Before I complete my purchase (Chemicals)

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Dwayneb9584

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Hey all,

So I've been researching a posting about some chemicals I wanted to start off with for B&W 35mm film. I shoot primarily with Ilford Hp5 but was thinking about using Kodak Tri X or something. (400 speed). I made a wishlist at BH so I can post some of the chemicals I was going to get tomorrow to start developing this weekend.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/wl/39A5A86EC1

I wanted to learn on a Stainless tank with the Hewes SS reels. I like the fact that I can have more control with the temperature, and I think I might prefer them in terms of longevity. Check it out and let me know your thoughts. I also considered Kodak HC 110 developer but not sure yet. All help will be greatly appreciated.

Dwayne
 
You are perfect with the fixer and DD X, forget the stop bath altogether, it will be useless if you dilute DD x 1+9, to get longer developing times. Some say, that stoip bath increases the grain. Get the Hewes reels by all means - it will save you a lot of frustration, get 1 2 reel tank and 1 4 reel tank with a steel rod. Do not forget a good thermometer and 3 1 liter plastic jars. HC 110 has nice tonality, but is less sharp and will make your 400 ISO films lose some speed. Try DD X first. BTW, get also a bottle of photo flo or equivalent.
 
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Thanks mfogiel. If I leave out the stop bath for just water wouldn't It be a longer process? Also I can't afford a 4 reel tank right now so I was going to just get a two reel Adorama daylight tank and two hewes reels. Now as far as the platic jars do you mean graduates? or storage plastics to save chemicals?
 
I said: forget the stop bath, acidic or otherwise, just develop, fix (with fresh fixer) and wash afterwards. Get 3 graduated jars that you can tag ( I apply coloured plastic tape: red for developer, blue for fxer, white for water or last rinse) or 3 transparent jars, where the tape level will show you the exact capacity of the tank. You have to check how much liquid is necessary to cover the reels - for me it is 450cc for 2 reels or 900cc for 4. Separate tagged jars will help you avoid blunders, and help to keep cross contamination down.
 
Yea I'm pretty excited about it. I want to shoot a bit of color for something as well and the stainless will definitely help out. (mfogiel) I don't see the graduated jars on B&H but is this something I can get at like maybe a department store like sears? or maybe even a local hardware store? These jars are just for storing the chemicals or do you mean to use them for actually measuring out my chemicals.
 
You can get the jars anywhere, but the 1 litre jars should be used for preparing the chemicals and smaller graduated cylinders (25,100,200 cc) for measuring concentrated liquids. You will need to measure about 45ml of DD X and about 60ml of fixer - try to use separate cylinders for these as well.
 
As far as measuring instruments. I thought all I needed was like three plastic 600ml graduates and like smaller graduate cylinders for measuring liquids. Cause the jars I found online were like glass. I don't think I want glass.
 
I hadn't heard that stop bath could affect grain. I guess i should try omitting it. So, literally, no rinse/wash between developer and Fixer? Is this advisable with D-76/ID-11 1:1, or Rodinal 1:25 / 1:50?
 
Dwayne, I bought my graduated cylinders/beakers/jars at BH, so they're on there somewhere. As long as you can get an accurate measure, you're good to go. You also need some jars to store the fixer, etc. You can buy glass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic bottles that can be collapsed accordion-style as the liquid is used up, all sorts of bottles. Or, you can collect empty beer/wine/Coke/Pepsi bottles, empty plastic milk bottles, whatever. Some folks have figured out how to reuse the empty airtight bags inside boxes of wine. The important thing is is to keep the liquids away from strong light (dark or opaque bottles and/or storage in a dark space) and know that exposure to oxygen in the air can shorten their useful lifetimes.

The enemy of a long wet strip of negatives is dust. I've found that hanging negs in a room or closet that has a heating or AC vent is asking for trouble as the moving air stirs the dust. Photo-Flo makes water run off the negs more readily, thereby decreasing the chance of water spots. Use only a drop or two. Put a clip on one end of the negatives while it is still on the reel, and take that to where you will hang them to unreel the strip. I've been known to drape something over the reel while I walk to where I hang negatives, just to keep a bit of dust off.
 
wgerrard said:
Guess I could do that, too. :)

Of course, though, you gotta take it out of the tank to attach the clip. I do that to thwart fumbling around at the other end.
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Fair enough. I just take it from the kitchen to the bathroom drained but still together and unroll it in there. To each their own.
 
I use demineralized water for diluting the developer, so I don't know if there is any calcium left on the negative, anyway if you use fresh 1 shot fixer every time, stop bath or water bath is superfluous. Some people like to do the water bath, because this completes the development process - I am not that sophisticated.
 
mfogiel said:
I use demineralized water for diluting the developer, so I don't know if there is any calcium left on the negative, anyway if you use fresh 1 shot fixer every time, stop bath or water bath is superfluous. Some people like to do the water bath, because this completes the development process - I am not that sophisticated.
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Whatever you're using, Marek, it's certainly working. Your stuff is impressive.
 
(sonofdanang) Thanks for your detailed developing process. Just want to thank everyone for all the time the put in to help me out with this. I think I got everything all figured out except for one thing. I don't have anything to store my negatives in (File Cabinet) Are there any alternatives to this. I was going to put the in my closet next to my jacket lol. That's probably not a good idea though.
 
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