My first development (...and I'm very happy)

[lorenzo1910]

Yes guys,I'm very happy!
Today I've dev'd my first B/W film and the results are really good (at least to my eyes...) Maybe I've been lucky but I've been very careful for sure!
The film is the cheap Lucky SHD100 (Chinese) shot by a Minolta 7xi + Minolta AF 35-105 and developed with a "B/W general purpose concentrated developer" (so they say) Ornano Bromor ST50...
The recommended diluition is 1+4 and the developing time from 1'30" to 2'30"
Since I have a lot of free time I ask myself "why rushing?" and "why waste money?" so I decided to made a "lighter" developer...then I've tried 1+6 and 3'30" ....First minute agitation then 2 full revolution at minute 2 and 3...no stop bath (just water...tank has been filled/emptied 5 times) then fixing bath (Ilfosol 1+4 for 4 minutes,first minute agitation then 2 full revolution every 30 seconds) and finally washing the tank with water 4 times (5-10-15-15 revolution) + 5th time final washing with demineralized water and neutral soap...
That's all 😀
The negative is not 100% perfect but there are no obvious faults (and I still can improve my technique)
Judge yourself and please comment (I'm a newbie,any help is welcome)

 

[lorenzo1910]

 

[lorenzo1910]

 

[btgc]

That's very encouraging to see usable results after first try. You are caught now!

 

[lorenzo1910]

 

[lorenzo1910]

 

[lorenzo1910]

That's very encouraging to see usable results after first try. You are caught now!

You say it mate! I'm caught!
(Another roll is in the camera...ERA100 this time...love cheap-and-chinese stuff) 😉

 

[maggieo]

That is just a fantastic photograph! Well done!!

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Hey! Well done, Lorenzo! Congratulations!

Both exposure and development look perfect!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Roger Hicks]

Happy? Quite rightly! Congratulations! I've never seen better results from that film.

But if you can do that well with China Lucky, do yourself a favour and try a better film.

You'll be even happier!

Cheers,

R.

 

[fixbones]

Well done!!
Are you sure its you first roll 😉

 

[kknox]

Great job, you are hooked now.

 

[Ducky]

Nice feeling isn't it? Welcome.

 

[gb hill]

Now your asking yourself...why not sooner!🙂 Wonderful job but I'm confused about your times? What does 3'30" refer to! If thats min. sec. sure seems short but I've never used that film so not familure with it! It worked & that's what counts.

 

[sig]

The 'it actually worked' feeling you get when developing film is fantastic! Well done

 

[IgalSc]

great work!
welcome to the club!
🙂

 

[robklurfield]

nice work. have fun and post more.

 

[lorenzo1910]

Well done!!
Are you sure its you first roll 😉

Oh really it is! (That's why I feel so excited....)

@gb hill: yes it's 3 min. 30 sec.
As I wrote in the first post on the label there's the recommended time and it's from 1'30" to 2'30" for the 1+4 diluition...since I've used the developer at 1+6 I tought that the "matching" time would be 3'30"
A photographer friend of mine says that the Ornano Bromor ST50 is a "strong" developer mostly used for paper...

By the way,many thanks to you all for the kind comments! 😉

 

[reiki_]

im sure it will look even better in print. congratulations.

 

[Keith]

Happy? Quite rightly! Congratulations! I've never seen better results from that film.

But if you can do that well with China Lucky, do yourself a favour and try a better film.

You'll be even happier!

Cheers,

R.

Or conversely stick with the Lucky and your excellent results and save a heap of money!

Roger loves to spend other people's money ... he'll have you shopping for a Leica next to replace that obviously dodgy Minolta! 😀