Developed my first roll!

[mstevenson]

I have wanted to develop my own film for quite some time, and finally made the plunge over the weekend. With some coaching from a friend (who lives 1000 miles away now) I picked up some TMAX developer, Ilford Rapid Fixer, and PhotoFlo along with all of the bits and pieces I need to develop film on my kitchen sink. My best buy thus far was a Paterson universal tank in its original box for $3 at a thrift store 🙂

I shot a roll of 400TX through my Canonet as quickly as I could in the fading light and nervously developed the film at 1+4 68 deg. for 6 minutes. Stopped by filling the tank repeatedly with filtered tap water, and fixed for 5 minutes. Washed in running water for about 15 minutes then soaked in photoflo for 5 minutes or so.

I wet down my shower stall and hung the film overnight with a film clip at the end for weight. I think the dry heated air caused the excessive curling that I ended up with, and lack of shaking / finger squegee caused the drying marks on almost every frame. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results.

I'm really excited about finally being able to process my own negs, the cost of development was killing me, and I didn't really have the control that I wanted. I think I might try D-76 or something other than TMAX to cut costs even more. The TMAX was recommended as an idiot-proof first developer.

I scanned the negs on my Canoscan 4200F (tough going with the curling) and ended up with these (levels and unsharp due to scanner quality) pic's in my gallery. http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/839

Any suggestions? Do they look OK for a first attempt?

Michael

 

[back alley]

biker is a great shot!

tx? is that tri-x or tmax film.
if tri-x (i'm guessing it is) i would not use tmax developer.
if anything d76 is good.
for an easy way, i like ilfosol liquid developer.

joe

 

[mstevenson]

Thanks Joe! The 400TX is the new TRI-X. I decided to use the TMAX developer on recommendation from my friend due to the simplicity. Like I said, I will probably get some D-76. You can't go wrong with tried and true right? 🙂

 

[FrankS]

Good on ya! It is a really satisfying feeling to do it yourself!

 

[Doug]

I like "portrait", very nice shot. Plenty of texture and detail, good tonality though it's very flat lighting. Successful first try!

 

[Bubba]

Those shots look very nice. I'm impressed. I have never developed film myself. I have been threatening to do it for a while. You have given me more motivation to take the plunge. Unfortunately, I have a large list of "honey-do's" (a list of projects from my wife) that I need to finish before I am allowed to do it.

If you have any lessons learned, please share them. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking about delving into the processing game.

Bubba

 

[kiev4a]

Nice job for first time out of the gate. The pictures have a good tonal range. Strange that the film curled. That's usually a sign of very old film. I've never noticed the amount of heat being a factor in curling--unless the heat is extreme. D-76 1:1 is a cheap way to go. I mix a gallon and then store it in quart or smaller bottles. I really improves the shelf life. Try to keep the temperates of the developer, rinse, fix and wash as even as possible. Extreme temp changes can affect the grain.

 

[rbiemer]

It has been waay too long since I've developed my own film for me to offer any advice but I will congratulate you on the good work you've done!
I always found the process a bit magical and I hope you will continue with this.
I am currently looking for a new place to live so I can set up my darkroom again--I don't have room even for film devloping :bang:
This summer that will change.
once again, keep up the great work!
Rob

 

[RayPA]

Congratulations! They look really good. Tmax Dev. is really easy, and a good place to start, so you got good advice from your friend. Liquid premixed and concentrates are a good place to start too.
I like the Tmax 400/Tmax developer combination, especially in low contrast light. I like the "Standard Balcony Shot." I have a standard shot too. One that usually ends up on a roll somewhere, but most often the first or last pic. It ends up being a good "touchstone."
It looks like you picked up a newton ring on "Brian on the Balcony." I use a flatbed scanner and used to get those when the film wasn't completely, utterly, thoroughly dry. Could that be from your drying marks? There is also something across the top too (may be my monitor). That's my favorite of the group, though. Good job!

 

[jdos2]

As a hint to get rid of the water marks, either get a wetting agent (Photo-Flo is Kodak's name) or an even cheaper hint, use a drop of "Jet-Dry" from your dishwasher supply shelf in the final rinse water, and your negatives will sheet the water, instead of the water drying on the film.

Vedy nice!

 

[digitalox]

Much better than my first attempt! Ilford sells d-76 in liquid form , I think its called ID-11, if you want to give that a try. It might be a better match for the TX and is just as easy to use.

 

[back alley]

id-11 is powder = d76.

ilfosol is the closest to d76 in a liquid form.

works nice.

joe

 

[doubs43]

Michael, those are outstanding results for your first time and I predict great things to come!

Walker

 

[mstevenson]

Wow! Thanks for all of the words of encouragement. I am really stoked about developing and plan to keep doing it for quite some time. I appreciate all of the comments and tips. I will definitely look into Ilfosol before going about mixing D-76. I am a bit sketchy about mixing powders.

Bubba: The only lessons learned so far is to somehow get the excessive water / photoflo off of the film before hanging it. My friend suggested getting your fingers really wet and using them as a squeegee. He suggests not using an actual squeegee. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the curling problem, I still think the film dried too fast due to the dryness from the forced heating in my apartmane.

Rob: I don't have room for film developing either, but I do have a very patient and understanging wife 😀 I am currently using my kitchen sink and storing my setup in a box in a closet. I find it quite magical as well. I was really pleased when the film came off of the spool with negs and not a strip of black!

Ray: Yep, thats the drying marks. I have those rings on just about every frame. The film was definitely dry when I scanned it.. dry and curled 🙂

JD: I actually did a final rinse in photoflo, I'm still not quite sure why I got the marks, may be that my water filter needs changed.

Michael

 

[back alley]

try distilled water and see if you still get the marks. it could be something in your water.

 

[canonetc]

First Roll Developed

First Roll Developed

Every roll of Kodak I've ever processed curls. I don't know why, but Ilford never does that to me.

If you;re getting water spots, soak the film (still in the reel) in the photoflo mix for at least 30 seconds, then dunk into a tank of water and swirl for 2-3 seconds. Unlock reel, immediately hang to dry in dust free environment (I use the bathroom, window closed). I never use my fingers to squeegee. Let the Fotoflow do it's job and make the water run off evenly.

I find it useful to get some odor free Stop Bath mixed at 1.25 ounces to make 32 oz of Stop bath. Doesn;t harm my film at all, and makes for quicker development time.

I've found, only when developing ILFORD film, that I can use the same batch of developer for two more rolls of film by adding 15-20 seconds of development time. Sounds scary, but it seems to work for me.

Good luck! Nice images too.

 

[mstevenson]

try distilled water and see if you still get the marks. it could be something in your water.

That is very likely. I live in a highrise apartmant building just outside of Washington, DC. I have a filter on my tap, but havn't changed it in a while (we drink bottled water 🙂). It wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be some kind of deposits.

 

[mstevenson]

Every roll of Kodak I've ever processed curls. I don't know why, but Ilford never does that to me.

If you;re getting water spots, soak the film (still in the reel) in the photoflo mix for at least 30 seconds, then dunk into a tank of water and swirl for 2-3 seconds. Unlock reel, immediately hang to dry in dust free environment (I use the bathroom, window closed). I never use my fingers to squeegee. Let the Fotoflow do it's job and make the water run off evenly.

I find it useful to get some odor free Stop Bath mixed at 1.25 ounces to make 32 oz of Stop bath. Doesn;t harm my film at all, and makes for quicker development time.

I've found, only when developing ILFORD film, that I can use the same batch of developer for two more rolls of film by adding 15-20 seconds of development time. Sounds scary, but it seems to work for me.

Good luck! Nice images too.

Interesting. I've heard from a few sources that the new TRI-X has an especially thin base making it prone to curling. I certainly do plan to try other films as well, just figured I would get my feet wet with the TRI-X.

I did soak in diluted photo-flo but did now rinse afterwords. I will have to try that.

I didn't try stop bath (chemical) as I was trying to do my first roll or two as simply as possible. In this experimental phase, a few extra minutes is OK with me. I will probably try stop bath at some point in the near future.

I'm also sure that I will try pushing the limits of my chemicals at some point too 🙂 . For now I am happy to get actual negatives with a one shot solution. Thanks for the tip though!

Thanks!

Michael

 

[GeneW]

Interesting. I've heard from a few sources that the new TRI-X has an especially thin base making it prone to curling. I certainly do plan to try other films as well, just figured I would get my feet wet with the TRI-X.

Tri-X is a classic and the new version is very nice, but it is prone to curling. One trick I learned that helps me with Tri-X is this:

After it dries, and before you cut it into strips, gently roll it back up, but in a reverse roll with emulsion side out. Put a rubber band around the roll and let it sit overnight (in a baggie or something to keep dust off it). This removes a lot of the curl, and the flatter negs produce better scans.

Gene

 

[mstevenson]

BINGO! I was actually informed that the "drying" or "water" marks on my film is actually a moire pattern caused by the excessive curling and exacerbated by the fact that I scan at 3 passes.

When I scan on my 4200F (flatbet with light hood) the curled film juts down at the center of the frame. Some frames look worse that others due to their poisition and degree of flatness within the carrier.

Looks like drying marks aren't the issue.

Gene: Thanks for the tip. Looks like finding a solution to the curling is even more pressing now. I still have a few rolls of tri-x to shoot, I'd hate to see it go to waste.

Michael