novice developing questions

[David Noble]

Well, I just (almost) successfully developed my first roll of b/w film on Sunday: 120 Neopan Acros 100 from a Mamiya 6, developed in Fuji Microfine.

I have a couple of questions for those of you with more experience.

1) Is Microfine reusable? If so, how many times? Same question for acetic acid stop bath and the Super Fujifix-L fixer.

All of these seemed to work well at the suggested times and concentrations, even though it is pretty hot here now and I ended up developing at 24 C because that was the temp of my tap water...

2) I bought a stainless steel tank & reel, and loading is tough. Ruined three frames of the roll for not getting it wound on properly. Any suggestions—especially on getting the paper out of the way?

3) Do you use a film squeegee to clear excess water when hanging up to dry? It seemed like a good way to damage the film....

And finally, how do I post images here (not just thumbnails, but as part of the post as most people seem to)? I have done several searches and looked for info in the FAQ but must be missing something.

Thanks for your help.

 

[fidget]

Hi David, I bought a stainless steel tank for 35mm work. I could just not get the film onto it. I dumped it and went back to the Paterson system 4 tank and reel. This is much easier. For my 120 film I always peel off the sticky tape which holds the film onto the backing (comes off with the film) and double this back over itself and onto the film. I find that this gives a little more rigidity and makes it easier to get on the reel.
After scratching a few films by using a squeegee I now stick by the advice to rinse well and not touch it with anything.

Dave.....

 

[David Noble]

ManGo, that means unspooling the entire roll without winding it onto the reel, letting it spool itself naturally as it comes off, removing the paper, and then winding on from the end of the film that was attached to the paper?


Dave, thanks for the tip on the squuegee. I think I'll let it be. I may end up getting a different tank/reel to, though I think I'll try this a few more times first. The advice on the tape sounds good, too.

Thanks to you both!

 

[oftheherd]

I haven't used Microfine in probably 20 years, or more. I can't tell you if it is reusable or not. Your stop bath is. I normally use indicator stop bath, and end up changing in just based on time before it ever changes color. The package often tells you how many rolls for a given amount of chemical used. Did you check that? The same would apply to your stop bath. The package should tell you. There is another test of taking an unused portion of the film and seeing how long it takes to clear. IIRC, you doubled that for your fix time for the film, up to ten minutes. More than that and you throw it out and use fresh chemical. Can somebody confirm/correct my recollection on that?

 

[kmack]

Can't help you on #1, I am not a Microfine user.

#2. I unroll and re-roll the film completely and remove the paper backing. I have used steel exclusively for years and I have only lost a few frames when I was first learning how to load the reels. Others may disagree but I do not use the clips on the reels. I start the reel by pushing the film into the center of the reel and then roll, push the film onto it. Once you learn how to do it (practice, practice practice) it becomes very fast and simple.

I prefer steel because I can clean them and dry them quickly. I was able to develop 6 rolls of 120 last weekend with a single reel and a small tank without too much trouble. (I rarely do that much at a single time. I just had a backlog).

#3 I wear cheap latex gloves when I develop film, I get a box of 100 at Costco for about $5 a box. I just wet my gloves in the photoflo and use my fingers as a squeegee, I have not scratched any film to date, using that method. (knock wood)

Uploading:

Got to the Gallery, Look for the links: Home · Search · Profile · Upload Photos on the menu bar on the right hand side. Just click on Upload Photos.

 

[markinlondon]

1. I have no experience of Microfine but fixer and stop are certainly reusable. To test fixer oftheherd is about right. When you first make up your fixer, test the clearing time by taking a small piece of undeveloped film and dropping it into a beaker of fixer. Swirl it around and time how long it takes to clear. Test every few rolls and when the clearing time doubles, the fixer is exhausted and you should make a fresh batch.

Drying in the bathroom is a good tip too. If you run the shower for a couple of minutes before hanging your film the increased humidity will bring down airborne dust (but your film will take a little longer to dry).

 

[David Noble]

Thanks everyone. I love this forum. What a great place to come for advice! I have put three of the pictures form my first-ever developed roll in my RFF Gallery.

I am also attempting to attach one here. We'll see if I've got this right.

-----

[Somewhat later] Guess not. Mistaken file size? Didn't do link right? Dunno. I am not as computer illiterate as I appear, but I can't figure out this system for handling images....

 

[steamer]

After an insane amount of practice and dozens of ruined frames I have to come to the conclusion that I am not ever going to be able to use steel reels. No big deal plastic works fine. I am glad to find out you can reuse the stop bath, I thought it would lose acidity after use.

 

[John Noble]

3) Do you use a film squeegee to clear excess water when hanging up to dry? It seemed like a good way to damage the film....

I recently started using disposable photo wipes with great results. My tap water is quite hard and left spots whether or not I used a wetting agent. Squeegees don't seem like a very good idea unless you're committed to keeping them clean.

 

[markinlondon]

After an insane amount of practice and dozens of ruined frames I have to come to the conclusion that I am not ever going to be able to use steel reels. No big deal plastic works fine. I am glad to find out you can reuse the stop bath, I thought it would lose acidity after use.

I forgot to say about stop bath. It does "wear out". Get indicator stop bath and watch the colour as you pour it back into the bottle. If it's yellow it's good. If you're using plain acetic or citric acid, you're on your own. pH testing papers would be handy, I think you can get them from garden centres for soil testing.

 

[Max Power]

IMHO 120 with plastic reels is nigh impossible. I practised in the daylight and the film never failed to jam.

My suggestion would be to sacrifice a roll of 120 and practise in the daylight loading it onto the reel. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes really easy to do. As for the paper backing, as you load, you just let the film and backing separate from each other.

 

[doitashimash1te]

IMHO 120 with plastic reels is nigh impossible. I practised in the daylight and the film never failed to jam.

I never have a problem loading 120 on plastic reels, except when the reel isn't dry. So I always make sure the reel is really dry before loading film.

(Note: I use Paterson Sys 4)

 

[nikon_sam]

#3 I wear cheap latex gloves when I develop film, I get a box of 100 at Costco for about $5 a box. I just wet my gloves in the photoflo and use my fingers as a squeegee, I have not scratched any film to date, using that method. (knock wood)

That's a great idea...now I just use my fingers after wetting them in Photo-Flo.
The gloves would be free from sharp points like cuts or callouses...

Do not use the squeegy thingy!!!! It will scratch....you've been warned!!!:bang:

 

[Max Power]

I never have a problem loading 120 on plastic reels, except when the reel isn't dry. So I always make sure the reel is really dry before loading film.

(Note: I use Paterson Sys 4)

Same thing...Always dry and clean Paterson reels. I sometimes wonder if it wasn't the emulsion. I tried it with the bearings in, bearings out, name it; just didn't want to work for me:bang: