Stand developing - the good and bad

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Thardy

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Had a bunch of BW rolls lying around, plus two I shot today with my hardly used Nikon F100, that needed processing. So onto 4 reels I load them and find a a website that says HC110 1:100 at 1 hr works well. I decided to make it a little weaker if I somehow forget that it's cooking.

Well, I go ahead and agitate initially, leave to get dinner but make it back with 13 minutes to spare. Stop, fix, wash, look ... arrggh looks like I needed 550 ml instead of 500. The bottom roll perfect, 1/2 of the top roll perfect. 😡

The worse part is that it was Arista 100. I only remembered that it's discontinued when I came to the film forum and saw "Arista 100 gone".

I think I'm done with stand developing - at least with two rolls in one tank.
 
Rodinal 1:100 for 45min stand development (1min initial agitation and 10sec once half way in) works well for me with the 100 speed films I've used.

HC-110 1:100 for 20min, 1min initial agitation and 10sec agitation every 3 min works well for me with 400 speed films I've used. I developed 5 rolls this way just an hour ago.
 
Don't want to sound like a know it all but I usually make more developer than the tank will hold (ie600ml for a 550 tank). Chemistry is cheap the lost images are always irreplaceable. Sorry for the loss but I would urge you to alter your method and consider this just a speed bump that can be pre-jumped in the future.
 
I don't see how you would conclude not to use stand again if you find the results "perfect" except for not enough soup. Just use the proper amount next time.

Still a beginner here but it works for me (APX400, EI 800, 1 hour in Rodinal 1:100):
U30307I1332853655.SEQ.0.jpg


Draft scan and in fact I had to crop because of not quite enough developer in the tank. Half a cc more Rodinal next time won't break the bank.
 
batterytypehah! said:
I don't see how you would conclude not to use stand again if you find the results "perfect" except for not enough soup. Just use the proper amount next time.

Still a beginner here but it works for me (APX400, EI 800, 1 hour in Rodinal 1:100):
U30307I1332853655.SEQ.0.jpg


Draft scan and in fact I had to crop because of not quite enough developer in the tank. Half a cc more Rodinal next time won't break the bank.
Click to expand...

I'll try it again but maybe just one roll per tank to avoid problems with uneven development. But on second thought 600ml should take care of 2 reels.
 
I've begun to do stand dev recently and found that most films will do nicely either with rodinal or hc110. My only caveat is that I decided to gently agitate the soup from 10 to 10 minutes or so to avoid some uneveness of the development that eventually ensues. So far I've tried apx 100 and 400, tri x, panatomic x, p3 surveillance, and colour c41 film.
 
I get pretty reliable results with Rodinal 1:100 Fomapan 100 1 hour stand. Agitate 1st minute and then one "twist" at 30 minutes. I haven't done it with any other film/developer combo.
 
mdarnton said:
It doesn't sound to me like stand development was the problem here, so what's the logic for abandoning it???
Click to expand...

Not enough liquid in the tank was the basic problem, but can you really leave the film standing for an entire hour. The other times trying stand development I "cheated" and gently agitated at about 30 min.

I would love to be able to leave the film for an hour while I do something else.

Also, is there a minimum amount of developer that can be used in stand development where it will exhaust and not have any more action after about an hour? Just in case you forget about it?
 
If you read some of Cardwell and Gainer's posts on APUG this may help you understand stand. They discuss the purpose of stand development which is not as a general development technique. But more important they explain that you will get the same holding back of highlights (when used in high contrast scenes, if used in a normal or low contrast scene you get muddy, difficult to print negatives) if you just do minimal agitation. Of course, this requires some but not much testing on your part. Which many are not willing to do. But the bright side is you will get consistent negatives, held back highlights (if you want that), and a specific development time which is much easier on your nerves.

Ansel Adams many years ago, before roll film stand became a fade, did this with HC-110 (1:120). I think he did call it semi-stand, but basically it is high dilution (the high dilution isn't for any other reason than too give the developer extended time to exhaust near the highlights) with minimal agitation. He discusses this in the last edition of 'The Negative.'
 
i tried it with HC110 at I think 1:100 for 50 mins with 20 secs agitation at the start. Bromide drag was the main problem. I have a batch of c41 film I'm going to experiment on with Rodinal - starting tonight! Was intending to try 500ml per film at 1:100. Agitate first 20 secs then leave for 1 hour.
 
George Bonanno said:
Stand development for the most part is an invitation to disaster.
It's a crap shoot, a gamble, an inconsistent means of development.

Just don't do it.
Click to expand...

Maybe not as full of conviction as George above 🙂
But I tend to agree.

Exhausting the developer near the highlights to save it may sound good, but it's definitely not for *every* roll you shoot.

A lot of factor may affect the rate where the developer "settles down" in the tank including water purity and temperature. I have tried stand and I was always unhappy with the result due to uneven development.

Yes, I can develop, fix, and wash all in distilled water, and that *may* help, but I for one, can't afford it. And I'm perfectly happy with sparing agitation and rodinal 1+50 recipe.
 
George Bonanno said:
Stand development for the most part is an invitation to disaster.
It's a crap shoot, a gamble, an inconsistent means of development.

Just don't do it.
Click to expand...

Generalize much?

Works great for me. I develop 8 rolls at a time, usually of varying ISO and film type, and most always they ALL come out fine. But who knows, you may have higher standards then me... I've only been developing my own for 40+ years.
 
Teuthida said:
Generalize much?

Works great for me. I develop 8 rolls at a time, usually of varying ISO and film type, and most always they ALL come out fine. But who knows, you may have higher standards then me... I've only been developing my own for 40+ years.
Click to expand...
I concur. I've also developed different films in the same soup at the same time.
 
In reference to this thread I'm citing the fact that full stand development leads to uneven development.
When using a highly dilute developer it's imperative to agitate at least once every ten minutes.
That's six times during a one hour period to distribute the developer to flush the emulsion in order to
eliminate bromide drag and or an uneven process before it craps-out.

I understand how to some seasoned photographers full stand development seems like a cool trendy thing...
but it's not. It should only be used with the utmost care and experience with
high contrast scenes recorded on thin emulsion films to prevent blocking.

Having said the above let me hear it from the experts.
 
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