Diafine Tips and Hints?

[Spleenrippa]

I've been developing with Diafine for the year or two that I've been shooting film, and I've found that my negatives are kind of dull and flat- they just don't have the punch that I see in the work of others.

I know that a lot of the time, it might just be a case of playing with curves/levels in PS post-scan, but I'm curious to see if I can get different results from the dev process itself.

My usual routine is:
Solution A- 4 minutes, agitate for a few seconds every minute
Same for B
Rinse, fix (Kodak fixer) for four minutes, same agitation as above
Rinse, wetting agent, etc.

Right now I'm shooting Legacy 400 (neopan) for 35mm, rated at 400 or 1600.
Any tips are greatly appreciated 😱

 

[je2a3]

Right now I'm shooting Legacy 400 (neopan) for 35mm, rated at 400 or 1600. Any tips are greatly appreciated 😱

Diafine user here also, I've only shot my 3rd or 4th roll of NP400/L400 @ the box suggested EI640....seems over exposed for my taste. I might try EI800-1000 the next roll...tips please?

 

[DRabbit]

I shoot Arista Premium 100... Usually at anything from 250-400
Also shoot AP 400... At 800 or 1250.

Diafine A: 7-8 minute, agitate gently (twist, turn) twice every minute.
Diafine B: 5 minutes (same agitation)
Distilled Water (usually unless I'm lazy or out of it)
Kodak rapid fix: 8 minutes (same agitation)
Water rinse
Photoflo rinse

I use VueScan for scanning with a Plustek 7300. I've been happy with contrast, and have found it better staying in solution A longer than the 4 minutes.

 

[mfogiel]

Diafine really works well mainly with Tri X, and actually he best results come out if you shoot rated around EI 400-800.
Tri X @ 800, FM3A, Planar 85/1.4

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

In my experience with Diafine some films work better than others. The Foma line of films came out very nice with Diafine.

 

[Roger Hicks]

1: It's good stuff with many (but not all) films

2: It's not the magic bullet that some of its more overheated fans say it is.

As with all 2-baths, the time in bath A governs the imbibition of the developing agent, and bath B should pretty much exhaust the developer so the time ain't crtical. Give more time in A if you want more development.

As far as I recall, Neopan has quite a lot of development accelerators in it, which may make it less than ideal for 2-bath, but I may be misremembering or simply wrong. Oh: and temperature DOES matter.

Cheers,

R.

 

[sleepyhead]

Also, in case it isn't obvious, do not presoak the film in water prior to Bath A.

My best results with Diafine have been with TriX rated at 1000, and Plus-x at 250.

 

[Doug]

My main mistake early in my Diafine experience was over-agitation in solution B. That tends to wash-out the absorbed part A resulting in thin negs. Now I'm very very gentle with part B agitation.

 

[Fotohuis]

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Diafine-data.pdf

Indeed some films much better then others.

 

[Freakscene]

As far as I recall, Neopan has quite a lot of development accelerators in it, which may make it less than ideal for 2-bath, but I may be misremembering or simply wrong. Oh: and temperature DOES matter.

Neopan Acros and 1600 have a lot of incorporated development accelerators, Neopan 400 less so. Totally agreed on temperature - you have more flexibility but you don't get to develop in the tropics or arctic without ramifications. The closer you can keep it to 20C the better and the more consistent the temperature between film you develop - surprise - the more consistent the results.

More info (a long rant by me) here: http://leica-users.org/v35/msg08686.html

It's brilliant with Tri-X.

Marty

 

[Matus]

Just out of curiosity - which films do you guys find that "do not work" with Diafine? What are the results then?

 

[Spleenrippa]

Neopan Acros and 1600 have a lot of incorporated development accelerators, Neopan 400 less so. Totally agreed on temperature - you have more flexibility but you don't get to develop in the tropics or arctic without ramifications. The closer you can keep it to 20C the better and the more consistent the temperature between film you develop - surprise - the more consistent the results.

More info (a long rant by me) here: http://leica-users.org/v35/msg08686.html

It's brilliant with Tri-X.

Marty

While I don't actively regulate the temperature of my chemicals, they're all stored in the same cupboard in the kitchen. I'd think that they're +/- a couple degrees from 20, depending on the season of course.

One step in which I might really be making a mistake is the temperature of my rinse- I get the water out of the faucet at something lukewarmish and just rinse with that. Mayhap, I should keep a gallon of water in with the chems...

 

[Spleenrippa]

I shoot Arista Premium 100... Usually at anything from 250-400
Also shoot AP 400... At 800 or 1250.

Diafine A: 7-8 minute, agitate gently (twist, turn) twice every minute.
Diafine B: 5 minutes (same agitation)
Distilled Water (usually unless I'm lazy or out of it)
Kodak rapid fix: 8 minutes (same agitation)
Water rinse
Photoflo rinse

I use VueScan for scanning with a Plustek 7300. I've been happy with contrast, and have found it better staying in solution A longer than the 4 minutes.

DRabbit, your photos are exactly what I want. Your 'look' is perfect, IMO.

 

[titrisol]

Too dull? expose a bit more since Diafine is a low contrast developer anyways

Most old-school films did OK in diafine (PlusX; TriX; Agfapans; Orwos, etc)

 

[Doug]

With Diafine, development is essentially on a fixed track. This is at once its strength and weakness; one cannot adjust development to match different film exposure. One instead adjusts exposure to work best with the development track. At the same time, development is very non-critical as to time or (within limits) temperature, no precision is needed. Easy.

Due to the way this 2-bath system works, and from my experience, I'll suggest that the nature of the film emulsion strongly affects how Diafine works with a particular film. Thin emulsion films simply cannot absorb as much Part A as a thicker emulsion film. More Part A in the film leads to stronger development action before exhaustion and more boost in effective speed above "box speed".

For instance, thin Ilford Pan F works well for me with Diafine at its rated ISO box speed. Thicker FP4 sees about 1 stop over its rated ISO, and HP5 gets around 1+ stop speed boost. I have not used modern T-grain films, which I understand have thinner emulsions, and I'll venture a guess they have less speed boost if any.

How does this match up with y'all's experiences? 🙂

Ilford Pan F ISO 50 in Diafine (M2 with 75 Heliar)

 

[Tim Gray]

My main mistake early in my Diafine experience was over-agitation in solution B. That tends to wash-out the absorbed part A resulting in thin negs. Now I'm very very gentle with part B agitation.

Be careful with under agitation in B. I've gotten bromide drag from that while using Diafine.

Tri-X is useable at 1250-1600, just like it is in other developers. It might also work for you better at 400-800. Try your film out at different exposures and situations and see what works.

 

[tonal1]

I know this is an old post, but I have Diafine on the brain at the moment: Are you using the same batch you started with? If so, dig up your negs from when the batch was new and see if they have better density and contrast. You may just need to replenish/start over your Diafine... That's what happened to me the first time; I bought into the myth of "immortal" Diafine.

 

[Bruin]

My Diafine is almost two years old but has only seen around 50 rolls. Now that you mention it, I'll check if my Diafine is "fading." I haven't had to filter mine though; both solutions are tinted but clear.

Temp DOES matter, 21-24 C is optimal. And I've gotten bromide drag from under agitation in B using steel reels and tank.

 

[Bingley]

I've been using Diafine on and off since I started developing my own film, and haven't been particularly thrilled w/ the results until I tried it w/ Plus-X (or Arista Premium 100) at iso 320. I really like that combination: nice rich blacks and dark grays, and contrast that I like. Here are a couple of examples:

I'm still working on the batch I originally mixed up two years ago. I've replenished Part A, and filtered Part B, but both are still going strong, as you can see from the shots above which are recent.

 

[Spleenrippa]

Threadomancy isn't always bad. There's always time for some more Diafine love!

I have a brand new bulk roll of Plus-X that I intent to start shooting soon. Will report back after seeing how it looks