help wanted: developing my mystery roll

[mackigator]

First off, know that I made a pretty classic mistake: I forgot to write down my settings and now that it is time to develop the roll my memory is clouded.

Second, I need your help to decide the proper dev times, all things being equal, for what I most likely shot.

Here are the facts. I shot a roll of Arista 400 Premium (Tri-X) and I either:

A) exposed it at ISO 400

B) exposed it at ISO 1600

I'm 80% sure it was B.

Now for the tricky part. Most of the roll was shot while also using the Hexar RF's HX-18W flash on a CLE. This flash is not TTL and I was shooting it in its "auto 1" mode as if I was metering at ISO 400 with an f/stop of 5.6. The flash is weak - it has a guide number of 18 at ISO 100 (full power). Looking at the chart on the flash, it should have been throwing light out to about 20 feet set the way it was (ISO 400 assumed).

So how should I adjust my development times to compensate here?

Obviously, if it is opt A, I just run it normally.

But what if it is opt B? And what if I want to split the difference rather then risk it all, so to speak?

I have DDX, Rodinal, and D76 on hand, in case that matters to the discussion. Thanks for your help!

 

[Keith]

Tricky ... in your siuation I think I'd be getting some Diafine.

I have some in the cupboard for this exact scenario and would use it rather than take a risk if the shots were important ... generally though the results I've seen with Diafine don't excite me!

 

[Ronald_H]

What Keith said. Diafine will most likely save all your pics in this situation.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Another vote for two-bath, though not necessarily Diafine. Most formulae should work OK.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Tom A]

You could also try a stand development with Rodinal. Mix it as 1:100 and after some heavy shaking and banging (30-60 sec) let it sit for at least 60 min without any agitation. Fix and wash as usual.
You are "only" looking at 2 stops difference and even if you overdevelop the 400 part by one stop (and under develop the 1600 part by one) you should get a printable negative. So, it might not be an Ansel Adams quality - but useful.
If the stuff on the roll is important - do a test roll with the same exposure screw-up and try the processing of your choice. If it works, just go for it.
Diafine would work, but then you would have to get yet another developer.
You could also do Rodinal 1:50 for 12-13 min. - which would give you about 800-1000 asa - dense negatives on the 400 asa setting and somewhat thin on the 1600 setting - but you can still print or scan them.
Dont worry, we have all been there - including running Neopan F (32 asa) at 400+ asa ( souped it in Rodinal 1:10/10 min -ugly, but printable). Damn, those Fuji film cassettes all look the same!

 

[iamzip]

Diafine! Very forgiving developer, adjusts for a wide range of exposures.

 

[mackigator]

Thanks for all the advice. I've been putting it off but now it's the last roll, so I'll have something soon.

I'm going to do a clip test from the actual negative, pulling 5 inches of film, cutting and developing that first. I'll base my times for the rest of the roll on the test. Since most of the frames are versions of a similar scene, hopefully I won't lose much, and this should let me develop the rest with confidence.