Did I Over Develop?

[Sean Chan]

I did my 2nd roll of self devlop film just now and the result was not as good as my first roll which the developing time was half min less and temp was 1 degree lower than this roll (5.5 mins @ 20 C).

Did i over developed the photos?

Here are negatives scanned using same setting without any modificaiton after scanning.

The file name stated the ISO setting I used on my Nikon FG to take the photos, the other photos on this roll were all shot at ISO800, so i was trying to develop with ISO800 in mind.

Film used was Ilford HP5+

Developer used : Kodak Tmax @21 C for 6 mins.

 

[RObert Budding]

I'm not sure I understand what you did for each of the three attached photos. But all of them lack shadow detail because EI 800 is two stops under-exposed (at least for HP5 in D76, which is what I use). Try exposing your next roll at EI 200. If you really need faster film, try Delta 3200 at EI 1000.

FYI, I process HP5 in 1:3 D76 for 14min at 68 deg F. Two inversions on the minute.

Robert

 

[Sean Chan]

May be I should not use these photos as example as the it was taken indoor with difficult lighting conidition. I shall upload another one taken under daylight later on today for everyone to see.

 

[titrisol]

I don't know what are you trying to prove, they look fine.....
I have never used Tmax dev on HP5+ but I guess it maybe an speed enhancer so ISO 800 could be close to speed for this combo
Anyways 1 stop is not much of a push with HP5


Are the black zones of your negatives extremely dark?
As a rule of thumb: Put the negs on top of a book and see if you can see the letters on the book through the darkest part of the negatives. If you can not you probably overdeveloped.

 

[ray_g]

Are the black zones of your negatives extremely dark?
As a rule of thumb: Put the negs on top of a book and see if you can see the letters on the book through the darkest part of the negatives. If you can not you probably overdeveloped.

Very useful tip. Thanks, titrisol.

 

[Sean Chan]

I have not tested it with the book yet, I will do this tonight when I get home but last night when I looked at those negatives I felt that they are rather too 'dark' that's another reason why I guessed that they have been over-developed.

So...........is there any rules of thumb for changing developing time? I mean for how long shorter or longer do I have to change to come to a noticeable different? I guessed it might not be linear. Will half minute with everything unchanged be good start ? or a whole min?

willl tempature have even greather effect?

I hope my questions are not too naive.

 

[Doug]

Looking at the negatives is the best way to tell... First I would examine the shadow areas (the more transparent parts of the neg) to see if the detail I want is there. If not, it's clearly (no pun) underexposed! Next look at the most nearly opaque areas of the neg, representing the lightest parts of the pic, to see if important highlight detail is there. If not, if this area is too opaque, you have overdeveloped. This simply follows the basic rule to "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights." The proof is in the print... if it's easy to print well, you've hit on a good combination. If it's hard to get a print you like, then it's time to consider what you can do with exposure and/or development to get an easy neg to print.