PlusX (Kodak 5231) in Thornton Developer

[naruto]

I recently re-mixed the Thornton developer and decided to run my latest film stock through it.

The first experiment of shooting at E.I 100, and developing for 4.5 mins in Bath A and Bath B resulted in over-cooking, with the negatives being rather dense. I also agitated at one min intervals in Bath B, which might have worsened the development. But, it still gave salvageable images



After taking some sagely advice from Tom, to fix some timings I ran a test strip of fifteen images. I shot the same scene from ISO 50 to ISO 400, in 3 different f-stop settings. With out further talk, here are the results with 3.5 mins in each bath. I have shown the settings for only f/2.8 using the 35mm f/1.2 Nokton, at a distance of 1m.

ISO 50

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

The ISO 50 is salvageable, but shows a lot of the highlight details lost. Mostly, because the development timing might be slightly too long. However, all the other images hold the details very well, and I like the tonal range (this is without any adjustments in postprocessing). The negatives are very sharp, and have very good contrast for printing (I suspect Grade 2/3).

This shows the relative insensitivity of this famed developer to ISO setting, and development temperature (I did this at room temperature around 25~26 degC). In all, looking forward to shooting more with this film and developer combination.
PS: Also Thanks to Nokton48, who replied to my queries on using this film developer combination.

 

[Morca007]

If you hadn't told me it was a mistake I wouldn't have known, that first photo looks great.

 

[RayPA]

Is the Thornton developer is a split D76-type?? Could you post the recipe, please?


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[stclinton]

Experience with Thornton Two Bath

Experience with Thornton Two Bath

I shoot mostly MF black and white and use the Thornton formula for all films - Kodak, Ilford and Fuji. It seems to work best with the T Max and Delta films but gives acceptable results with all types of film, even the "old" emulsion film. The only failures I've had have been with the Ilford Technical Pan 50. The negatives are very thin. Don't really know why. Over the years I've experimented with various techniques. Here is what I do: 4 minutes for each bath; although temperature is not a particularly critical factor I seem to get best results at 22-23 degrees centigrade. The key factor seems to be agitation technique. I found I was agitating bath B too vigorously so now I only agitate every minute by simply turning the container over and then setting it down to let the Metol do its work. If I push film I will extend the bath B time to 5 minutes, but always agitating very lightly. If you are interested you can find the formula online thru Google. Just type in Thornton two bath. It is also found in Barry's book Edge of Darkness.

Stephen

 

[RayPA]

...If you are interested you can find the formula online thru Google. Just type in Thornton two bath. It is also found in Barry's book Edge of Darkness.

Stephen

Thanks, Stephen!

 

[Nokton48]

Thanks to Nokton48, who replied to my queries on using this film developer combination.

You're welcome.

This should be moved to the XX thread, for posterity.

Nice results. Great film.

 

[charjohncarter]

Is the Thornton developer is a split D76-type?? Could you post the recipe, please?


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Or is it Thorton's two bath? All are very different, (don't know about PlusX but they sure are with Tmax and Trix).

 

[naruto]

Is the Thornton developer is a split D76-type?? Could you post the recipe, please?


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Ray, it's a derivation of the Stockeler Two-bath developer which in turn is similar to split D-23 I think.

My recipe:
Bath A
6.5g Metol
77 gm Sodium Sulfite
in 1 lt of water

Bath B
12 gm of Sodium Metaborate
in 1 lt of water

Controlling the Sodium Sulfite controls the acutance of the developer. 75~85 gm is recommended. You can replenish Bath B by adding a bit of Sodium Metaborate.

I got my chemicals from freestyle photo (Formulary brand). I think 200 gm Sodium Sulfite + 100 gm Metol + 200 gm of Sodium Metaborate cost me 35USD.

 

[naruto]

The key factor seems to be agitation technique. I found I was agitating bath B too vigorously so now I only agitate every minute by simply turning the container over and then setting it down to let the Metol do its work. If I push film I will extend the bath B time to 5 minutes, but always agitating very lightly.

Stephen

Thanks Stephen. This seems to agree with my results too.

I get best results for this film in TriX. But, PlusX looks good, esp since it's going ot be my only film in 35mm format 🙂 All the 400ft of it.

 

[naruto]

The proof lies in the pudding. Here are some street shots with the Nokton @f2.8 with this film developer combination.