Do you alter developing times for multiple films?

[Matthew Allen]

I've done a search and not found an answer so I thought I'd ask: do you vary your developing times depending on the number of films in the tank?

I'm asking because my Jobo 1520 will take two 120 rolls on its reel, and I'm wondering if I need to establish different times for 1 and 2 rolls. I would expect the developer to be exhausted faster with 2 films, but does it make enough of a difference that one needs to adjust? If so, by how much?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[Roger Hicks]

Patrick is dead right.

Consider a 2-bath developer.

The developing agent is all in the first bath. A few ml of this soaks into the film. In the second bath, there is no more dev agent -- but the film still develops.

You need ridiculously little developer per film: most of it is only there to wet the film quickly and evenly.

Kodak's Xtol is the only dev I know that specifies minimum quantities, and I've never been able to find out why. I suspect that the answer is oxidation, as it can be with PMK. But the dev time is still the same for one film or several.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Matthew Allen]

Thanks Roger and Patrick. The developer I'm using at the moment is ID-11 and I'll soon be trying Rodinal as well.

Matthew

 

[KenD]

If you are doing 2 rolls of 120 (160 sq in) in a small tank with highly dilute (say, 1:100) rodinal you may run into exhaustion problems.

 

[nikon_sam]

If you are doing 2 rolls of 120 (160 sq in) in a small tank with highly dilute (say, 1:100) rodinal you may run into exhaustion problems.

So then does the manufacturer reccomend a longer time for a roll of 220 than for 120???

If I have two or more rolls of 120 I do double up on one reel and develop normally...Haven't seen any problems and they do print just fine...😎

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

You also put in twice the amount of developer.
Therefore exhausting shouldn't occur.
I do not change the times for 1,2 or 3 films.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[Matthew Allen]

You also put in twice the amount of developer.
Therefore exhausting shouldn't occur.
I do not change the times for 1,2 or 3 films.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

Not with the tank I'm using you don't. Since with the Jobo you can do either 1 or 2 120 films on a single reel, the amount of liquid that goes in doesn't change. It's not like comparing a 2 reel tank to a single reel tank, where there would be more liquid in total.

Matthew

 

[pau3]

Usually you can find the information in the developer leaflet. For instance,
for D-76 1+1, Kodak advices to increase developing time by 10% or so.
Best thing, however, is to check yourself testing.

Pau

 

[narsuitus]

"Do you alter developing times for multiple films?"

Yes, I do.

I don’t have the information handy right now because I am traveling but based on my memory; I increase the development time when I process in my big tank (holds eleven 35mm rolls). The increase in time is primarily due to the longer time it takes to fill and empty the tank.

 

[sepiareverb]

Unless you are using minimal amounts of developer stock solution I wouldn't worry- and the first batch will tell you if you need to worry anyway.