Developing Tri-X Suggestions?

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snegron7

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Hello everyone! The last time I developed Tri-X was probably in 1986, so I'm a bit "rusty"! I have a brand new stainless steel tank & reel.

What chemicals are there available today (developer, stop bath, fixer) that you would recommend?

If all goes well, I'd like to shoot/develop my own B&W film, then copy (not scan) using a macro lens on one of my digital cameras. I have copied a ton of slides this way, and I have found it to be quicker and more effective than using my flatbed scanner.
 
snegron7 said:
Hello everyone! The last time I developed Tri-X was probably in 1986, so I'm a bit "rusty"! I have a brand new stainless steel tank & reel.

What chemicals are there available today (developer, stop bath, fixer) that you would recommend?

If all goes well, I'd like to shoot/develop my own B&W film, then copy (not scan) using a macro lens on one of my digital cameras. I have copied a ton of slides this way, and I have found it to be quicker and more effective than using my flatbed scanner.
Click to expand...


This will get you going in the right general direction:

  • Expose the film at EI 320
  • Process in D-76 mixed 1:1 with distlled water at 68F - agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds, and 5 seconds every 30 seconds thereafter for a total time of 7 1/2 minutes
  • No need for stop bath. Dump the developer and then fill/empty the tank with plain water 4 times
  • Fix for 5 min. I prefer TF-4 or TF-5 fixer but really almost any fixer will work including good old Kodak fixer
  • Wash for 25 min in slowly running water
  • Final bath of 500ml distilled water, a capful of Photo Flo 200, and 20ml of Rubbing Alcohol.
  • Hang until dry.
It is best to mix your developer and fixer with distilled water and store them in glass bottles, not plastic ones.
 
Last edited:
chuckroast said:
This will get you going in the right general direction:

  • Expose the film at EI 320
  • Process in D-76 mixed 1:1 with distlled water at 68F - agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds, and 5 seconds every 30 seconds thereafter for a total time of 7 1/2 minutes
  • No need for stop bath. Dump the developer and then fill/empty the tank with plain water 4 times
  • Fix for 5 min. I prefer TF-4 or TF-5 developer but really almost any fixer will work including good old Kodak fixer
  • Wash for 25 min in slowly running water
  • Final bath of 500ml distilled water, a capful of Photo Flo 200, and 20ml of Rubbing Alcohol.
  • Hang until dry.
It is best to mix your developer and fixer with distilled water and store them in glass bottles, not plastic ones.
Click to expand...
Thank you!!!
 
chuckroast said:
That was written at a time the UK was undergoing a water shortage. I am suspicious that it is adequate. 25 min might be overkill though.
Click to expand...
If you use Perma Wash or other hypo clearing agents, that 25 minutes can go down to something more like 5 minutes and still give a very thorough wash. I have negatives from the early 1970's processed that way and they are still in perfect condition. It is also important that the water flows through the film reel and can exit through the bottom of the washer. Fixer is heavier than water and gravity helps the wash to work faster and better. A plastic tub with some holes at the bottom edge with water flowing fast enough to keep the film covered will do the job.
 
Just read the Ilford article. I've been doing essentially that process for B&W negatives for about thirty years, it just made sense to me. 😉

Nowadays, I have to say that although the negatives are my originals, I capture them to digital using a copy camera workflow and that's the last I ever see of them. For that reason, I don't worry so much anymore about the archival permanence of the negatives; they just have to dry and be clean for the copy-scanning process, and after that it doesn't matter.

G
 
Cascadilla said:
If you use Perma Wash or other hypo clearing agents, that 25 minutes can go down to something more like 5 minutes and still give a very thorough wash. I have negatives from the early 1970's processed that way and they are still in perfect condition. It is also important that the water flows through the film reel and can exit through the bottom of the washer. Fixer is heavier than water and gravity helps the wash to work faster and better. A plastic tub with some holes at the bottom edge with water flowing fast enough to keep the film covered will do the job.
Click to expand...
The “fixer is heavier than water” thing is absolutely, demonstrably wrong. Diffusion wins, especially, completely where there is as much turbulence as there is when you invert the tank.


Perma Wash and HCA are for prints and help much less for film. Just use water.
 
Freakscene said:
The “fixer is heavier than water” thing is absolutely, demonstrably wrong.


Perma Wash and HCA are for prints and help much less for film. Just use water.
Click to expand...

Yep. Film washing is essentially a mater of sufficient water exchanges to draw away the remaining fix - it does not penetrate the emulsion much. Upon removal from the fixer, I thoroughly wash the film by hosing it off before putting it in the wash tank. My 25 min of wash is designed to make sure nothing is left behind. I use a fairly low flow rate, it simply a matter of continuing to rise film for a while. It's worked for decades so I am unlike to change now. Then I live in a place that has abundant clean water available.
 
chuckroast said:
This will get you going in the right general direction:

  • Expose the film at EI 320
  • Process in D-76 mixed 1:1 with distlled water at 68F - agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds, and 5 seconds every 30 seconds thereafter for a total time of 7 1/2 minutes
  • No need for stop bath. Dump the developer and then fill/empty the tank with plain water 4 times
  • Fix for 5 min. I prefer TF-4 or TF-5 fixer but really almost any fixer will work including good old Kodak fixer
  • Wash for 25 min in slowly running water
  • Final bath of 500ml distilled water, a capful of Photo Flo 200, and 20ml of Rubbing Alcohol.
  • Hang until dry.
It is best to mix your developer and fixer with distilled water and store them in glass bottles, not plastic ones.
Click to expand...
No need for a stop bath when using TF-4 or TF-5. At least that's my understanding and how I've been doing it for years and years and years. Also, if you don't want to deal with the powder of D76, Clayton F76 (out of Freestyle in California, USA) nice substitute. Shortish self life though. I believe the Arista Premium developer is also Clayton. Also, I discovered after losing a dark room for a long while, just dumping develop him in a bucket of water and swirling it around a bit really does the same as the elaborate washing steps. Just some further options. There are so many ways to achieve an adequate negative.

Just make sure your chemicals are sufficiently fresh.
 
Last edited:
steveyork said:
No need for a stop bath when using TF-4 or TF-5. At least that's my understanding and how I've been doing it for years and years and years. Also, if you don't want to deal with the powder of D76, Clayton F76 (out of Freestyle in California, USA) nice substitute. Shortish self life though. I believe the Arista Premium developer is also Clayton. Also, I discovered after losing a dark room for a long while, just dumping develop him in a bucket of water and swirling it around a bit really does the same as the elaborate washing steps. Just some further options. There are so many ways to achieve an adequate negative.

Just make sure your chemicals are sufficiently fresh.
Click to expand...

I haven't used stop bath with film for decades. Instead, I've been using either running water in an open tank or water exchanges in a closed tank. Initially I did this to avoid any chance of pinholing with sheet film, but I stayed with it because it's unnecessary, so why introduce yet another chemical into the mix, no matter how benign it is.
 
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