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Thread: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

  1. #1

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    Aug 2007
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    Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Hi all,

    I've decided to commence my LF experience using Fuji Acros Quickloads. I don't have a darkroom so I will be purchasing a Jobo 3006 drum for daylight processing. As I have not used B&W chemicals for 10+ years I have many questions:

    1. Which developer are people using for this film and what dilution?
    2. Is there a fixer (and developer) which has less odour/ more friendly to one's health? (I have read (somewhere?) that Kodak fixers are less odorous than Ilford).
    3. Is Acros rated best at ISO 100?
    4. For those using Jobo drums manually, how often do you rotate the drum and for how long? Do you need to pre-soak?

    Any other advice for this setup?

    Thanks.

  2. #2

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Hello Sung. I process Acros manually in a Jobo 3006, on the $25 Jobo roller base. There are many developers that work well with this film (an excellent film). I use XTOL. Mix from powder using only distilled water, and store in full amber glass bottles. I am in Chicago, so I use the tapwater to dilute the stock. I use the TF4 fixer, from Photographers Formulary, it does not have much odor, and I use water as my stop bath and no hypo clear is needed, hence only dev and fix. I use XTOL at 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 depending on temperature and how many sheets I am developing. I try to use 1:3 for the sake of economy, but under a 6x loupe there is very little difference between 1:1 and 1:3 in the Jobo.

    I rotate at 50 rpm and reverse direction every 2 to 3 turns.

    I don't pre-soak.

  3. #3

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Sung - the amount of chemicals in the Jobo make the health issues less. You're not exposed to open trays. You can skip stop bath completely if you have longer development times ( you can pick the more diluted developer and longer times ).

    Acros is really about 50 to 64. If you shoot at 100 and develop for that, you'll end up with way too much contrast and not enough shadow detail much of the time. To boost contrast, rate at 100 or even 200 - then develop accordingly. To get a nice, long scale out of it, shoot at 50-64 and pull one stop in development with most developers. I rate Acros at 200 for night shots and then push develop with great results, however for day shooting, 64 works out really well for me.

    Ilford's DDX developer really works well for pushing as well as pulling a stop, and grain is still fine. XTOL works too, as does D76 and even Rodinal. Rodinal gives nice mid-skin tone type grays with a bit more grain. I think just about any developer works with it - try different ones to see what you like best. Watch out for temperature and development times - Acros builds up density in a real hurry - it responds VERY well to development controls.

    I second TF4 fixer. Also, you can do a 30-60 second pre-wash in your Jobo before processing - then all the dyes in the film will be gone by the end of your fixing or
    at least by part-way through your final wash.

  4. #4

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed K. View Post
    Acros is really about 50 to 64. If you shoot at 100 and develop for that, you'll end up with way too much contrast and not enough shadow detail much of the time. To boost contrast, rate at 100 or even 200 - then develop accordingly. To get a nice, long scale out of it, shoot at 50-64 and pull one stop in development with most developers. I rate Acros at 200 for night shots and then push develop with great results, however for day shooting, 64 works out really well for me.

    Watch out for temperature and development times - Acros builds up density in a real hurry - it responds VERY well to development controls.

    I second TF4 fixer. Also, you can do a 30-60 second pre-wash in your Jobo before processing - then all the dyes in the film will be gone by the end of your fixing or
    at least by part-way through your final wash.
    Thanks. I thought I would start with D76 as this seems to be a standard developer.

    You mention TF4 fixer...is this Tetenal? I have access to Tetenal Superfix (odourless) fixer. Is this ok?

    When you say 'Acros builds up density quickly' do you mean I should be aiming for shorter development times?

    Could you also clarify 'ISO rating of 64 and pulling one stop' If I rate the film at ISO 100, should I still pull one stop in development?

    Apologies for so many newbie questionss...

  5. #5
    David Schaller
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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    I rate Acros at 80 and develop either in D76 @ 68F 1:3 for 10 minutes, agitating once a minute or Pyrocat HD @70F 1:1:100 for 10 minutes, agitating every 30 seconds. I like Acros because I get the same speed with both developers and can decide on the developer later, depending on whether I want to enlarge or contact print in Pt/Pd.

    I use the Jobo tank with hand inversion, even though it's 1500 cc of liquid, and have always had good results. I use traditional stop bath and fixer from Kodak with the D76 and just water and T4 fixer with the Pyrocat.

  6. #6

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    David,
    What about blown highlights with Acros? I've seen so many photos of this film with no detail at all in the highlights and this looks terrible with landscapes (which is soley what I am shooting).

    Any way to control the blown highlights, in using either developer you mentioned?

  7. #7

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Quote Originally Posted by sung View Post
    Thanks. I thought I would start with D76 as this seems to be a standard developer.

    You mention TF4 fixer...is this Tetenal? I have access to Tetenal Superfix (odourless) fixer. Is this ok?

    When you say 'Acros builds up density quickly' do you mean I should be aiming for shorter development times?

    Could you also clarify 'ISO rating of 64 and pulling one stop' If I rate the film at ISO 100, should I still pull one stop in development?

    Apologies for so many newbie questionss...
    D76, is good, but XTOL is somewhat better. It is less toxic and easier to mix.

    This is the link to Photographers Formulary, they sell TF4 fixer:

    http://www.photoformulary.com/Deskto...ion=0&langId=0

    Acros, is somewhat more sensitive to development time than some other films; so a higher dilution of developer will help to reduce errors in development.

    Most films, are only as light sensitive as their rated ISO, 100 for Acros, in a speed increasing developer. (You should read Anchell and Troup, The film Developing Cookbook) Therefore to get sufficient shadow detail many people shoot Acros, and other films at less than their rated ISO, say 50 or 64 or 80 for Acros.

    You should test to see what film speed you get under your particular conditions. Your light meter, how you adgitate the film, developer, etc. will determine what speed you can actually achieve with the film you are using.

    Blown highlights result from overexposure or overdevelopment, usually overdevelopment. You should read Ansel Adams book The negative.

  8. #8

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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    Searching will reveal a lot of information in the archives here. For example, try this post along with the linked thread it includes:

    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...56&postcount=2

    The EI of 125 was determined using a Zone VI-modified Pentax digital spot meter and a calibrated densitometer to establish 0.1 above B+F .

    In my experience, using the dilute Perceptol and protocols I described, Acros doesn't start to "take off" until at least Zone IX. If you're dealing with a scene that has significant detail up there, burning in may be necessary, but there will be lots of separation on the negative. I've not encountered many front-lit landscapes which have that much range, discounting specular highlights on water. Even fresh clouds rarely get above IX.

  9. #9
    Joanna Carter's Avatar
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    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    I regularly expose Acros at 100 ISO and dev for 8.5 mins in DDX, 1:4 @ 20°C.

    Great range, great contrast, great prints.

  10. #10

    Re: Acros quickloads: chemistry and Jobo drum newbie advice needed.

    I've been using Acros for several years now and see no need to downgrade the asa at all.
    that is a fallacy and my prints will prove it. just shoot at 100 and use rodinal 1:100 in a
    rotary proccessor. I'm doing this for 10:20@75 degrees. works every time. this puts my negatives right on a grade 3 curve. this is the film that tmax100 was supposed to be!!
    truth be told with all the great developers out there such as pyrocat or xtol or even rodinal the speed can be maintained. if patterson ever comes back with accutol then the speed would probably increase. but there is ddx and I'm surmising that it would give a speed increase....
    Best, Peter

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