there is another way... use tubes to develop in, there is a design somewhere on the internet on how to make light tight tubes from poly sink waste pipe. the cost is not very much. so make two or three tubes..
they use less chemical's about 250 ml,. you just load the film in a dark bag.. and the rest of the process is in the light. I normal sit at the table and do it. you just have to be careful removing the film as the emulsion is soft when wet .. and short finger nails are a must
bob
For drying film, I use small metal alligator clips from Radio Shack to hold the negatives by a corner on a line in my darkroom. I've used plastic clothespins in the past, but the alligator clips work much better.
After the fix, I rinse the negatives in water, and then agitate them in a tray with Kodak Hypo Clear (or simply a solution of sodium sulfite.) After that, they are rinsed in a tray of clean, tempered water. Finally, I dip them into a tray of distilled water with 1/2 strength photo flow added, along with a splash of alcohol. The negatives are then hung up to dry.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
PS use the black pipe.. the grey and white are not light proof
Because you want to make sure the developer's temperature remains constant. Otherwise, if you start at 20 degrees, you may end up at 22 in winter, and at 26 in summer, so your development times would vary from month to month.I haven't read this entire thread so I may be missing something but why would you need to read a thermometer, in the dark or otherwise, once you start the development process? And of course before that point you aren't in the dark.Here's another question: how i am supposed to read the thermometer in the dark? is there a special kind of darkroom thermometer, or..?
Of course, if you develop by inspection you don't really care what temperature you end up at.
Seems to me that once you start developing there usually isn't a lot of time to futz with the water temp anyway in order to maintain perfectly constant temps. HP5 in 1:1 D76 takes about 9 minutes of development time which isn't enough to check water temp and adjust by adding more developing solution at the right temp to compensate.Originally Posted by Vlad Soare
Because you want to make sure the developer's temperature remains constant. Otherwise, if you start at 20 degrees, you may end up at 22 in winter, and at 26 in summer, so your development times would vary from month to month.
Of course, if you develop by inspection you don't really care what temperature you end up at.
The downside to shuffling sheets of film by hand in developing trays is that your body heat may raise the temp of the developer a couple of degrees at most. If that's a concern, using my bent filmholders has the benefit of avoiding that.
I would think the air temp of the room would have an impact.
I use a waterbath and maintain the room temp at my development target.
68 in winter, 75 in summer works well with little drift.
bob
So, im getting closer to my first test processing. I bought the cheapest plastic food containers, which are square and roughly 30% bigger than a 4x5 sheet, and some Foma chemicals. I will do one sheet at a time at first, until i get the hang of it.
I am still wondering whether i should mix the chemicals (dev & fixer) in the dark, or is that something you do before turning the lights off?
Thanks!
Mix the chemicals any time you want in any light conditions.
I use 6 trays. First is water. Second Developer, Third is a weak stop bath. Fourth is first fix. Five is second fix. I fix for 1/2 the time recommended in the first fix and 1/2 in the second fix. As the first fix begins to exhaust I replace it with the second and make a fresh second fix. This ensures that the negatives are always fixed fully with a fresh fixing bath. The Sixth tray is hypo clearing agent. It is then into the wash tank. I have been using this system since 1972 and to this day the negatives are as good as the day they were processed. Actually learned this in Yosemite from Ansel Adams. I fix the prints the same way but without a hardening fixer so that I can tone the prints with Selenium. It seems to work as well with the prints because I made a series of prints in 1981 which I have kept boxed over the years. Still sell those prints and they look as good as the day I made them. One final comment should be added. With film and prints the wash tank should have a slow overflow with a small drain or syphon at the bottom to allow any chemicals that settle to the bottom to flow out.
A final rinse in distilled water is a pretty good idea to avoid streaks and drying marks.
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