Developing different film types in a tank together

[grapejohnson]

Sometimes, when I have a lot of different kinds of film to be developed, I'll see if the times are the same and develop them together if they're a good match (HP5+ @ 400 and Tri-X @ 1600 in D76 1:1, for example). I can't notice any downsides to doing this when I scan or print these negatives, but out of curiosity are there any reasons not to do this? For example, could it change how the developer reacts with the film, or the graininess?

 

[jmcd]

No interactive problem mixing films in the tank.

 

[nikon_sam]

I do that too...haven't seen any ill effects...

 

[Bob Michaels]

I have developed different films in the same tank for years and found no reason not to do so.

FWIW: I have found that Tri-X and HP5 have the same developing times by putting them both in the same tank. So if you are using one shot at an ei of 400 and another at 1600, you are counting on the exposure latitude of the film to bail you out. Of course underexposing one of them by 2 stops is counting on the exposure latitude to some degree no matter your development time.

 

[grapejohnson]

I have developed different films in the same tank for years and found no reason not to do so.

FWIW: I have found that Tri-X and HP5 have the same developing times by putting them both in the same tank. So if you are using one shot at an ei of 400 and another at 1600, you are counting on the exposure latitude of the film to bail you out. Of course underexposing one of them by 2 stops is counting on the exposure latitude to some degree no matter your development time.

Really? With everything? According to Massive Dev, in D76 1:1 Tri-X at 1600 is 13:15, while HP5 at 400 is 13:00. I figured the 15 seconds aren't that important.

 

[taskoni]

Really? With everything? According to Massive Dev, in D76 1:1 Tri-X at 1600 is 13:15, while HP5 at 400 is 13:00. I figured the 15 seconds aren't that important.

Try to check it other way around 😉

Regards,

Boris

 

[grapejohnson]

Try to check it other way around 😉

Regards,

Boris

What do you mean?

 

[Gid]

I do if the times are reasonably close. I regularly develop HP5+ and FP4+ in the same tank at 8:00 mins in DDX 1:4 (Jobo CPE2)

 

[marcr1230]

I've done this with Rodinal - one benefit of stand development is the time is the same for all films - you just have to make sure you shoot at a "good" ISO for Rodinal for each roll individually

 

[V-12]

If you use a compensating developer, such as DiXactol, or 510 Pyro, films all get processed pretty at the same time for 'normal' speeds if each film has had its optimum exposure. So Pan F, FP4 and HP5 are all the same time. And if you find other developers and film combinations have the same time and temperature by coincidence you can put them in the tank together.

 

[zauhar]

It would be a nice feature of the dev chart app if it would report film/developer/ISO combinations "close" in time to a specified combination.

Randy

 

[taskoni]

What do you mean?

You are right about that 15 sec difference is nothing, but if you have Tri-X @ 400 and HP5+ @ 1600 (other way around) there's the tricky part - tri-x is around 10 min. and hp5+ is around 18 min.
That's what I meant 🙂

Regards,

Boris

 

[nikon_sam]

Really? With everything? According to Massive Dev, in D76 1:1 Tri-X at 1600 is 13:15, while HP5 at 400 is 13:00. I figured the 15 seconds aren't that important.

You must remember that the numbers in the Big Chart are suggested starting times...you can adjust from there...
The film & developer I use call for a time of 13 minutes...I develop for 14.5 and am happy with the results...😀