Just processed my first roll and questions already

[nightlight]

Hello there,

I thought I'd post a note to say that after my paranoia attack earlier this week about hazardous chemicals, I've finally managed to process my first roll.

I used the Kodak pdf instructions and timings. Chemicals used
Dev - HC110 (1+9)
Stop - Kodak Max Stop (1 + 14)
Fixer - Kodak Polymax (1 + 4)
Photoflo

The frames appeared and I am very pleased. Unfortunately not having a scanner, I can't show you the shots but I'll try to get one as soon as the wallet says ok.

I had some questions please:
1. Does agitation (by spinning the Patterson reel with that center column) as effective as inverting the tank?
2. I checked the massive dev chart and it recommends a much longer time than Kodak for development. 4.5-6 mins vs Kodak's 3.75 mins (20 deg). What do you use for the same combination?
3. I fixed for 6.5 mins at 20 degs, is that enough? Can excessive fixing hurt the negs?
4. How long do you dry the neg for? When the negs aren't wet anymore, can I put them straight away in the sleeves or should I wait some time before?
5. Finally, is there any recommended way of removing the roll from the patterson reel? Are the 2 sides supposed to come off?

thanks
Clarel

 

[markinlondon]

Congratulations on your first roll, Clarel. Simple, innit?

As to your questions:
1. There's no difference, just agitate for the same time.
2. The Kodak times for Tri-x in HC-110 are just plain wrong! I use about 6.5 minutes in dilution B, but prefer about 12 in dilution h (1/2 the strength of B).
3. Overfixng will start to dissolve the image silver. 3 times the clearing time of the film is OK, 20 times is bad.
4. Wait until they're bone dry. Beware of water trapped under the clips.
5. Just pull gently, it'll come out OK. The reels come apart with a sharp twist clockwise but then you'd have film all over the place!

 

[nightlight]

Hi Mark,

thanks for the quick reply. Yes it was simple and fun. The last time I remember handling graduates and chemicals was 12 years ago with a chemistry teacher screaming over my shoulder.

Thanks for the timings as well, I'll try that tonight, I've got a huge backlog of unprocessed rolls!

Clarel

 

[charjohncarter]

Good answers markinlondon, by the way I agree with markinlondon's times for TriX.

 

[drewbarb]

markinlondon is right about not over-fixing. You should fix for about 5 minutes. The film shouldn't need more. The film will look a bit purple, but use a fix remover/Permawash or just a long-ish water wash with agitation, and the film should wash out clean. I do a two minute water wash with 5 changes of water and almost constant agitation straight out of the fix, then three minutes in Permawash (with agitation same as the developer) then a final wash with near constant agitation and 15 changes of water. Permawash can be re-used to the tune of about 50 rolls per gallon, or until it turns purple and doesn't clear. I don't like to process or print without it.

As for removing the film from the reels, just take hold of the end, and gently pull it out when still wet, then hand to dry. Don't take the reels apart- you'll make a mess of your film, and have a devil of a time getting the reels back together.

 

[Chris101]

... The last time I remember handling graduates and chemicals was 12 years ago with a chemistry teacher screaming over my shoulder. ...

As a chemistry teacher, I love doing that! It works best if you sneak up and scare them in mid-pour of sulfuric acid or something!

J/K - congrats on your first development. After a thousand or so, I still get the thrill when I see the images on the film.

ps, I agree with Mark about extending the dev time. In fact my standard development is 9 min in dil. H at 74°F.

 

[sienarot]

Another note about fixing: also be careful not to under fix. Fixing generally takes 4-6 minutes. If after that time your film is not clear and transparent, continue fixing or mix up a fresh batch of fixer and start again. And when I say "clear and transparent" I don't mean the film strip should be colourless as some are coloured (ie: HP5+ is purple), I mean you should be able to see through it very easily. Film that has not been completely fixed will appear a bit cloudy or foggy when you look through it. Failure to properly fix your film can cause the emulsion to fade over time.

If you don't notice the film is looking cloudy until after you've done your washes and hung it up, it is okay to re-fix it at anytime, even months or years after you've originally developed it. Ideally you'll catch it soon after development to prevent any fading, but sometimes a roll or two may slip through at this stage when you're starting out because you're eager to find out how your photos come out 🙂

Good luck and be sure to share what you have!

 

[nightlight]

thanks a lot everyone. It's liberating to be able to process my own film, but a bit frustrating not to be able to see the end result. I need to get a scanner but I dread the hours scanning film (reminds me of post-processing RAW digital files, which was the reason why I cam back to film).


I'll try the extended processing very shortly 😉

 

[nightlight]

Mark - I've just tried another roll at 6.5 mins' dev and 5 mins fixing, it's looking much better from what I can tell from the negs.

thanks for the tips!

Chris101 - I really did not like chemistry. I was bad at it and the teacher was not helping things.

 

[Xmas]

Clarel

If you take the film to a modern mini lab they might scan it to CD RoM for you, though they will probably scratch it as well. They are not set up for other than C41, so should not mind you developing it yourself.

Noel

 

[Monz]

Hello there,

I thought I'd post a note to say that after my paranoia attack earlier this week about hazardous chemicals, I've finally managed to process my first roll.

I used the Kodak pdf instructions and timings. Chemicals used
Dev - HC110 (1+9)
Stop - Kodak Max Stop (1 + 14)
Fixer - Kodak Polymax (1 + 4)
Photoflo

The frames appeared and I am very pleased. Unfortunately not having a scanner, I can't show you the shots but I'll try to get one as soon as the wallet says ok.

I had some questions please:
1. Does agitation (by spinning the Patterson reel with that center column) as effective as inverting the tank?
2. I checked the massive dev chart and it recommends a much longer time than Kodak for development. 4.5-6 mins vs Kodak's 3.75 mins (20 deg). What do you use for the same combination?
3. I fixed for 6.5 mins at 20 degs, is that enough? Can excessive fixing hurt the negs?
4. How long do you dry the neg for? When the negs aren't wet anymore, can I put them straight away in the sleeves or should I wait some time before?
5. Finally, is there any recommended way of removing the roll from the patterson reel? Are the 2 sides supposed to come off?

thanks
Clarel

Hi Clarel,
I have also recently started to develop my own B+W. I use a Jobo CPE2 kit which has a motorised rotator. The manufacturer recommends reducing the developing time by 15% when using the rotator as compared to hand inversion.
I fix for 5 minutes (TriX) and the negs look clear after this.

All the best.
---
Monz

 

[titrisol]

Weeellll
Seems most question shave been answered
Over fixing is hard to do unless you leave your roll in fixer for a long time (20 minutes or more) 5-6 minutes should be more than fine.
Under fixing is bad bad bad, it looks like milky film after wash, if you ever encounter this then fix again (you can do it in the open tank lights on) and rewash.

Times are dependent on many factors, one of those is agitation. The more you agitate the more you need to cut the time.

Twirling the patterson reels works fine, but at mid-develpment time do a toroidal swirl. Take the tank in your hand and twist your wrist so that the tank will be in an angle and then rotate one or 2 turns. Hard to explain, kaiyen has a better explanation somewhere.

Good luck and enjoy yourself!!!

 

[nightlight]

Hi titrisol, thanks for that, I'll try the toroidal swirl trick the nex time.

 

[charjohncarter]

AHH, fixing: different strengths, different products, different agitation, different films equals different times. I fixed TriX 35mm for 4 minutes and everything is fine. Then I fixed Tmax 100 (35mm), and it required 8 minutes (everything else the same). Maybe I could cut back to 6 minutes but there are no problems at 8 like there were at 4 minutes. Just don't under fix, sometimes things look good and weeks later the negatives are brown.

 

[oscroft]

1. Does agitation (by spinning the Patterson reel with that center column) as effective as inverting the tank?

I use Patterson tanks and reels, and I've heard people claim that inverting the tank is better than spinning the little stick thing. But I've tried both and haven't seen any difference - I use the spinning thing now, because my old tanks leak a little if I invert them and I get developer up my sleeve.