On A Roll

[Pioneer]

but not a good one.

I have had 3 separate developers go bad on me in the past two days.

Actually, I have no idea when the developers actually gave up the ghost, but three films failed to develop in the last two days.

First was my color developer. Actually, this wasn't a total shock since it has been mixed up for a couple of months. Usually I get a little more time than two months but if I remember the original stock was getting a bit long in the tooth as well.

The second was my FA-1027. This one I did not expect as I had been led to believe it was either the same, or very close to, Arista Premium or Crawley's FX37. I had opened the bottle of FA-1027 in April, used it (one shot) a few times, then stored the remainder in a collapsible bottle in good condition. But...when I went to develop a roll of TMX this afternoon all I got back was a beautifully clear strip of film. If that is all the longer this stuff is good for then I won't be messing with it any longer.

The last was a roll of Arista EDU Ultra 400 developed in Beutler 1:1:8. At least this roll didn't come out totally blank, there were some partially developed images, but it was quite clear that the developer had grown weak. This one though had been mixed up back in August last year so I feel I got the best out of that mix.

The only two developers I have around that haven't given up this week are my Rodinal and my D23 (which I mix fresh for each use.) Maybe I am going to have to see if I can survive only on these two developers for black and white. I probably can.

Color is a different story. I just picked up some fresh Kodak chemicals but I may have to explore how best to mix these and use them in just a single session to get the best out of them without having them lose potency. I don't shoot a huge amount of color film so it could take a bit to accumulate enough exposed film.

 

[Jockos]

I realize that you have a few years on me, but was there any chance of cross contamination of chemicals?

 

[lynnb]

Sorry to hear of your misfortunes. I gave up on plastic concertina-collapsible storage bottles in favor of opaque glass bottles with screw tops. Next time I'll try a wine box bladder, to ensure no opportunity for oxidation.

I've had XTOL go off on me in the past. I don't trust it beyond 4 months.

 

[FujiLove]

That's really frustrating. I hope none of the rolls were important, but unless you were just testing a new camera with them I suppose that's too much to ask.

I shoot roughly 50/50 B&W and colour film, but unless I've been away on holiday, not many rolls in total. I try to avoid colour chemical problems by saving up the film in the fridge until I have a batch of maybe six or eight rolls that I can run at once. I mix just enough from the concentrate to safely process the batch then discard the working chemicals.

As you probably know, it's part C of the colour developer that dies quickly after opening, so I keep a close eye on that one and if there's any sign of expiration I ditch it and use a fresh bottle. Maco Direct (and I assume others) sell individual 100ml bottles of it for very little money, so it's a good idea to keep a spare in stock.

I can go a couple of months without processing any B&W film so I use HC110 one shot. Simple as that. It lasts for ages and changes colour when it's getting very old, so it's probably as fool-proof as any developer out there.

 

[roscoetuff]

Pioneer Dan:

Sorry to hear that. Painful loss of images? Hope not.... but at least it's the chemistry and not user error somewhere in the process. Forgive yourself, but hold a grudge against the FA-1027. I'd have thought it'd last longer....

Okay... now you got me worried 'bout my own bottle of FA-1027 of which I have not been nearly as fastidious. I meant to use it... only it's not as compelling as some of my others. Which brings up that it's way past time to thin the herd of bottles down to stuff I can actually use and keep fresh. I liked FA-1027... but not enough to make it a religion... or worry it when there's something with wider application in the herd. Keeping properties of chemistry are important, and the important adage, "When in doubt throw it out" surely applies. Some obviously sooner than others.

Biggest waste of chemistry therefore isn't the dilution ratio, but the "going bad" speed.
HC-110 and Rodinal famously keep. My new bottle of Pyrocat-HD has the Glyc-stuff in it to aid keeping when I ordered a larger size. For me, my biggest waste of chemistry has been pouring stuff into the wrong bottles, leading to various and sundry throw-it away festivals. Good part is it's kept my chemistry fresher than intended, but the bad part is it's killing me.... as a needless time sink in mixing and mixing chemicals more often than I need or want.

Read the other day that D-23 is a version of Perceptol (true?)... which I'd inadvertantly ordered. Hmmmmmmmmm..... I like D-23..... I think. Have to narrow this collection permanently in order to be more successful in keeping it fresh. Barry Thornton used two chemicals mostly: Dixactol and Perceptol. I've settled on Pyrocat-HD (for now) for one, but the other... which is HC-110 I'd like to find something with "better" output. FA-1027 had better output to my eyes than HC-110 with HP5... so this remains open and Perceptol/D-234 is a candidate... among others. And if after the new bottle of Pyrocat-HD is "done" I find a less toxic chemical from which I can get similar results.... then so be it.

 

[J enea]

i had the same experience with my beutler and learned my lesson. i pushed its age a little to long for some reason. now it gets dumped at three months if there is any left. its not like its expensive to mix up a batch.

 

[Pioneer]

i had the same experience with my beutler and learned my lesson. i pushed its age a little to long for some reason. now it gets dumped at three months if there is any left. its not like its expensive to mix up a batch.

You are right about that. It is easy to mix up and a good developer to have around. I think I'll pick up some smaller bottles to mix it up the next time. I like it but obviously don't use it up fast enough to use up a 1 liter bottle of Solution A and a 1 liter bottle of Solution B.

Roscoetuff, I'm not sure if D-23 is Perceptol or not. That is the first time I heard that. It is an older Kodak developer that is very, very simple to mix up and is a great, fine grain developer. I started using it instead of D-76 and now I haven't bought any D-76 in quite a bit. I do know that it works great on TMX100 when used stock and the Sodium Sulfite in it seems to help clear the pink off the negatives. It isn't a real high contrast developer so if that is what you like you will have to bump up your agitation regime a bit.

Fujilove, thanks for the tip on stocking up on a bit of extra Part C for the color chemistry. I wish there was a way to tell when it was going bad but I think I'm going to do like you suggest. Save up about 8 or so rolls of exposed color film, mix up a batch and develop them. Afterwards I'll just toss out the developer. I don't usually have any trouble with the bleach, it is almost always the developer that turns bad on me.

BTW, I like to believe all my film is important, but I shoot so much that in many cases I have duplicate rolls.

Of course, one never knows when that one in a million photograph will pop up so you hate to lose anything. 😀

 

[sepiareverb]

Two recommendations:

1) Brown glass bottles
2) Bloxygen

Developer death from poor storage will no longer be a problem. The glass bottles (with polycone caps) will last nearly forever, the Bloxygen does get used up, but pays for itself many times over with the first can. I get mine through Amazon, several places have good deals that make it extremely worth the seemingly frivolous expense. I open a bottle of DD-X, decant what I don't use into brown glass, spritz some Bloxygen in, cap it, and can open it in a year and develop without concern. Seriously. Same goes for Microphen or Perceptol that I mix from powder. I NEVER have chemistry go bad any more.

 

[FujiLove]

Two recommendations:

1) Brown glass bottles
2) Bloxygen

Developer death from poor storage will no longer be a problem. The glass bottles (with polycone caps) will last nearly forever, the Bloxygen does get used up, but pays for itself many times over with the first can. I get mine through Amazon, several places have good deals that make it extremely worth the seemingly frivolous expense. I open a bottle of DD-X, decant what I don't use into brown glass, spritz some Bloxygen in, cap it, and can open it in a year and develop without concern. Seriously. Same goes for Microphen or Perceptol that I mix from powder. I NEVER have chemistry go bad any more.

I read somewhere that the cheap 'dust off' sprays you can pick up for £1 are also oxygen free and basically do the same job for a fraction of the price. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Pioneer]

I would be concerned that some of the dust off sprays could affect the pH of your solutions at the very least.

Argon gas works since it is heavier then oxygen and would displace it. Nitrogen gas on the other hand is actually a touch lighter then oxygen and may only partially replace it. As for propane or other flammable gases, I will leave that to others to play with. 🙂

At about $12 per can of bloxygen I think I'll pass for now. The key in my circumstances is to settle down with a couple of developers and stick with them. I do like to play around a bit with my developers so I will need to limit that or expect to toss out old, unused developer from time to time. I already use a 1 liter brown bottles now for my D-23. Rodinal seems to last just fine in its own bottle.

The FA-1027 situation is strange as I used to buy a 5 liter jug of Arista Premium developer (which is rumored to be similar to FA-1027) and use it at 1:9 dilutions and take no precautions whatsoever. Of course that was about the only developer I was using at the time but 5 liters still lasted me well over 6 months. I kind of suspect that those collapsible plastic bottles were not sealing very well so I have already tossed the few I have.

As for color, I am going to have to wait to develop until I have accumulated enough rolls/sheets of film to justify mixing up some developer.