Developing Virgin: Tips needed.

[rogerchristian]

Later you can try all sorts of changes but for now, keep it simple.

Some general suggestions:

Prewet the film in the tank with processing temperature water, keeps bubbles away, and the developer can go to work right away since it does not have to break down surface tension. Also tempers the tank so it does not cool the developer as much.

Keep all the solutions the same temperature as developer, including the washes. Reduces reticulation (grain clumping due to temperature changes).

Kodak and Ilford pretty much don't recommend stop bath any longer, a few rinses with water (processing temperature) is sufficient. You still need stop with paper during printing, since the paper carries a LOT of developer with it.

Pick an agitation style and stick with it.

And as noted above, go easy on the Photoflo (or Edwal LFN - Low Foaming Negative) wetting agent. LFN comes in a neat and easy to use drop bottle.

Photoflo (200) means it should be diluted 200 times for use - a little goes a long way!! There used to be a Photoflo 1600 for use in big labs, guess what the dilution was.

Good luck. BTW: everyone has their special techniques which work for them. These work for me, and have for years.

Another side note: HC-110 is a pretty good, inexpensive all around developer, and Kodak is now recommending Diafine 2-bath developer as an alternative!

 

[Ronald_H]

Hi there, I'm finally going to develop my first roll of film tomorrow and I'd like any advice you can spare.

I've got 5 rolls of Delta 3200-135 in the fridge waiting to be developed and a bottle of Rodinal.

I've checked The Massive Dev Chart but I was wondering if anyone has any other advice or tips they can give me for this film/developer combination?

A couple of notes: All the rolls were rated at 3200 and I've got a serious love affair with grain.

Thanks.

Like others have said, why start with Delta 3200? In Rodinal of all things. Not a good match. Try Tri-X next or maybe something slower even.

Anyway, I only developed my first roll two years ago, and I still feel a bit of a newbie compared to the old hands on this forum. I do have some tips though:

For a stop bath you can use plain vinegar, diluted 1+4. Works like a charm, very cheap. For the final rinse I use plain tap water + the tiniest drop of washing up liquid. Again, costs next to nothing and works like a charm. If I don't do this I get horrible drying spots.

You will really get a kick out of it. You will have in all probability usable negs from day one, but mastering development is something else. I could fill a small book with the things I did not quite right or just plain horribly wrong 😀

 

[Becoming]

UPDATE:

I just hung my first roll of Tri-X up to dry and it looks pretty good but here's the problem:

There are faint, uniform stripes running from the sprocket holes across the entire roll of film.

Does anyone know what caused this?

Here's the developing details in case it helps:

Tri-X 400 @ 400 in Rodinal 1:50 for 13 minutes.
Slow inversions for the first minute then two inversions every minute.
No pre-wash, Kodak Max-Stop and T-Max fixer.

Any help will be greatly apprieciated!

Thanks.

 

[Peter S]

Michael, sounds like bromide drag, something that can easily happen with diluted developer. Nothing serious, a little bit more agitation should do the trick. Tri-x in Rodinal you want to keep agitation to the minimum, but maybe you were a little too careful.

Enjoy the ride, developing your own film is fun.

Peter

 

[gho]

UPDATE:
There are faint, uniform stripes running from the sprocket holes across the entire roll of film.

I have seen that also occasionally on my negatives and attributed it to my agitation (too vigorous, too little?).

I guess it has something to do with the uneven flow of developer (either by agitation or thermodynamically) in the tank.

Maybe presoaking the film and trying to keep the temperature constant in the entire development chain (including presoak) may help also. Be sure that the developer concentrate is solved thoroughly in the water. Consistency is also important. If you change something in your development process, change only one thing at a time.

By the way, when testing, you do not have to sacrifice a whole roll of film, just take some test shots and take the film out of the camera in a dark room. This is speeding the testing process up somehow.

With Rodinal, more agitation is producing more grain. Stand-develpment in Rodinal may produce stripes of another kind if the scene is very contrasty with large areas of black and white (snow). It is not easy at first, but I like the flexibility of this combo (Tri-X, Rodinal) and use it for quite some time exclusively now.

Don't be discouraged and enjoy! Within the next few developments you will be doing fine.