My first try to develop film on my own was a disaster

[Unlucky Monkey]

I have just developed my first roll of black and white film on my own, but the result was a disaster. It was a T-Max 400 in the developer made for T-Max, but it became like this. All negs have a sligjt purple cast. Can anyone give me some advice for the next attempt?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anrakkimonki/3242557288/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anrakkimonki/3242556852/

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Uneven agitation, time and or temperature wrong, fogging. Developing film requires a lot of attention to detail.

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

Ok, Im new in the darkroom. How important is the agitation? How about temperature?

What do you mean with fogging?

 

[Austerby]

It's all the little details coming together that are important to the whole - can you please describe the process that you followed?

 

[GMcD]

Fogging means that light has leaked onto the film. Did you load the tank in complete darkness?

Graham

 

[oftheherd]

Looks like you may have more than one problem there. The lack of contrast may be from lack of complete development, or lack of proper exposure. It also looks like at the top there is either over exposure or over development.

Can you describe how you did this, and what equipment you were using? What developing tank, how it was loaded, how did you mix the developer, how did you agitate, how did you keep your temperature correct, etc? It would be easier to help diagnose your problem.

 

[martin s]

My guess is that's from not fixing it enough. Just put it back in the drum and fix it for another few minutes, might turn out ok. I had those stripes alot, too, cause the fixer I used was old and weak.

Those are the stripes I'm talking about, along the holes in the film.

martin

 

[__hh]

Nothing is a disaster if you learn from your mistakes!!! Keep going!!!

 

[julio1fer]

If you explain in detail what you did we might be able to help you more.

What fixer did you use and for how long? Was it fresh fixer? It looks like incomplete fixing to me. The Kodak T-grain films are hard to fix compared to other films.

You may also have a problem of too little agitation during development (uneven development).

Do the negs have a milky aspect? (that's the unremoved silver) If so, it is lack of fixing for sure. It may be easily solved by refixing, and then washing. The purple cast is from the sensitizing dye, it goes out during final washing (wash that film for at least 20 minutes after fixing).

Developer temperature is VERY important. You must keep it plus or less one degree C!

There are several videos in Youtube about developing your first film, also a primer by Ilford which you may want to look. The primer is mostly about Ilford products but close to the end (page 8) you may find a step by step procedure for first timers.

 

[russianRF]

(wash that film for at least 20 minutes after fixing).

No, I believe that's extreme overkill. Unless there's hardener in the fixer, I guess.

Developer temperature is VERY important. You must keep it plus or less one degree C!

Some developers are more forgiving to temperature than others. A reason why I like Rodinal, myself...

 

[Pickett Wilson]

"some developers are more forgiving to temperature than others. A reason why I like Rodinal, myself..."

That may be, but unless you establish a repeatable process, you're going to be dancing in the dark every time you process a roll of film. Kind of expensive these days.

 

[David William White]

My guess is that's from not fixing it enough. Just put it back in the drum and fix it for another few minutes, might turn out ok. I had those stripes alot, too, cause the fixer I used was old and weak.


Those are the stripes I'm talking about, along the holes in the film.

martin

I second that. Definitely insufficient fixing and can be rescued by refixing (then a short rewash). Honestly, just go dunk it in fresh fixer for 5 minutes and you won't believe the difference. Your contrast will come bouncing back.

And don't worry about the purple cast -- that is the anti-halation layer on the film on TMax.

 

[crawdiddy]

The stripes (which line up with the sprocket holes) are an indication of uneven development, probably due to insufficiant agitation. Did you do inversion? I always follow the schedule provided by the manufacturer (or the digital truth massive development chart), but make sure you turn the tank upside down several times during the agitation period (assuming you have a lid on the tank).

I found that when I used some other method of agitation (such as swirling the tank in a circular motion, but always keeping it upright), I had the same sprocket hole stripes. Of course, it depends on what type tank and reels you have. This is definitely true if you have stainless steel reels. May not be so critical if you have the apron-type reels.

 

[russianRF]

That may be, but unless you establish a repeatable process, you're going to be dancing in the dark every time you process a roll of film. Kind of expensive these days.

Well, I get pretty consistent results with water at room temperature. I guess my negs are a little denser in the dead heat of Summer, but nothing that has bothered me at all. Hence, "forgiving"

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

Ok. so I made a second attempt to develop.

This is how it went:

www.flickr.com/photos/anrakkimonki/3251825826/

www.flickr.com/photos/anrakkimonki/3251832178/

Why did it become like that? Somewhat different than the first time. I don´t have a light leak on the camera. I know that becouse I just had som rolls developed at the lab. I used a bag in the dark this time.

This is how I developed the film:
For the developer I agitated for 30 sekunds and after that I agitated for 5 seconds every 30 seconds in a total of 7 minutes. Then I used whater and agitated during one and a halv minute. After that I used the fix for about threee minutes this time, agitating 5 seconds every 30 seconds. The water was 20 degrees.

What did I do wrong? I really appreciate all the help I can get.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Insufficient chemistry in the tank? Thouigh with that agitation it shouldn't matter.

Where are you? Is there anyone nearby who can look at your actual negs, not scans?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Chris101]

Looks like not enough developer in the tank!

 

[Chris101]

Oops... one of us owes the other a Coke! Welcome back Roger.

 

[40oz]

What kind of tank do you have? It kind of looks like you had slightly less of either developer or fix to cover the film, so the top edge of the reel didn't get processed properly. [edit] Just in case nobody mentioned it yet :shrug: lol

My tank says 650ml for two rolls, 375ml for one. I always make up slightly more developer and fix than it says to ensure coverage.

I got lucky on my first roll developed myself, but let's be fair - when I look at those negatives now, I see a number of things I could have done better. Nobody gets everything right on the first roll, even if they don't have streaks or whatnot.

I'd keep it up, though. They're not bad. It's not like the roll came out clear or totally black. *That* would put me off 🙂

FWIW, I threw away my first roll because it looked all fogged and fuzzy. A few hours later I walked by the garbage can and my negatives looked fine lol. I pulled them out, dusted them off, and discovered film needs to dry longer than 15 minutes 😀

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

I use a Paterson tank, and there should be 3dl for one roll. I will add some more the next time I try.