So, I guess I'm finally going to try to develop my own roll of film. Film used will be an expired 35mm roll of Tri-X that's been in the heat, so I'm really not expecting much, just trying to get my feet wet with the whole process. I'm going to be using HC-110 as my developer. My main questions are: using the Massive Devchart as a starting guide, I'm seeing that I can soup it in Dilution E for 8 minutes at 76 degrees Fahrenheit; but I'm wondering, based on research off the internet, can I use dilution H instead and prolong the developing time up to 10 mins? Or is this a mistake? Also, I made a working stock of fixer months ago, does fixer go bad? And lastly, is opening the film can necessary if you leave the film leader out? Thanks!
It's your time of course, but using expired, heat damaged film will give you unpredictable results. You won't be able to come to any general conclusions based on how your film comes out. Why not get a fresh roll of 24 exposures (easier to load on the reels too!) and shoot some stuff around the house to learn on. Then you KNOW that it is supposed to come out.
I always use dilution b or h. H is undocumented by Kodak, so I would suggest using one of the standard dilutions and timed before going off into experimental-land. For dilution b, I give it 6.5 minutes at 68F (20C) to get box speed with nice contrast and tight grain. Massive Chart's site has a time/temp nomograph, use it.
Your fixer should be fine, it takes a LONG time to go bad, even at working strength.
If you decide to just pull the film from the canister, do it slowly, as rapid pulling can cause sparks that will show up on your negatives.
So the way I'm thinking of doing it right now will be: 2 minutes of pre-soak (to follow the notes in the dev chart), followed by adding the developer, constant inversions for the first minute and then 4-5 inversions every 30 seconds after, 3 minutes of stop bath (I'll be using tap water), 5 minutes of fixer, and finally another 3 minutes of water for the hypo clear and then 10 minutes of rinsing. Anything wrong with that process?
Pre-soaking is good, especially if your developer is at a different temperature than the ambient, room temp. I usually give it less than 2 minutes, but then I'm impatient.
You don't say, but be sure to pour out the soak water before adding the developer!
I give the tank exactly 3 inversions every half minute, after the initial 1 min agitation. I include pouring time in the first minute.
I fill the tank twice with tap water and immediately pour it out for a stop. The acidity of the fix solution completely stops the development. Diluting it with tap water only slows it
waay down.
5 minutes of fix is good. I use 4 min for fresh fixer, 5 min after a few rolls, and six as the solution nears capacity. I monitor the capacity of the fixer by putting a bit of exposed leader in the solution and timing how long until the silver halide dissolves. When it takes 3 minutes, the fixer is very weak, and should be changed.
It takes just as long to rinse hypoclear from film as it does fixer. Skip that step and wash for 20 minutes in running water, or use the "ilford method" of successive fill-agitate-dump-and-refill, steps.
Hang the film in the shower for an hour (if you are impatient) or until it is flat (overnight.)
Good luck!
