Problems with Ilfosol-S

[Diomedes]

I've just finished developing a first roll of b/w film by my own pretty successfully. I’ve souped a Delta 100 in Ilfosol-S (1+9) for 6 minutes at 20 C. I said pretty successfully because I’ve managed it technically pretty clean, without drying marks, fingerprints, scratches… etc.

The problem is that my negative is looking pretty thin and flat although consists shadow details. I’ve read in my manual that is a symptom of an underdevelopment, since I’ve tested my fixing time with a film leader. I’ve also read lots of articles about an Ilfosol’s very short shelf life and since there is no any notation of the production date I suspect that my bottle is outdated.

How much I must extend a development to produce better negatives? I have couple of rolls of Delta 100 and PanF+…

Regards,
Vjeko

 

[jaap]

I think the shelf time is pretty long even if it's a little brown don,t worry.
If your negatives are too low contrast you can easily increase development time with about (at least!)30% In your case this would be some 8 minutes

 

[kaiyen]

I agree with Jaap. Just throw 20-30% more in there, then judge again. Keep in mind that thin/thick negatives also have to do with the scene. If you shoot a contrasty scene with your next roll, then add 20%, you might blow out your highlights.

allan

 

[phototone]

One way to tell about your developer activity is to look at the edge numbers on the film. If they too are very faint, then it is a good indication that your developer was weak, or too old, or the developing time was too short. The edge numbers (frame numbers) are printed at the factory and properly exposed to quite clear and distinct and fairly dense.

 

[Bryce]

Agitation is another possible cause of thin looking neg.s. Can we assume you agitated per the instructions? I think that would be 10 seconds each minute...

 

[Diomedes]

I've agitated for 5 sec every 30sec (two inversions). I've compared my roll with another from the lab, and the edge numbers are not quite clear. So, I'll try a 8 min development for Delta 100 instead of 6 min from the datasheet.

 

[kaiyen]

You mean that the edge numbers aren't well defined?

If that is the case then you are possibly dealing with decreased developer activity , ie - approaching developer exhaustion. Maybe time to get a new batch or try one with a bit more longevity.

allan

 

[jaap]

One way to tell about your developer activity is to look at the edge numbers on the film. If they too are very faint, then it is a good indication that your developer was weak, or too old, or the developing time was too short. The edge numbers (frame numbers) are printed at the factory and properly exposed to quite clear and distinct and fairly dense.

Sorry but I don,t agree with that. The only thing that counts is the contrast of the picture. Faint numbers doesn,t say anything about the condition of the developer.