B&W 35mm Developing Questions

Jesse3Names

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Hi all,

I just got my darkroom 35mm developing gear from B&H yesterday and am trying to figure things out for when I get back from a camping trip near Stanley, ID in the Sawtooth Mountains this weekend. It's only overnight, but I have a goal to shoot 3-4 rolls of 35mm b&w film with my Nikon S3 RF. I currently have 2 rolls of T-Max 100, 2 rolls of Tri-X, 1 roll of Acros, and 1 roll of Delta-100; the goal, specifically, is to shoot 1 of each. I also have a roll of Provia 100F, which I may toss in my Canon A2 and shoot with my ultra-wide Canon 16-35/2.8L II lens.

I bought Adox Adonal (Rodinal formula) and Kodak XTol to develop and PF TF-4 to fix (no stop bath necessary). I also bought LFN to thin out the final distilled wash water. I still have some questions, though.

(1) Does developing for longer at a higher dilution generally give better results in daytime landscape images (i.e. lower grain, smoother tonal gradation, higher acutance, etc.)? Of course developer matters - Adonal (Rodinal) will give higher acutance than XTol, but is this the general case? For example, on Kodak's Xtol development chart for their film types, they list times with working solution strength and also 1+1 dilution. Would using the longer time with 1+1 dilution give cleaner results for my b&w landscapes?

(2) When MassiveDevChart (MDC) development notes say "minimal agitation," does that necessarily mean stand development? Is there some traditional agitation sequence and some traditional minimal agitation sequence and then stand development (all separate things)?

(3) How do the ISO 100 films I have do with pulling to EI 50? Have you guys seen better pulling results with Rodinal or XTol? Another example from Kodak's official Xtol development chart - They list the same time for "EI 25/50." That's a full stop of light difference! Does that mean it doesn't matter if you pull it 1 or 2 stops, you develop for the same time and achieve nearly identical results? Something smells fishy about that, but obviously I have no real film experience so I'm asking 🙂

I'm sure I'll think of other questions over the next few days so I'll try to include those in replies to this thread. In advance, thank you!

Cheers,
Jesse
 
Start simple. Stick to one film and one developer, and start with the times and temps recommended by the manufacturer.

One rule: always use fresh developer. If money is tight, use thin dilutions (eg D76 1+3, or Rodinal 1+50) rather than re-using stock solutions. You'll find times for these dilutions in the manufacturers data.
 
Start simple. Stick to one film and one developer, and start with the times and temps recommended by the manufacturer.

One rule: always use fresh developer. If money is tight, use thin dilutions (eg D76 1+3, or Rodinal 1+50) rather than re-using stock solutions. You'll find times for these dilutions in the manufacturers data.

That's my plan. I would like to use Xtol for all low ISO film I shoot just to keep things simple. I bought the Adonal because I heard it does a great job pushing films like Tri-X and developing Delta-3200 normally.

Is Adonal 1+25 considered a "stock" solution? Since you can't obviously use it at the strength it is in the bottle... what a waste that would be!
 
google stand development.
that is what I do with Rodina...trouble free, dont have to worry about temperature, timing does not need to be perfect.
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That's my plan. I would like to use Xtol for all low ISO film I shoot just to keep things simple. I bought the Adonal because I heard it does a great job pushing films like Tri-X and developing Delta-3200 normally.

Is Adonal 1+25 considered a "stock" solution? Since you can't obviously use it at the strength it is in the bottle... what a waste that would be!

No - stock solution is a term for developers made from a packaged powder, mixed with water then stored as concentrated "stock solution" to be further diluted before use. D76 (or Ilford ID-11 - same thing) can be used as a stock solution for a short developing time, and re-used up to 10 rolls per litre by extending the dev time according to a given formula. The problem is that you can end up with inconsistent developing unless the process is strictly controlled. I get much better results using ID-11 as a one-shot developer (use and discard) at 1+3 dilution.

Adonal = Rodinal (for all practical purposes) and is best with slow film at box speed or lower. If you like the high-contrast look in your negs go for the push and use it, but be prepared for empty shadows and burnt-out whites. Better to expose and develop for negs with plenty of tones, and do the high-contrast treatment later when printing, or in digital post processing. Personal taste - YMMV. Have fun. 🙂
 
Generally, I'd avoid stand development - contrary to what the colleague above is suggesting, it seldom gives fully satisfactory results, due to uneven development risk.
I would keep Rodinal for slow films and Xtol ( myself I prefer HC 110 for ease of use) for fast films.
If you want to shoot landscapes in reasonably contrasty light ( when sunny), exposing at EI 64 0r 50 for Rodinal development is not only possible, but even preferable. My suggestion for compensating style development in Rodinal, would be 1+100 dilution, and modest agitation every 3 minutes for ABOUT 20 minutes at 20 C. I wrote "about", because the degree of contrast and compensation effect requested can be adjusted to taste - in any case, this developer at this dilution is very elastic. Similarly, if you shoot 400 ISO films at EI 200-250, it will give better results tonally, although I dislike Xtol for pulling, because in my eyes it is primarily a speed enhancing developer, more indicated for pushing. I would go with D76 or HC 110 instead.
 
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