ready to take the plunge

[blw]

I hope I can do this in less than 500 pages......here goes.

So I drove the hour to my "local" camera shop today to (hopefully) pick up a roll of APX 100 I dropped off last Saturday(this was my first roll through my Kiev 4A). It still hadn't been developed because the only person who can do b&w only works Saturdays now. He's a good guy & pretty good photographer in his own right; so my beef isn't with him.

Anyway, I've wanted to learn to develop my own b&w for a while now.....and today may have been my breaking point. I still have 4 rolls of APX 100, as well as 2 rolls of HP5+ 400, and one roll of Tmax 400 I loaded into the Kiev earlier.

Is there one developer/stop/wash combo that will work for all 3 emulsions?

Or should I think about focussing on only one film & getting chemistry for it alone?

I would have searched for the info, but you can see I have too many parameters to make this efficient. While I'm at it, should I go with steel or plastic tanks/reels? I easily have some cheap color film I could burn to learn how to load reels.

I'm ready & more than willing to take this big step. My "local" camera shop has let me down for the last time. I must take another aspect of my photography into my own hands!

Please help.....


thanks in advance.

 

[payasam]

Barry, you might start with a "universal" developer of the D-76 kind. Stop bath, fixing and washing are the same for all films.

 

[blw]

Awesome payasam. That's all I was looking for is a starting point.

Thanks very much for that.

Now what about steel vs plastic reels?

I tend to prefer steel as a general material over plastic, but what about for learning to develop film with?

anyone? beuler, beuler?

 

[gb hill]

Do you live near Raleigh? If you do go here.

http://www.peacecamera.com/

These guys are the best and it's like walking into a camera museum. They can help you out and have everything you need. I have some plastic as well as some steel tanks and reels. I don't use the steel reels and tanks and are stored away in a building. I need to dig then out and see what kind of shape they are in and get rid of them. For a starting developer D-76 is the best.

 

[FrankS]

Plastic vs steel developing reels is strictly a personal choice. Neither is indesputably superior over the other. Here's a simplification of the film development process: a simple water bath for 1/2 minute is a perfectly acceptable substitute for an acidic stop bath. That means you only need 2 chemicals (developer and fixer) to process film. (A 3rd chemical - hypo clearing agent, reduces washing time.)

 

[blw]

Thanks a lot guys.

gb hill, I'm on the other end of NC, but I know exactly where peace camera is because I've been to Endless Grind across the street countless times over the last 15 years. Unfortunately.....just about every one of those times I've been to EG, pc has been closed- most especailly the last time I was there this past spring. I made a point to notice. You practically have to live in Raleigh to catch that place open. I'm 2.5 hours away.

FrankS- thanks for your sage advice on this thread. 30 secs doesn't seem to bad. It seems I'd read more like a few/several minutes for stop before. That seemed wasteful water-wise, but again 30 secs seems more realistic.

I'm still a few days from buying anything....so, are there any other suggestions?

D76 at least seems to be the way to go for now & I greatly thank all previous comments to that end.

 

[gb hill]

Endless Grind. Is that the bicycle shop thats across the street? I live in Lexington but my job takes me to Raleigh quite regularly. Here is a link that may help with the things you'll need, but you don't really need everything thats shown and you can improvise on things like the measuring cups. This stuff can get quite expensive. BTW if you happen to live near Charlotte, Wolf Camera on Independence blvd.I bought some bottles for storing my chemicals and they were marked down really cheap. That was several months back but they had plenty at the time. Get a good thermometer. Ebay is the best place for buying this stuff like tanks and such. You will learn a wealth of info in the film dev. threads. It's really fun and pretty easy and you'll wish you had started a long time ago. Here is the link.


http://www.markushartel.com/tutorials/archives/2005/12/how_to_develop_1.html

 

[blw]

Thanks again gb. Endless Grind is the skateshop actually. The bike shop is upstairs from & behind the skateshop.

I do actually live closer to CLT & was just in that Wolf Camera about 2 weeks ago. Yes, they still had a lot of development supplies on closeout right by the door. Maybe I can get back down there this weekend when I hopefully pick up my b&w stuff from the other camera shop. They're a nice little shop & I hate to not give them business; but living an hour away & with home developing of b&w being so easy it just doesn't make much sense. At least I can still take my negatives to them for scanning.

 

[markinlondon]

Another do it all developer you might consider is HC-110. As it's a liquid concentrate that keeps forever it's much easier to store than D76/ID-11 stock solution. Of course, for true APX100 nirvana you need to use Rodinal but it's horrible with HP5 in my experience.

 

[FrankS]

My 2 developers are Rodinal for 100 speed film, and HC-110 for 400 speed film. I use both at high dilutions (1:50 or 1:100) partly for the sake of economy if you develop lots of film; and they both store/keep for long periods once opened, which is economical if you develop small amounts of film.

If you're just getting started, I'd recommend HC-110 for all your films.

 

[markinlondon]

My 2 developers are Rodinal for 100 speed film, and HC-110 for 400 speed film.

Yep, me too. HC-110 for HP5 or Tri-x and Rodinal for APX100.
Great minds eh, Frank? 😉

 

[DeeCee3]

Barry, I'm sorry I came late to this discussion. Are you near Asheville, by chance? One of the oldest photo shops in the state is still clinging to a thread and (last time I was in there) has a good stock of both plastic and steel tanks and reels. Some of them are even used but still in great condition. It's Ball Photo in the Innsbruck (or Tunnel Road) Shopping Center, on Tunnel Road.

I long ago gave up doing my own processing but for more years than I care to remember I was a faithful devotee of Paterson tanks and reels. I was never able to master the art of loading a steel reel in the dark but never missed with the plastic "ratchet" type reel.

I suggest you use the plastic stuff and you also will find Rodinal to be a very capable developer, as has been suggested.

dc3

 

[FrankS]

Yes Mark! 🙂

With regards to steel vs plastic, I use plastic Patterson reels and the only diff they give me is when the film being loaded somehow getts wet or if my darkroom is excessively humid. The film then becomes sticky. This has happened to me only 2 times in the last 15 years.

 

[gb hill]

I didn't know HC-110 lasted so long. I've never used it. I knew D-76 is a good general purpose all around developer. But as for storage it's crap. So after I use up my D-76 and my perceptol. I'll certainly give the HC-110 a try.

I love to watch the skateboarders on FUEL TV. Do you ever watch that? I'm too old to skate but still young at heart. I saw on Friday night where they went to Fayetteville where they built an awsome skate park. That was really cool. Here in Lexington a friend of my son's once got a 75 dollar ticket for skatboarding uptown, though they won't build a skatepark for the kids. Sucks around here.

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi all,
I've returned to home developing of B/W, after some 15 years away. I have perfectly good Brooks stainless tanks & reels. And, I've standardized with HC-110.

Frank, can you share your development time with high dilutions? I develop at 75f, because in the summer time, the wash water here is 80f.
Thanks! Mike

 

[FrankS]

Hi Mike, sure. This comes from GeneW: HP5+ (35mm) 1:100 dilution, 20-22C, 18 minutes total, continuous agitation for 1st minute, then 10 sec. of agitation every 3 minutes. For HP5+ in 120 format, it's a total of 21 minutes. If the results are too contrasty for your liking, try less agitation: 10 sec every 4 minutes.

 

[mike goldberg]

Thanks Frank,

I'm adapting development data from several RFF sources, to local conditions.
Cheers...

 

[blw]

Wow....thanks a lot guys!

gb hill- I don't see Fuel TV anymore since I quit cable tv 4 or so years ago, not that I watched it any then, but I saw it over at friends' houses. I'm an older type skater. I like ramps & bowls & pools. The street skating thing took off after my time, so to speak. Nonetheless I've been at it for 23 straight years with no more than a couple months away at the longest. I'm even aware of that Fayetnam park. I've been working to get parks here in my county & am starting to see some success. You on the other hand live in God's country with regard to pig over fire; so you have THAT going for you.

dc3- I've been to Asheville many times & know the shoppipng center you speak of- just not the camera shop. I'm long overdue a trip to their skatepark, so maybe I can get there within the next couple months. I'll be sure to check them out. Thanks for the heads up & the thought.

Finally, markinlondon....HC 110 may be the deal for me. I forgot to mention that I don't exactly scream through film like Winogrand; so if my developer can last a little while, then all the better.

As for plastic vs steel, I first might see what my photography club can lend to me (they're practically all digital, but a few used to shoot film) and if I don't get anywhere, I suppose I'll try out some Patterson tanks.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[blw]

Well, I made it to the Wolf Camera in Charlotte, dropped 75 bucks on stuff & still don't have all I need to develop! I'm usually a more careful shopper, but I was caught up in the moment and didn't add it all up in my head.

The impulse now well in the past, I at least have a changing bag, one Patterson ultimate tank with 2 Patterson reels, a set of 10 graduated cups, and a bag of xtol that can make up to 3 liters of developer. I may have forgotten something else, but I know I still don't have fixer or a thermometer.

The fixer can either be gotten online or on another trip to Charlotte (my shop STILL didn't have my b&w stuff scanned last Saturday!!!!!) as well as the thermometer. I do have a digital cooking thermometer that I use for the occasional large cut of meat....would it be okay to use this for my developer temp as well, or am I better off not using cooking utensils for film developing (this was my motivation for getting the grad cups, plus they actually were cheap)?

The package for the XTOL says it has a decent shelf-life (maybe 2 months?), so should I dilute it to the max of 3 liters or be safe & do full strength for the shorter develop time? Does anyone know if this developer can be saved & used multiple times? If so, how many with which dilutions? How well does it work with Ilford & Agfa films? I probably can come up with more questions, but I'll let this be for now.

I know these are a lot of questions but I feel like I still don't know enough to jump off this cliff yet. Thanks in advance for any knowledge imparted here.