iPod Touch / Dev Chart App review

[martin s]

Thought I'd share just how well this app works. You obviously have to have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, navigate to the App Store and search for "Dev Chart". It's 4,99 Euros.

Once you install the app it looks like this, top row, the second from the right - the super ugly icon labeled "Dev Chart".

You start off with films available. The app lists all the films / developers the website includes, afaik that is. You scroll until you find the film you use, in this case I picked "Adox CHM 400" to illustrate a few features.

You click the film, next you get a choice of available speeds you could expose the film at. There's some crazy stuff though, HP5+ at EI50. I wouldn't really try that except for accidents maybe. Let's make a sensible choice, EI400.

Next, you get the available developer times for the film / speed combination. A lot easier than the website.

 

[bmattock]

It's free online, and I can set my laptop in the kitchen, assuming I could not somehow simply print off the times / temps.

Whilst I love my iPod Touch, I see no reason to buy this app. It gives me nothing I need.

 

[martin s]

Now one of my favorites, XTOL 1+1. But as you can see, you have plenty of choices, especially for common films.

After you click the star in the top right corner, that's the screen you get - an overview of what you picked, up for editing.

After clicking "edit", it looks like this - you can for example rename the film (e.g. to "HP5+ / CHM 400" since they're the same) and also change everything else, in case you want to enter your own times or adjust times once you've tried them. You can also make notes.

 

[martin s]

You can set different times for two bath developers, too.

Now just click start, and the first timer starts.

It beeps for the first minute and ten seconds (signalizing agitation) and after that every 60 seconds. There's a signal 3 seconds before agitation and a really annoying bell once you're done. You can start the next timer once you start fixing and so on.

All in all it's worth it to me, it automates developing to an extent where I can do something else at the same time. Also it's neat to have all the times, dilutions and possible speeds stored in your favorites and customized to your liking.

martin

 

[ulrikft]

Very neat app, I use it on my iphone myself, when in the darkroom! Very practical indeed 🙂

 

[DerekF]

I bought and use this app all the time. Great work! The ability to do temperature/time conversions, save notes and custom dev times, and the upcoming chemical mix calculator will things even more convenient.

 

[martin s]

Something that should be mentioned though: It's easy to mess up the Apps drm linking to your iTunes Account and thus rendering your device a, well.. app-less mp3 player. Now if you have to reinstall things (in those cases where re-authorizing doesn't work) you will lose your notes and times. Happened to me once.

martin

 

[DerekF]

Is there a developer's site or blog or something, somewhere - that one can see upcoming features, etc. on? The single page on digitaltruth.com doesn't seem to offer much information...

I got my info from Martin's support site on Get Satisfaction:

http://getsatisfaction.com/mman

 

[Trius]

Bill: Not having to use a laptop (size difference), bulit in customizable timer, local data in case of an ISP outage ... reasons enough to buy it. I was a bit sceptical, but bought it and am glad.

 

[bmattock]

Bill: Not having to use a laptop (size difference), bulit in customizable timer, local data in case of an ISP outage ... reasons enough to buy it. I was a bit sceptical, but bought it and am glad.

OK. I just haven't had any trouble with just printing (or writing it down) on a piece of paper. I'm cheap - I just don't see the advantage. I have a timer in my kitchen already, use it for cooking. The iPod is actually one thing I would not want in my kitchen, in case I dropped it in the sink or something. Would not even want to touch the screen with a wet hand.

OTOH, I like watching old "Thin Man" movies on the video player. Makes me glad I don't watch TV anymore.

 

[Trius]

Good points, though I use the Touch in the bathroom aka darkroom, not much water around, and the way the timer works is to stop at every step. So you have time to wipe your hands/fingers before tapping to continue.

I'll have to look for Thon Man episodes ... The only videos I watch are You Tube stuff (photography, newscasts and Zen-related), I'm too cheap to buy movies. 😉

 

[bmattock]

I'll have to look for Thon Man episodes ... The only videos I watch are You Tube stuff (photography, newscasts and Zen-related), I'm too cheap to buy movies. 😉

I buy DVD movies that my wife and I watch when I'm home, then I copy them to my iPod to watch later myself. We like old B&W classics, and the 'Thin Man' series is a hoot. I'm too cheap to buy movies on Apple's service either, but fortunately, they do permit you to copy your own movies onto the device.

I find the iPod useful for a number of things, it's kind of a replacement for the PDA I used to carry when I traveled for a living, good for appointments and that kind of thing. I have a nice free diabetes app that helps me track my blood sugar. I've looked at the various free photography-related apps and not found anything worth anything as of yet, but I keep looking. DoF is not bad, but I don't carry my iPod with me when I go out shooting, so it wouldn't really do me much good then.

One thing I've given a lot of thought to is discussion forums. None of them have a nice 'theme' that makes them very usable on iPod, in my opinion. I've actually read and posted a couple of one-liners from my iPod, but it's a pain to do. I think a nice iPod theme would be great for RFF (hint). I have experimented with a couple that work with Wordpress, and they're great. I'm thinking of reviving CameraMentor and I have managed to get the Wordpress theme for iPod working on it, it's not bad.

 

[bmattock]

Bill, how is it done? I managed to copy a movie to the phone once, but it wasn't worth the effort and DVDs from the hire place are encrypted. :bang:

I run Linux, it's very easy. I just run dvd::rip to make an .avi file of the DVD; then I run WinFF for Linux to convert the .avi file into an .mp4 file. Then I copy the file into my Sun VirtualBox running Windows XP and load up the iTunes software. I tell iTunes to 'add video' and point it at the .mp4 file and that's pretty much that.

If you're not running Linux, I don't know what to tell you to do, but I have a coworker who runs Windows, and he says it's even easier for him. I believe he runs a program called 'Handbrake' that he says works great.

http://handbrake.fr/

 

[Turtle]

Whats wrong with testing films and dev times and then using those times and temps 😉 (either recorded the old fashioned way or in a computer file)

Looks nice, but I honestly cannot see what use it really has (apart from providing starting points).

 

[Al Kaplan]

I have a chart taped on the wall, black ink on white card stock. Real high tech! Works fine and it won't get ruined and quit working if you drop it in the chemicals. But really now, if you use more than 2 or 3 developers and a couple of film types you'll never really learn them.

Now if that gizmo had a wireless temperature probe and ph sensor just maybe it would be fun to play with.

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

 

[Trius]

Al, you are quite right. It's simply a matter that I do do some experimenting/testing with different combinations as my needs and applications shift a bit. I have been using TX with Rodinal or HC-110 for ages, do don't really need the reference info. But as I go back to revisit FP4+, try an Efke film for the first time, dabble with Pyro or PMK, etc., it's nice to have ready reference.

Really, though, I find the timer the most useful.

The Touch can be dropped and broken in any situation, I just try to be mindful at all times. 🙂

 

[wontonny]

I tried the app and didn't like it mostly because I do a slightly different developing process. I agitate for 5 sec every 30 sec, instead of the apps agitate for 10 sec every minute. I also do continuous agitation for the first thirty sec instead of a full minute. I read on his update site he's working on doing customizable templates.