Jim knows best!
Agree with Drew but I find it depends upon the subject matter. If I have exposed negatives of skies and clouds and I am using an energetic developer like pyro I would both dilute the developer and cut the number of 8x10 sheets tray processed to 2-3 to ensure uniform sky densities. Otherwise I develop six sheets of 8x10 in a pebble bottomed 11x14 tray. Tray developing or brush developing one sheet at a time is an enormous allocation of darkroom time that any reasonably competent LF photographer would have trouble with from an efficiency perspective. Just my $0.02.
When I hear such discussions, my thoughts are of Edward Weston and his technique. Prior to the mid 1920's he developed in open tanks with an MQ developer. After that time, he switched to single sheet tray development by inspection using Pyro. It worked for him.
Hans, I would base that on the results you are getting at 13 minutes. If the contrast is a bit high, then that is a sign that you might want to try 12 minutes perhaps. Generally, one decreases the time a little going from intermittent to constant agitation. Going to rotating drums (Expert Drum 3005, for example), a 15% reduction is recommended. Constant agitation in trays is not as active as a drum, so perhaps a 10% time reduction is a good starting point.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Hey...if you want the best of both worlds (advantages of both individual development plus shuffling multiple films) try this: place your developer trays into a much larger tray (say...four 8x10's into one 20x24), then place individual "shuffle" trays before (pre-soak) and after this large tray for remaining steps. Large tray can either be lifted whole and rocked around to agitate all negatives at once, or smaller individual trays can be selectively agitated depending on individual negatives needs.
A couple of things: negatives are done face-up for all cycles, and one must, prior to implementing such a setup, do a "lights on" test with sacrificial (fresh) unexposed film, with sacrificial (fresh) developer, to allow fine-tuning of the specific amount of developer necessary to assure that films are always completely covered with developer during the entirety of the development cycle. Do not simply use water and/or already processed (reject) negatives for this test - as this will tell you nothing of the dynamic of developer and film during this cycle (as in bubbling causing film to float).
Nothing against shuffling...works great! I suggest the above as simply something to add to your toolbox - try it, you might like it!
I have a very specific shuffling technique. Each 30 sec the stack is rotated 90 degrees, so a different side is being held in the fingers each cycle, assuring edge to edge consistency. I also shuffle one more sheet per cycle than actually present, which means a different sheet is on the top each time. For example, if four sheets are in the tray, there will be five shuffles during that 30 sec cycle. Like Michael, I do 8x10 sheets in a 11X14 stainless dimple-bottomed tray, surrounded by a larger tray serving as a water temp jacket; for 4x5 film, I use stainless dimple-bottomed trays slightly larger than 5x7. For general use, a Zone VI comp dev timer fine-tunes the time. For really fussy use like matched color sep negatives, I use and expensive thermoregulator that keeps water temp constant within 1/10F. Film always face-up.
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