Agitating time for 1+7 id11 developer

[Mark Kononczuk]

Hi,
Im sure the answer to this is somewhere on this forum, but i cant find it. I have always used ilford id 11 at 1 part stock to four parts water for about 30 minutes, agitating for the first one and a half minutes and then ten seconds every one and a half minutes. Worked fine for me.
But, with my by last few rolls, i need less contrast, so i have decided on accutance developing 1+7 for one hour. My question is this: how often and for how long should i agitate?
Thanks

[Mark Sampson]

I know nothing about this type of process, but make sure that (at that high dilution) there is enough developing agent in your total mix to properly develop your film. If there isn't enough, it will exhaust itself before you can reach your desired density. You are way off the map here, so try this method with a test roll before committing important film.

[jnantz]

Hi Mark Kononczuk

I've never done that with that specific developer .
that said you might find the answer to your question by gloooogling the internet with D76 and that methodology instead of ID11.
I use Sprint Film Developer a lot ( and it's similar to ID11) it is what people refer to as a D76 Clone ....
so you can look at times and methods related to D76 and that's an OK starting point.
Do you have a bulk loader? you could probably shoot a few short rolls in similar lighting to your important film as a test and go from there ...

good luck!
John

[Mark Kononczuk]

I did a photography degree a few years ago and the darkroom professor swore by the 1+7 id11/d76 formula as giving the best possible tonal range, obviously by mixing the individual chemical elements yourself.

[peter k.]

For D-76 we use 1+7 and agitate first 30sec continuously, then 3 more inversions, each 30 sec apart to complete the first 2 minutes of developing, taping the tank once at the end of 2min, to get rid of any air bubbles.
We let it stand for 28 more min, do one more inversion, tap the tank again, and let it sit for the final 30 minutes until the hour is up.
It has worked well for me ... hope you have better results with your new procedure ;-)

[Mark Kononczuk]

Great thanks
That's very little agitation, i will try it. i have been agitating every 2 minutes for an hour.

[tundra]

Great thanks
That's very little agitation, i will try it. i have been agitating every 2 minutes for an hour.

I haven't done this with D-76 but I have done it with D-23, DK-50, and Pyrocat-HD ("it" - long, high dilution semistand development).

Presumably you want to do this to get improved sharpness and full shadow detail at rated film box ASA.

Some thoughts.

1) I have found that an initial 3 min prewet, followed by 90sec vigorous agitation and 10-15sec at 21 and 41min works well, pull at 60min

2) It's important to have plenty of developer - I use 1/2 gal rubber tanks - and suspend the film above the bottom of the tank so that the development byproducts will not interfere with the film as they sink there.

3) If your negatives are too thin, you can add a small amount of lye (sodium hydroxide) to the developer to kick up the alkalinity while still maintaining the high dilution. You have experiment with how much, but a good starting point would be around 0.25g Lye/litre of developer. Handle this with care. It's really caustic and does nasty things to skin and devastating things to eyeballs. Good lab technique, eye protection, a lab apron, and nitrile gloves are a must.

[Mark Kononczuk]

Thanks, that's very interesting. So you would recommend agitating 3x during the whole one hour period , rather than one inversion every 2 minutes? The lye i will leave out for the time being as i do everything in complete darkness. How do you suspend the film in the developer?

[tundra]

Thanks, that's very interesting. So you would recommend agitating 3x during the whole one hour period , rather than one inversion every 2 minutes? The lye i will leave out for the time being as i do everything in complete darkness. How do you suspend the film in the developer?

Correct - 3-4 agitations in the hour period should suffice. If lye is required, it should be mixed in as part of the initial dilution process. It may not be needed with D-76, I've never tried it.

I have fairly complete notes on this process and film suspension here:

https://gitbucket.tundraware.com/tun...nd-Development

Remember: Nitrile gloves, eye protection, and some sort of lab clothing are stongly suggested/mandatory. I also run a darkroom fan continuously during this process to exhaust the fumes outside so they do not build up during the long standing time.

I turn out the room light in the adjacent area when I do this. After each agitation, I use an inverted dark try to cover the open tank, so i can briefly open the door to enter and exit. That way, I'm not stuck sitting in the darkroom for an hour.

[jnantz]

you might consider doing test sheets to assure you don't get bromide drag.
the sprint developer I had mentioned is liquid 1:9 and sprint has a series of tested
extensive time and temperature charts on their website, and a real life person (professional photographer ) who
had done real world development with their developer and pretty much every film made
(rather than crowd sourced on something like MDC &c ). not sure where you are located
but if your lye and extreme minimal adgitation/development doesn't pan out, it might be worth it looking into
the sprint website (just realized you are in Europe so drop shipping isn't an option) to get ideas you might be able to
cross reference to ID-11 since they both seem to be similar D76 clones ... internet is great, and wealth of information available is fantastic
but from my experience, whenever I have given people methods, dilutions and developers that worked swimmingly for me
well, lets just say they didn't work swimmingly for others .. "did what you said, but my film was so cooked I couldn't even make salt prints from it"