Kodak Hawkeye B/W - Developing options

[Johnmcd]

I decided to start a new thread concerning my recent use of Kodak Hawkeye surveillance B/W film. I now have the equivalent of 120 rolls ready for bulk loading so I am keen to develop a workflow that gets the most from this interesting film.

My first foray involved exposing it at 100 iso by mistake (http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143569). I ended up with some flat, low density negs that scanned well enough.

I then exposed the next film at 400 iso and developed with TMax 1:4 at 5.5 mins which was recommended for normal contrast by the spec sheet. These negs looked identical to the first lot that I 'pulled' with Rodinal 1:50 also at 5.5 mins!

The image below shows a 'normal' density set of negs on the light box next to the Hawkeye negs.

I printed some last night in the darkroom and while I got some nice results I had to dial up the filters to contrast 5 equivalent to get some 'punch' in the print so it would look like the scan below. BTW, the film has beautiful grain and is exceptionally sharp.

This doesn't leave me a lot of leeway when wet processing. Therefore I would like to try and get a denser negative in the first place but without sacrificing grain size and sharpness if possible.

Any suggestions or developing combinations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers - John

 

[charjohncarter]

The only suggestion I can see from the information given is to increase development time. Stick with one developer and get it down before jumping between developers.

 

[Johnmcd]

The only suggestion I can see from the information given is to increase development time. Stick with one developer and get it down before jumping between developers.

Thanks. I'll certainly try that on the next roll.

Cheers - John

 

[Scrambler]

Since I only scan, and push Hawkeye 3 stops routinely, I don't know that I'm much help, other than to say that you can trust the pack info with times. And that means up to 3 stops, so don't be afraid to go further with your development.

If you haven't already, make sure your developer is still good (I think you said it was a freebie?) and your temperature correct. I got caught on that (with a different film and developer) recently, with negatives unreasonably thin even with extended time - I hadn't factored in that the developer was past its best before and that my tap water was now 17 degrees not its customary 20.

 

[Johnmcd]

Since I only scan, and push Hawkeye 3 stops routinely, I don't know that I'm much help, other than to say that you can trust the pack info with times. And that means up to 3 stops, so don't be afraid to go further with your development.

If you haven't already, make sure your developer is still good (I think you said it was a freebie?) and your temperature correct. I got caught on that (with a different film and developer) recently, with negatives unreasonably thin even with extended time - I hadn't factored in that the developer was past its best before and that my tap water was now 17 degrees not its customary 20.

Thanks Scrambler. By pushing do you get a denser neg? Does grain suffer by doing so?

My developer is always 'good' as I use it one shot and never have the undiluted liquid for long. In this case it was TMax and one shot from a fresh bottle. Temp also is 20 (or certainly at the beginning of the time).

I don't really want to push it literally as I'd like to use it on sunny days. I'll expose at 400 iso but see what happens with extended development.

Cheers - John

 

[vfioravanti]

Hey John,

i got some hawkeye as well a month ago just got around to dev now, i found the results quite nice for the price :0 here some samples

exposed at 250 ish on Rodinal 1+50 15min at 18C 1 inversion a minute(not the best examples though :/

img653 by vitor fioravanti, on Flickr

img654 by vitor fioravanti, on Flickr
img648 by vitor fioravanti, on Flickr

 

[Scrambler]

Denser - definitely. And more grainy, though that I really can't assess because of the scanning.

This outdoors at 3200 (push 3 stops) - developed 11 minutes in D-76.

This negative looks about as dense as the Hawkeye you pictured above. It's pretty much spot-on for my scanner but it looks like you want a denser negative.


Petals away by Scrambler@4350, on Flickr

 

[Johnmcd]

Hey John,

i got some hawkeye as well a month ago just got around to dev now, i found the results quite nice for the price :0 here some samples

exposed at 250 ish on Rodinal 1+50 15min at 18C 1 inversion a minute(not the best examples though :/

Thanks for the info Vitor.

I'd like to keep it at 400 iso if I could as I was very happy with the grain and sharpness. How dense were your negs?

John

 

[Johnmcd]

Denser - definitely. And more grainy, though that I really can't assess because of the scanning.

This outdoors at 3200 (push 3 stops) - developed 11 minutes in D-76.

This negative looks about as dense as the Hawkeye you pictured above. It's pretty much spot-on for my scanner but it looks like you want a denser negative.

Thanks. I'll keep experimenting. I have plenty of it to try with 🙂

John