Anyone pre-washing when using Diafine?

[rover]

I know it is not recommended in the instructions, but I see some thoughtfulness in this discussion at flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/diafine/discuss/72157624165181643/

Is anyone here pre-washing their film when using Diafine? I think I will give it a try.

 

[LeicaM3]

Did not see a difference for the 25 films I have pre-washed for (all TriX @1000).
5 + 5 min.
So I stopped doing it.

 

[rover]

Did not see a difference for the 25 films I have pre-washed for (all TriX @1000).
5 + 5 min.
So I stopped doing it.

Do you ever get Bromide smudge things?

I am just getting back into using Diafine after a short lay off so am just looking for the best results I can get. I had a couple issues in the first few rolls I have processed this month.

 

[wlewisiii]

I wouldn't. The idea with a divided developer is to have as much of solution A soaked up by the emulsion as possible. That is due to the fact that all of it will be exhausted by solution B. If there is insufficient A, then parts of the emulsion will not develop properly. Note, I'm not saying this will happen, however it is the problem that causes the manufacturer to recommend against the practice.

I just put it in the A, without a pre-wash, for 4 minutes & everything works just fine.

William

 

[wlewisiii]

Do you ever get Bromide smudge things?

Rover,

That I have gotten from insufficient agitation. ~10 seconds gentle agitation, once a minute works well for me for sheet and roll film.

William

 

[rover]

I wouldn't. The idea with a divided developer is to have as much of solution A soaked up by the emulsion as possible. That is due to the fact that all of it will be exhausted by solution B. If there is insufficient A, then parts of the emulsion will not develop properly. Note, I'm not saying this will happen, however it is the problem that causes the manufacturer to recommend against the practice.

I just put it in the A, without a pre-wash, for 4 minutes & everything works just fine.

William

To me the logic discussed in the thread at flickr sounds pretty good. If you can soften the emulsion the more it can absorb. I will see how it works. I have to read the post again too. I want to be sure if they are talking specifically with T grain films or with all. It just makes sense to me that if the instructions haven't changed in 50 years on the box and everything else around them have....

 

[wlewisiii]

Well, T-grains are a different kettle of smelt. I have yet to find one that does well in Diafine no matter what technique I use. T-Max always looks "muddy", for lack of a better word, and scans poorly when I use it with Diafine.

I think people need to understand that Diafine is a develper for classic emulsions (Tri-X, Plus-X) and that modern ones (T-Max & Delta) are better served with other developers.

 

[venchka]

The Gospel according to Wes Clavey. Diafine user since forever.

Now I will follow up my last post with saying that my current usage of Diafine is slightly different than that:

First, I use it as a 1 shot developer, rather than a reusable developer. In doing that, I dilute each solution 50/50 with water immediately prior to use (see below).

Since I am dumping it after each use, I try to develop as many roll or sheets as possible at 1 time. I use the tall Jobo developing tanks and a roller base to continuously agitate throughout the development. But it allows me to develop quite a bit of film in only 800ml of 50/50 solution - - so dumping it out isn't that bad, economically.

My development sequence is as follows - - all in the Jobo tank and Steps 2-8 with continuous agitation:

1. Load all the film in the Jobo tank - - all film gets treated the same, sheet or roll, no variation by brand or speed.
2. Pre-soak the film 4 minutes in 800ml of water with 7 drops of Photoflo in it. Dump.
3. Process 4 minutes in diluted Solution A (400 ml Solution A + 400 ml water). Dump.
4. Process 4 minutes in diluted Solution B (400 ml Solution B + 400 ml water). Dump.
5. Wash 30 seconds in 1000 ml water.
6. Process 4 minutes in Rapid Fixer. Keep or dump - - whichever you want).
7. Wash 2 minutes in running water.
8. Process 1.5 minutes in 800 ml Hypo Clearing agent, mixed according to the directions. Dump.
9. Wash 6 minutes in running water.
10. Dunk each reel in Photoflo solution for 30 seconds then in/out dip in distilled water.
11. Hang to dry - - do not squeegee.

Following this process, I shoot all my B&W film at box speed - - no "speed improvement" that you usually get from Diafine. The real benefit, to me, of this process is that it flattens the contrast a bit and yields much more manageable images down here in the bright TX sun... so everything is not so high contrast that you can't do anything with it.

YMMV...

 

[Calzone]

I don't prewash, but I found that I get the best negatives with the least amount of aggitation. After I fill and for every minute I gently and rather slowly invert twice and end with a rap. I have no problem with bromide drag.

I shoot Tri-X at 1250, but I generally increase contrast with a dose of filters to avoid the Diafine tipping point of thin negatives that lack density. Don't be afraid to use even red/orange filters. Adjusting film speed gave me irratic results.

Also discovered that Fuji Arcos shot at box speed (100) is a magical combination with Diafine. No filters are needed like with Tri-X, although I found that the best time is not 5+5 on the Diafine box, nor the 4 1/2+4 1/2 recomended on the massive developement chart. 4 3/4+4 3/4 gives me the perfect density for wet printing.

BTW I mostly shoot 120 and I found that Diafine's contrast compression can provide extra extended contrast lattitude that I did not have with ID-11 1+1.

Cal

 

[LeicaM3]

Do you ever get Bromide smudge things?

I am just getting back into using Diafine after a short lay off so am just looking for the best results I can get. I had a couple issues in the first few rolls I have processed this month.

No Bromide smudge - but I use only stainless steel tanks and reels. The vast majority (if not all) I have heard of are with plastic.

I would work on optimization of agitation (two gentle inversions per minute) before I go against the recommendation by the manufacturer.

 

[wlewisiii]

No Bromide smudge - but I use only stainless steel tanks and reels. The vast majority (if not all) I have heard of are with plastic.

I would work on optimization of agitation (two gentle inversions per minute) before I go against the recommendation by the manufacturer.

When I say gentle agitation, I mean really gentle. I don't turn the tanks over at all. Over agitation is a cause of more problems than under agitation, IME & all that.

William

 

[LeicaM3]

Over agitation is a cause of more problems than under agitation, IME & all that.

William

Let me take the opportunity to state that:
I agree.