First B/W Film Dev in 12 years!

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mike goldberg

The Peaceful Pacific
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Hi friends...
The scans will be ready a bit later...

Here's my methodology, with a few anecdotes thrown in
to keep it from being too boring 😉 Comments welcome.

Developing HP5+ Dilutions, Time & Temp:

NOTE: Use of Big Clock in Palm Zire 71 is excellent. Also, have a small, accurate clock with sweep sec hand.

Loading:
Films were loaded into developing tank in my PC room. Desktop was shut down, and everything was UNPLUGGED to turn off LED's. I have a small TV in the PC room, and I was able to discern the shape of the picture tube in the dark; this was covered

Developer:
HC110 [European syrup] Kodak Catalogue 500 1466
Dilution F = 1:24 or 18ml in 450ml water for 2 films; developer is discarded.

Time = 12 min at 68f; this is 2.5 times Dilution B. See Covington below.
I have reduced dev time from his 12.5 min to 12, as temp was 69f.

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

NOTE:
At 11 min, 20 sec, I am already pouring out developer. Water only Stop Bath IN, as 12 min is coming up.

Fixer:
Working solution = 1+9... This is easy to do via the Fixer graduate markings. I HAVE working solution that was used for 1 film.
Fixing TIME = 8-10 minutes
Fixer is saved. Mark storage container with number of films developed.

WASH:
Arrangement of tank in stainless steel kitchen sink, allowed filtered water to go down the center of the reels... thus, the wash water bubbles up over the edge of the tank.

Water coming in was 65f, thus film was washed for half an hour.

NOTE: Position of reels in tank:

DEV: If it's only 1 film, the reel with film is the LOWER one.

WASH: With 1 film, the reel with film is the UPPER one.

RINSE, Final:
30 sec in dilute EcoFriend, biodegradable dish detergent. A squirt of Ecofriend, already diluted 1:2, goes into the tank. Tank is filled with water same Temp as wash water was. The action is rapid up & down swishing of reels for 30 sec; let drain.

NOTE:
Even if PhotoFlo was available in Israel, I would not pay a fortune for a small bottle! BTW: The EcoFriend is made in Israel. It's cheap, and we have a helluva lot left over for dishes 🙂

Continued…

WIPING Film:
This comes from experience, of 12 years ago… with thousands of films:
Hold one end of the film, and squeegee it down between index and 2nd finger.
Do this again. Hang to dry in environment... as dust free as can be possible.
No streaks ;-)

I hung the film in the bathroom, turned the bathroom heater on to low, walked out and closed the door. After a while, I turned the heater off, WITHOUT going into the bathroom.

4:40 AM: I put out bread for the birds and went to sleep. Most of the time invested, was in set-up & work flow.

As Edward R. Murrow has said, "Good Night and Good Luck."
Mike Goldberg
Jerusalem
27.3.07
 
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Mike, I use Dilution (H) which slightly more concentrated than (F). I have been using 13 minutes at 68 degrees F for Tri-X. So, it sounds like we are fairly close in time, temp. Be sure to post the scans, I for one will be interested.
 
OK... here they are, Scan I & Scan II... with Conclusions in Scan II.

SHOOTING CONDITIONS & SETTINGS:

ISO was 400, and most pix were with flat or low lighting.

Three exposures for every scene were made; one was at ISO 400 and each of the others... under and over by one stop.

Camera was my Bessa R, and three of four pix here, were done with the CV 75/2.5.

GUY WTH PC IN SILHOUETTE:
My intention WAS to photograph him in silhouette, with just a bit of shadow detail. I like the out of focus couple in the background, at the coffee shop.

CALDER COW SCULPTURE: This is near the CC at the entrance to my neighborhood. Here, I chose the ISO 200 frame to retain some shadow detail against the overcast, yet fairly bright sky.

Scan II & Conclusions follows very soon...
Cheers, mike
 

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OK, here's Scan II & Conclusions...

BEANIES or KIPPOT, as they are called in Hebrew:
It seems to me that the CV 75/2.5 did a great job here.

GIGI & FRIEND:
Shown here is 40% of the original image. Gigi [not her real name], is the
caregiver for an elderly client; I cannot show the client's face. The surprise
here is how well a J8 50/2, some 45-50 years old, did at f5.6.

BTW: NO digital sharpening was used in Resizing these images.

CONCLUSIONS/DISPOSITION:
For most of my 15 PJ working years, beginning with 1972, I was a 'Tri-x man.'
All these years later, I decided to try HP5+; it is widely available and a bit cheaper than Tri-x 🙄

I have always known that HP5 is a bit lower in 'snap' or contrast than Tri-x.
Further, I have NEVER developed using HC110 [a great soup!]... with any Dilution other than 'B' before. A higher dilution is economical; you use the stuff and dump it.

Thus, MY negatives from last night are under-developed. They need at least 10% more development time.

I would very much appreciate input about Dilutions, Time & Temp.
The Covington material is great. See:

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

And, it looks like the digi-monster got to him; it begins with, "I am no longer doing much film photography and..."

What I experienced last night was a lot of fun... and, hard work. Setting up
and establishing a work flow, after my wife went to sleep ;-) took time, and I was ready to Develop at 2:30 AM.

Thanks for listening, and let's hear.
Cheers, mike
 

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Mike, I think it looks as if you've done a great job. I recently picked-up some HC110 that I intend to try when I get my darkroom back in order. I got an interesting recipe from GeneW on this site that is a 1:100 dilution of HC110. I am anxious to try it. In the interest of keeping things as economical as possible, stretching the developer with a higher dilution makes sense. Of course, it means longer development time. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
 
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