film in general

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello folks,,, I plan on tray processing b&w film ... What I'd like to know is what films are safe using a safelight..?

thank you

[Gary Beasley]

Only the ortho and blue sensitive only type films. Blue only is a rare bird and nowadays is usually handmade emulsion. Most modern films are thoroughly panchromatic and need complete darkeness.
At one time a chemical called pinacryptal was available that would desensitise the film and allow you to process normal pan film under a safelight. This stuff is hard to find nowadays, I wish I could get my hands on some to play with.
There is a technique where you view the film very briefly under a very dim green safelight to check the progress as thats the color the film is usually the least sensitive to and being in the developer tends to kill some of the sensitivity.
You can do a search of the forums for discussions on this subject for more details.

[Greg Blank]

Chickens like well lit "Darkrooms"

Hello folks,,, I plan on tray processing b&w film ... What I'd like to know is what films are safe using a safelight..?

thank you

[Gem Singer]

Look up "Development by Inspection".

[John Kasaian]

Like most LF photography, tray development sounds more difficult than it is. Practice by loading some 4x5 pieces of plastic cut from a report cover (you will have to unload your film holders in the dark some day as well) trays filled with water and a audible timer you can set by feel (or just shoot some ortho) Once you get the feel for it, doing it in the dark will be a piece of cake.

Doing stuff by feel is good practice for when you develop cataracts, too (viva old age!)

[csant]

I was a bit reluctant initially to tray development of film sheets. So as long as I did 4x5 I just used day tanks. But then the 5x7 didn't fit anymore, I couldn't get hold of a day tank - so decided to give tray development a try. And it really works fine, not any more complicated than tank agitation… The only thing you need to learn is to place the sheets with a gentle swiping motion on top of each other when agitating - the emulsion is soft and very easily scratches

[Doremus Scudder]

Steve,

Normally, panchromatic films (i.e., 95% of films used these days) are tray developed in total darkness. You can practice with a few scrap sheets with the light on, but when it comes to the real thing, you need "lights out" from before unloading film from the holders until after the sheets have been agitated in the fixer for at least half the fixing time (I don't turn on the lights till fixing is almost complete).

Ortho film can be handled under a dim red safelight during the entire processing sequence, but if the lights are too bright, fogging is a definite risk. Development by inspection requires you do everything in total darkness except for a few seconds toward the end of developing when you check the density of the negative using a very dim dark green safelight. DBI is an art that few practice these days. Most use specific times at a standard temperature for expansions and contractions.

There are daylight tanks, tubes, etc. that allow one to load the film in the dark and then process with the lights on. However, tray developing in total darkness is not difficult, it just takes a little practice. I tray develop for a number of reasons; flexibility, ease of set up, expense of equipment, etc. and prefer it to other methods.

There is a lot of info here and elsewhere (e.g. APUG and photo.net) on tray developing. I've detailed my methods here or on one of the other forums. A search on my name should turn it up if you are interested.

Good luck and have fun,

Doremus Scudder

[Bruce Barlow]

It took a beautiful coed about ten minutes to master tray processing in my darkroom. Now she prefers it to tanks, etc.

Be a sport and sacrifice three or four sheets of film and practice in the light eyes open, then eyes closed, then with lights off. You'll have the hang of it in no time.

The first three times you develop, it will be nerve-wracking but successful.

[Sevo]

At one time a chemical called pinacryptal was available that would desensitise the film and allow you to process normal pan film under a safelight. This stuff is hard to find nowadays, I wish I could get my hands on some to play with.

Pinacryptol green - which is supposed to turn pan into ortho film. But any time I used it with enough safelight to be able to interpret the developing image, I had noticeable fogging and streaking. It may have been safe with film < ISO 50, but on modern film, it does not provide enough protection for visual tray development - at the very best you could perhaps use it to guard the film against some absolutely minimal orientation light.

Sevo

[Gary Beasley]

Thanks for the update Sevo. I've also heard that pyro developers have a desensitizing effect too, which makes them a good choice for the inspection methods with the green safelight.