First Wet Work in Five Years - HELP!

foto_fool

Well-known
Local time
7:44 AM
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
732
Last night I developed the first film I have souped in five years - since before the kids were born (bathroom/darkroom had to go). My workflow is now negs to scanner to giclee printing (I just love to use that word!) - no more wet prints until the kids or older and/or we move to a bigger place.

Results were mixed:

07112523sm-vi.jpg

Not so bad. ZI/75mm Summilux on HP5+. Raindrops - not dust.

07111619sm-vi.jpg

Not so good. Konica III on Agfa APX 400. I deliberately picked the worst shot on the roll here but grain and contast were more or less problematic in every frame.

Developer was Ilfosol-S in a single-roll hand tank at 68 F. Times were 7 minutes for the HP5+ and 12.5 min for the APX. I inverted the HP5+ slowly but continuously for the first minute then 2 inversions every 30 sec after. Used the same pattern for the APX but instead of inverting the tank I rotated the reel with the little stick that goes through the fill hole for that purpose.

Everything else went normally: 2 minute stop rinse with water, rapid fix (Lauder Formula 763) for 5 minutes, 2 minute water rinse, 2 minute soak in ZonalPRO Archival Rinse and a final shot of PhotoFlo.

Does APX just suck in Ilfosol? Or should I stick with inversion? Other advice welcome!

- John

EDIT: dilution was 1+9 and times were from the MDC. I rated the APX at box speed. I don't really love this film and don't shoot it much as the local lab results in Xtol 1+1 have not been great - but better than the mess I made here.
 
Last edited:
I have no knowledge to offer you since I've yet to do my own development, but I just want to say the first picture is WOW! 😱 What clarity!
 
All my photos from this year are APX400 and it sucks in just about any way. Still, it's the final image that counts so I'm not fussing over it.

Last year was apx-100 and I can't say good enough about that film. It's just incredible!

I've wet-printed some apx-100 yesterday. I still can't believe just how good it is. In about 250 prints I'll start printing all my apx-400 shots so I'll be able to tel you more about it (in about 6 months).

One thing is for sure, the way to judge films is by looking at prints and not scans!
 
Ilfosol is a superb developer but you have to use it all up right away. This means having 10 films ready and start developing them all. Otherwise, Ilfosol just oxydes and becomes worthless in a few days.
 
everything I remember about Ilfosol-s is that it gets pretty grainy with faster films. And APX400 was never a gem to begin with.

I've not used the combo to know if your results are typical...

I love that first shot though. 🙂
 
Thanks Will & RD - I credit the models, light and Summilux here, and I think I may be shooting a lot more HP5+ in the future.

Ned - I agree about the prints (saving my best-composed negs for real prints in the future). I too like APX 100 a lot. I have been shooting a bit of Efke 100 as well and find I like its more retro look. Thanks for the HU on using up the Ilfosol quickly - I will finish the bottle tonight or tomorrow. Then use up some D76 while waiting for more stuff to come from Freestyle.

Rouge - I sure hope the granier with faster films is the faster films and not the Ilfosol, but I will know for sure by tomorrow. The next rolls in the work queue are Neopan 1600 and Delta 3200.

- John
 
Back
Top Bottom