Some First Results

DRabbit

DRabbit

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I did better than I expected for my first roll of film and first developing. I had shot 1/3 of the roll at EI 400, 1/3 at EI 800 and 1/3 at EI 1250. Yes, you were all right. 1250 is the "sweet spot" for Arista Premium 400 developed in diafine. However, results at 400 and 800 certainly weren't at all bad.

I'm still learning, so don't expect perfection here... LOL... My next roll of film is Arista Premium 100 as I like to shoot wide-open a lot (which I didn't do here), so I need slower film. Also, it's true what they say about Diafine... that you get a "flatter" (less contrasty) image. That's probably okay for me since I'll tweak contrast in photoshop after scanning...

As for scanning, I'm using a Plustek 7300. SilverFast sure is clunky and I have no idea what I'm doing. I have VueScan too, so I used that for these (just easier).

As requested... my developing steps...

4 minutes Diafine A, agitate (flip over and twist) twice every minute, with one tap on the counter.

4 minutes Diafine B, same agitation.

1 minutes distilled water.

7 minutes Kodak Rapid Fixer. Same type of agitation every minute.

5 water change cycles. Pour in water, agitate, dump. Do it again 4 more times. Tap water.

1 minute distilled water with PhotoFlo, and a few twisty agitations (gently).

Take film out, squeegee with fingers, hang to dry (from showerhead, wire hanger and film clip rig). Hung in shower (my most dust-free environment).

Cleaned everything up with lots of running water and put on paper towels in shower floor to dry. ALL chemicals (except PhotoFlo) was dumped back into their respective containers. On the fixer mix (1 gallon mixed) I put one slash mark (to signify I've used it once).

That's it!

and here's some photos... all were taken with the Zeiss Ikon and either the Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon or 50mm f/2 Planar.

ALWAYS open to feedback...

church_001.jpg


thepoint_001.jpg


surplus.jpg


oldshoes.jpg


fastenseatbelt.jpg


carpetland.jpg


Thanks again everyone!!!!
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
 
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It´s a hard to beat feeling, when you take the film from the reel to look at it the first time, isn´t it? And when the results are as good as yours, it´s even better!
 
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Thanks Petronius! Yes, you are right! I was like a little kid when I took the film off the reel and saw photos... I even shouted "I just developed my own photos!" LOL

...And thanks so much for your kinds words about the photos themselves!
 
Great work, and great eye.

(Go easy on the squeegeeing of film, as this can cause problems, at least with some films. I dropped it from my routine.)
 
Well done, you do NOT need a water bath after part B and before fixing, so save it as carrying water is a heavy task... Also, I avoid squeeging with fingers, as anything can scratch the negs... The photos are looking great, a very promising start !
 
I agree with dropping the squeegeeing from your routine. I've tried both clean squeegees and clean fingers, and they have all lead the scratches. Just use the PhotoFlo and dry properly and you'll get incredible negs.
 
Amy,

Thanks for posting your step-by-step. Your negatives look GREAT! Congratulations. BTW, how do you like Plustek 7300? And did you use plastic reel?

Thanks,
-hyokjae
 
Thanks everyone! You are all so great for being so encouraging!

Thardy - In the photos above, all EI settings I shot at are represented. I don't remember exactly, but I think the church is at 800, the shoes at 1250, the surplus store and the beach at 400, fasten seatbelt is at 800 and I think carpetland is at 1250.

Hyokjae - I liked the 7300 so far, but I'm not a big fan of the software it came with, SilverFast. It's buggy as hell (crashed 3 times on me) and it's not exactly the most intuitive program. I like the VueScan better (downloaded on the web), though it takes a bit of tweaking to get the settings right for the film you're using.

If anyone wants to chime in with tips for the SilverFast software, I'm all ears.

The scanner itself seems very good for the price. It has a small desk footprint which is nice, and the negative holder doesn't seem flimsy at all... nice hard plastic that "sandwiches" the negatives between and snaps closed. You have to advance to each negative manually (no mechanical/electronic device that advances them for you), but that's fine for me and it's easy enough to do. It scans up to 7200dpi, but I've heard really anything above 3600-4000 dpi is probably beyond what detail the scanner can capture anyway (I scanned all the above at 3600dpi). Again, that's fine for me at this point.

Mfogiel - really? No water between B and fixer? As I understood it, if you want to reuse your fixer a water bath between B and fixer is okay to help prolong your fixer. What are the downsides to using the water bath between? I'm not rinsing over and over, just doing one minute (or less) in distilled water to get at least a good majority of the B rinsed out of the tank and film.


I was out shooting a lot today... blew through 1/2 a roll already. That sure is one nice thing about developing yourself... it feels a bit like digital in the sense that I'm not going to be controlled by the labs and the lab fees 🙂
 
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Really nice results Amy. I'm going to try Diafine, the shoe picture at 1200 is really solid, not the usual grainy stuff I used to get when pushing.

Ok now folks, identify the camera in the reflection within the shoe picture.
 
Great results for your first effort ... congratulations. The feeling of elation when removing that film strip from the tank never lessens IMO!

This demonstrates also what Diafine does and how it's sweet spot seems to be when exposing at 1250 ... the shoes shot confirms this! I've had a Diafine kit in the cupboard for well over a year now but haven't bothered using it for this reason as it becomes a little restrictive ... Rodinal is much more versatile IMO and extremely easy to use at 1+25, 1+50, up to 1+300 when stand developing. A bottle of Rodinal and an accurate syringe makes for a very simple and reliable regime!

Based on a thread by RFFer 'P Lynn Miller' I just tried 1+100 one hour stand developing with Tri-X @ 400 and I'm very impressed with the results ... perfectly controlled grain and highlights, and sharp!
 
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Good work! I'm still new to home development so I feel your excitement. I really like the shoes in the window and the third shot with the old suitcases.
 
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