B&W Processing and Labs

[Larky]

Wow, I posted something helpful for once. Yes 🙂

Regarding chemicals, I know what you mean. I don't like them so don't clean my house. I developed so much through my teens it gave me dodgy hand skin which needs constant lotions. Nothing nasty looking, I don't have herpes or anything. But I never get anything on my hands now because I just don't bother to tip the tank over. You can always wear gloves.

I process on my kitchen counter, I walk around the house with the tank sometimes and if I'm in the middle of an e-mail it sits next to my keyboard. It's not a big wet room process in any way.

As for dust, I dry mine on my washing line in the garden. If it's rainy I dry it on the curtain rail with the window open. I have so much dust in my house because it was built from what looks like asbestos. It's falling down. I'm not joking when I say if you leave a fresh piece of paper on my keyboard for two days, it turns furry gray. So don't worry about that.

Oh, regarding temperature, I never do. I use whatever water comes out of the tap.

 

[DRabbit]

Loading without removing from canister - you can just cut it off when it gets to the end then?

You guys have really taken a lot of fear out of this... I've got Diafine, a Paterson tank, some clips and Photo Flo on my shopping list at Amazon. I still am waiting for a recommendation on Fixer 😉 -- I'm going to look at changing bags now (if my bathroom at night isn't dark enough)... what size should I get?

With the Diafine, I really don't have to worry about temperature?

What else do I need?

 

[Drewus]

My tips:

Get yourself a changing bag. It makes it so much more comfortable to load the film onto the spools, and there is also less chance of something going wrong (someone opening to door to your bathroom for example).

Once my developing is over, I simply peg the film to some string I have hanging from one corner of my shower to the other. I develop at night before going to bed, so it means the shower isn't going to be used for atleast 8 hours anyway. Plenty of time for film to dry properly.

If you're paranoid about the chemicals, just wear some gloves when you're pouring them. You should be doing this when working with chemicals anyway.
But really, i'd say that there are more toxic chemicals sitting around your house than the developer and fixer.

The massive dev chart, located at:
http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php
is really useful for working out the chemical/water ratio and developing time for the kind of film you'll be using. I tend to ignore the suggested temperature, and simply use room temperature water instead. I've never had any problems doing this.

It really is incredibly easy and rewarding to do, and you'll save yourself a ton of money.

 

[Drewus]

Also, I use Ilfosol 3 developer and Ilford Rapid Fixer.

 

[DRabbit]

I saw in another thread about Diafine that if I'm doing, say, Arista Premium 400 I have to expose for 800 or 1250. Does that mean in the developing process or when I'm shooting (having the camera set for 1250). I know it may seem like a dumb questions, but cut a film newbie some slack 😉

 

[Merkin]

With Diafine and Tri-x, you want to set the camera's ISO to either 1250 or 1600, as if that were the speed marked on the film canister. If your camera sets this automatically via DX coding, there should be an override method, or you can gaffer tape over the DX markings and the camera will ask you for the ISO. You then develop in diafine according to the box instructions.

Also, since you mentioned a bit of reservation about the toxicity of the chemicals, look in to buying Sprint chemicals. They are basically less toxic versions of the kodak chemistry, and because of this reduced toxicity, they are rapidly becoming the chemicals of choice for school darkrooms across they country. If you do go the Sprint route, I would also pick up some of their developer, which is essentially identical to kodak d-76. That way, when you want to shoot your tri-x at 400, you have a developer for that, and when you want to shoot it at 1250 or 1600, you have a developer for that as well. Also, if you are still worried about a clean drying environment, you could build a small drying closet type enclosure out of nylon cloth surrounding either a wooden frame or pvc tubing. Just build the frame, and sew the cloth around it, installing zippers for opening and closing it. Throw some of the big reuseable silica gel pouches in the bottom to absorb moisture, and try not to leave it open too much, so very little dust gets in. Every so often, just throw the silica gel packets in a low oven to dessicate them again.

 

[dfoo]

In my experience diafine works just fine with ISO ranges between 400 and 1600, even on the same roll on Tri-X. All the negatives were printable.

Put the film on reels in a totally black room, or use a changing bag. Don't use a bathroom at night, thinking it is dark. You'll end up with white streaks on your film.

 

[DRabbit]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

If I'm developing in Diafine, is there any downside to shooting the Arista Premium 400 at 1250 (other than the obvious on a bright sunny day). I like the fact I can shoot different ISO settings on the same roll to experiment. I do like to shoot wide open a lot of times, so obviously shooting at 1250 in light conditions might not always be optimal.

As for the totally black room... I was thinking that my husband's recording studio might be perfect. It's a garage, but it's been finished into a room (so no more garage doors) and the one window in the room is painted black. At night, it might just be completely black, but I'll have to check.

I do have a changing bag on my list though. Any recommendation of size?

I loaded my new Ikon with film today and I did load BW400CN to start off with. I'm going to give the local pro-lab a try and see how I like the results. But the developing might still be fun to do, so reading all your information has been SOOOO helpful! You may have convinced me...

😉

 

[Larky]

Get the biggest bag you can as you need to get the tank, spool, other things, lid, hands etc inside it. I rip the can off when I get to the end, it comes away really easily. Oh, one thing is always load onto totally dry spools, if they are wet it can be tricky and of course spoil the shots.

Which Ikon do you have, not the fancy new one? If you do, I instantly am jealous. 🙂

 

[DRabbit]

Larky, you've been so helpful so thanks! You're the one responsibility for really starting to get me to change my mind on all of this! I ordered my supplies! (see other thread)

I did get the "fancy new one"... I bought it used on ebay. It's a "limited edition" one in silver and is in great shape. It's all thanks to tax seasons and a decent refund 🙂