Diafine Diaries

Here go the 645 shots off the little Daiichi folder - PXP is the film here, no meter, shot in dying light. This was the test roll, had just received this little camera from eBay. Not bad, and Diafine works well here with the tight PXP grain. Smooth gradation.
 
Anyone else tried Kodak 3200 in Diafine? I just did a roll and found the results much less pleasing than Tri-X Pro in the same. The grain pattern is odd, and though the shots are sharp, the images have a very busy almost "actinct" look to them. I'll post some later. The recommended speed is 1200 for that film, and I agree with the density, but I think I'd push it a bit harder next time, if it was free...

The 3200 was throw away (out of date) film from the camera shop, so I didn't mind shooting it (for nuttin!) but now I know.
 
Thanks, Rover. Keep at it, the Diafine will work for you, I swear it.

A coupla months ago I was terrified to dev my own film. The tweakers on PNET were coming out of the woodwork - TRY SODIUMPANTHAMOPOLITIUM @ 22.222343433 MINUTES, AND THE TEMP MUST BE EXACTLY 72.121232321 DEGREES OR IT WILL FLASH IN THE PAN! - man my head was spinning.

My local prolab had a Diafine kit laying around out of the blue, so I picked it up, went home and took a deep breath - love at first sight. No regrets. Ive even developed a found roll of 40+ yr old film in it without blinking, and it came out fine (see attached images).

You'll find that, as T_om wrote, having digital editing abilities will all but eradicate any issues you MIGHT have with the film/dev combo, provided you don't blow the exposure completely, ie brutally over or under expose.

40+/- yr old roll of Verichrome Pan images below:
 
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Welcome here, hither! I'm one of yon Diafine users! :D Anyway, I like your first 6x4.5 shot, that's really a nice one. On that very last one (found-film VPan?) there looks to have been some kind of contaminant material on the film to cause those odd dark spots with light centers. Unless those are chocolate candies scattered on the print? :)
 
Nah, it was the next to last frame on the roll, had deteriorated from exposure over the years, I suppose.
 
Scanning through the old topics is very interesting and, based on the age of the thread, I usually choose not to dredge up the old thread... but I thought I'd add my 2 cents here.

I have used Diafine exclusively for the past 20+ years. Prior to that, I worked in a newpaper darkroom, with access to many alternatives and an endless stream of people who were willing to tell me why I should use their particular concoction. But then I went on an extended project assignment in South America (north coast of Peru) as project photographer for an archaeological project. All the official project photography was done on KR-64 (35mm), but I took along my 6x6 and did my own B&W. Since I had no electricity and water that ran only as fast as I could run with it, I wanted an all-around developer that had no temperature dependencies. Diafine was the answer... and I have kept it ever since. Just as has been suggested several times, I adjust the ASA to reflect the light condition... all on the same roll.

My son is now working on a creative arts diploma and, while his experience at school is like mine at the newpaper darkroom - - lots of people with lots of concoctions, he has chosen to follow in his father's footsteps and uses Diafine for everything he processes at home.

For reference, we both shoot 120 and 35mm. and for film use HP-5, J&C 100, Arista.EDU 400 and 100, and Tmax-400 (120 and 35). We both particularly like Tmax-400 (TMY120) in Diafine. I just ordered some Arista EDU Ultra 100 and some Arista Pro 50 to try as well - - my son and I are looking for a low speed and high speed film that we both will standardize on.

So, all in all, we both believe that there are probably great reasons to use a specific film/developer combination, but on a day-in, day-out basis, we're keeping our Diafine.
 
I'm looking for the same high/low speed 2 film combo to use with Diafine. My standard film up to now has been HP5+ in Ilfosol S developer. I found that 400 speed film was a good all-round film speed for me, giving a liveable compromise between speed and grain. With Diafine developer though, one can soup films of different speeds in the same tank so switching to more specialized high and low speed films is easily done. For fast film, HP5+ is most easily available where I am, but it sounds like most people here prefer Neopan 400. I just bought 6 rolls of APX 100 to try as my slow speed film, but someone said they didn't like APX with Diafine. Of course I'll try it and see for myself since I already have these 6 rolls. I was wondering what 100 speed film is liked by Diafine users here.
 
I've heard others ding it, but I really like how the Plus-X 125 came out for me (ei 400). Now if I could just get the scanner happy...

William
 
Home brew Diafine....
recipe by Tom Hoskinson
Diafine-Like Developer

A Bath
Boiled Water @125 degrees 750ml
Sodium sulfite 35.0 grams
Phenidone 0.2 grams (dissolve in about 30ml 99% isopropyl alcohol, then add)
Hydroquinone 6.0 grams
Sodium Bisulfite 6.0 grams
Boiled Water to make 1.0 liter

B Bath
Boiled Water @125 degrees 750ml
Sodium Sulfite 65.0 grams
Sodium Metaborate 20.0 grams
Boiled Water to make 1.0 liter

For a lower contrast index, replace the metaborate with borax
For a higher contrast index, replace the metaborate with carbonate

Can be used between 68-80 degrees
Do not pre-soak.
Soak in bath A for 3 minutes.
Move to bath B for 3 minute soak
Do not rinse in between baths.
Do not use an acid stop bath; use a water rinse.
An Alkaline fixer is recommended.
 
Whee! Now that's fun to see. May I ask where you came across this?

William
 
Frank, as for recommendation for a 100 speed film to use with Diafine, I like Illford Pan F, shot at 80, which is pretty close to 100...

If it's a flat scene, though, it's back to 50 for me.
 
Frank, I was complaining about APX 100 in Diafine (not very contrasty) but I think that was my fault since I might have agitated a bit too much (as in I agitated for 10 seconds and not 5, heh). Keep in mind that HP5 is rated at 800 by diafine. I am going to try it out this long weekend to see what happeneds when I meter the film at 800 and 400 (I dont have a meter but I will adjust my guestimation accordingly).
 
einolu said:
I am going to try it out this long weekend to see what happeneds when I meter the film at 800 and 400 (I dont have a meter but I will adjust my guestimation accordingly).
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Funny, I had identical plans :D

I like my HP5 (althoguh I'm leaning towards Neopan at the minute), but I have a load of Diafine to play with and 800 is a little fast for me for everyday use. Want to try it out at a few different EIs before I buy a 100' roll of either it or the Neopan...
 
We had this discussion about a year ago in APUG, and Tom Hoskinsons came with the recipe.
I saved it and prepared it, works very well, unless you are brain-dead at 2Am and dump solution Bin the SOlution A bottle..... kaput!

wlewisiii said:
Whee! Now that's fun to see. May I ask where you came across this?

William
Click to expand...
 
I just shot 2 rolls of Arista.EDU Ultra 100 (35mm) this afternoon and processed them in Diafine. I think I might have found my ideal combination. When I try out a new film in Diafine, I usually start with it at the rated ASA and so I shot these rolls at 100 - - they look fantastic! I'll have my son contact print them at school on Tuesday and I should be able to tell for sure... maybe I can even talk him into scanning a few to share...
 
I follow a sequence for etsts in diafine or any other:
-3,-2,-1,N,1,2,3 I shoot a grayscale and a scene that has awide range of exposures (the mantle with white pottery through a blac Ricohflex) and develop

Normally Diafine has a"Speed boost", bt sometimes it does not
- Delta 3200 1200 or at most 1600
- Neopan 1600 - 1000
 
I will be shooting Plus X today. Nice and sunny out, should be a good film. I will probably shoot at 320.
 
rover said:
I will be shooting Plus X today. Nice and sunny out, should be a good film. I will probably shoot at 320.
Click to expand...

I'm taking the barnack loaded with Plus X out today too. With the Summar and med yellow filter - plus X rated at EI 32 :)
 
Diafine is great; sometimes you get interesting results. Two days ago I developed two rolls of film I thought was TJ-Max 400, but it turned out to be the C-41 process B&W film (read: generic XP2-like) I had bought over two years ago and forgot I had; I bought it for test-taking.

Sometimes the pics are awful, sometimes they're great. Two samples from same roll of film. So be warned about using it with "undocumented film"...

(oh, btw, camera and lens is R4 + 50mm Summicron)
 
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