting and developing the negatives.

  3. #13
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    6,286

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by abruzzi View Post
    to me the developing is the easy part. the time consuming part is the digital post workflow or the analog post workflow. I'm not doing the digital post any more (hate, hate, hate photoshop/lightroom), but the analog post (enlarger, paper, etc.) is still 10 times the work of shooting and developing the negatives.
    This could become a group rant!

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    West Coast
    Posts
    2,132

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ari View Post
    The last straw was in August, I shot about 45 rolls of film (35mm/120) over a two week period.
    I spent a solid 6 weeks in "post-production" and I'm still exhausted by that whole endeavor, not eager to re-visit it soon.
    So I've become quite lazy about developing, in that I don't shoot film so that I don't have to process it!

    CineStill experiences and opinions? Call me lazy if you must.
    The floor is open.
    Ari, I learned a long time ago that when it comes to producing my own work, exposing/developing huge volumes of film is going to poison my enjoyment of the work. So these days I stick to crafting ONE idea into ONE (or two) image and use as little film as possible to get me there. Often, this is one or two rolls of film, or 2-4 sheets of 5x7/8x10 film. I don't let film sit around unprocessed - I get to it immediately (as much as is practically possible: there are exceptions) and I try to finish the piece the same day I process the film (scan, post-process and publish).
    This approach has made it all manageable and very enjoyable.

    But if you use words like "loathe" to describe how you feel about darkroom work, then you're already beyond the point where switching to less laborious chemistry is going to fix what's wrong.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    334

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ari View Post
    This could become a group rant!
    well its not so much a complaint--more of an observation. Since COVID started, I've been working off the hook and it show little sign of letting up. This has mostly killed my darkroom time. So I have little more than contact prints made from the last year and a half. On the other hand, photographing is like vacationing so I'd still find time to do that, even if I never developed the film. So today, I shoot and develop with the hope that my works settles down enough to start printing again.

    But my point ultimately is that if you find that the amount of work to shoot->develop->scan->post-process is too much, it seems to me that halving the amount of time spent on <develop> may not have that much impact the amount of time spent on the whole process.

  6. #16
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    6,286

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    To be fair, Paul, I've always loathed film processing.
    But it's a necessary evil on my road to worldwide fame.

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Canmore Alberta
    Posts
    754

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Ari, I commend you on your honesty. I wouldn't send my film out either. At the end of long trips (pre-Covid) i've found myself with lots of film to be processed. I still tray develop the LF film, but have an assortment of large Nikkor tanks (up to 6x 120). I'm also not willing to sacrifice the development to monobaths. I've been using PMK and then Pyrocat in glycol for many years now and prefer the negatives i get. Best of luck overcoming the mental fatigue. & I'll still take a 120 or LF neg to a Fuji GFX image all day everyday.

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    West Coast
    Posts
    2,132

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ari View Post
    To be fair, Paul, I've always loathed film processing.
    But it's a necessary evil on my road to worldwide fame.
    Then farm it out to someone else.

  9. #19
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    6,286

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by abruzzi View Post
    well its not so much a complaint--more of an observation. Since COVID started, I've been working off the hook and it show little sign of letting up. This has mostly killed my darkroom time. So I have little more than contact prints made from the last year and a half. On the other hand, photographing is like vacationing so I'd still find time to do that, even if I never developed the film. So today, I shoot and develop with the hope that my works settles down enough to start printing again.

    But my point ultimately is that if you find that the amount of work to shoot->develop->scan->post-process is too much, it seems to me that halving the amount of time spent on <develop> may not have that much impact the amount of time spent on the whole process.
    To be honest, I felt like griping.
    I've been spoiled with digital these last few months, not just in the processing (I much prefer PS/LR to wet work), but also in how easy it is to bring all the essentials for a shoot in a small shoulder bag.
    In a big way, I do miss shooting the 8x10, so I guess I'm getting ready to get back to it, and as some wisely suggest, lessen the amount of film processing, or space out the processing days.
    Last time I had no choice, I had to buckle under, or I'd still have the film sitting here unprocessed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Y View Post
    Ari, I commend you on your honesty. I wouldn't send my film out either. At the end of long trips (pre-Covid) i've found myself with lots of film to be processed. I still tray develop the LF film, but have an assortment of large Nikkor tanks (up to 6x 120). I'm also not willing to sacrifice the development to monobaths. I've been using PMK and then Pyrocat in glycol for many years now and prefer the negatives i get. Best of luck overcoming the mental fatigue. & I'll still take a 120 or LF neg to a Fuji GFX image all day everyday.
    Thanks, Greg. You're right about the fatigue, which is why digital has been a mental relief of sorts.
    Good to know your opinion on the monobath process, I will give it a try to see for myself, but I doubt it's a viable long-term solution.

  10. #20

    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    SooooCal/LA USA
    Posts
    2,802

    Re: Film Developing Rant and CineStill DF96 Monobath - Am I Lazy?

    It becomes easy as cooking a meal... Just get into the groove... A couple of weeks processing a run a day/night will get most of it out of the way... Set up everything so you can easily start each run each day... Monobaths do not save much time, so regular processing is fine when you add the loading, washing, and drying time to it...

    FWIW, max capacity for roll film tanks for even agitation throughout reel stacks is 4X 35mm, and 2X120, or reels in middle of the stack will develop unevenly...

    Get to work!!! You will feel better with the task behind you!!!

    Steve K

Similar Threads

  1. Light tent film developing with monobath
    By campy in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 19-Dec-2020, 16:39
  2. SP-445 and Cinestill DF96 monobath - beginner experience
    By md-photo in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 12-Jul-2020, 16:03
  3. monobath developing for B&W sheet film for students processing at home?
    By Chester McCheeserton in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 23-Jun-2020, 18:12
  4. film developer: I was a bit lazy ...
    By gliderbee in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 28-Oct-2012, 22:53
  5. Monobath -- feeling Lazy
    By Dean Lastoria in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 15-Oct-2001, 14:50

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •