Stand-developing times

[Phantomas]

I'd like to try stand-developing. From what I see people usually develop for roughly an hour with very minimal or no inversions at all. I wanted to ask something as I'm struggling to find any info: are there any rules of thumb about film type and developing times (and inversions) when stand developing? Obviously such info is not available on Massive Developing Chart and I was wondering how safe it would be to apply the same formula/times to all types of B/W film. What about the developers? Are most of them good for stand developing? I use Rodinal most frequently, which I understand is quite commonly used developer for this purpose.

Your advice would be appreciated. Also, extra appreciation for posting stand-developing examples with film type and your directions. Thanks!

 

[Mablo]

Phantomas, the easiest way to start with stand development is to shoot a test roll of just about any film between ISO 100 to 400 at box speed and soup it in Rodinal 1:100 (5ml of Rodinal and 495ml water if you have 0,5l tank). Agitate slowly 1 min and let the tank stand for the remaining 59min. *Do Not Touch* the tank during the development. This is very important.

The photo below is TMY-2 stand developed in Rodinal just as I described above.

 

[Mablo]

In case I need to push my negs a little bit I'll swirl the tank at 30min mark for a short period, maybe 5 sec.

The photo below is Neopan 400@800, stand developed in Rodinal for one hour.

 

[Phantomas]

Thanks! I really like the results I see from stand-developing. Usually nice contrast and tones, just like in your photo.
From your comment, talking about film speeds, can I assume that 1600 does not do well with stand-developing?

 

[degruyl]

I assume that you have seen: http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61643

Post #47 in that thread has quite a lot of information.

This thread has information on pushing Tri-X to 12,800 in Rodinal 1+50 http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4441

Try it, see if it works.

A couple of cautions:

make sure that there is space below the reel (I use one 120 reel in a 2 reel tank, with 35mm spacers above and below).

Don't be surprised if the spent developer is very dark, that is the anti-halation layer.

You will see significant edge effects (halos). Or, at least I did. I like this, but you may not.

Large areas of even exposure (sky, walls) look splotchy and uneven.

 

[Mablo]

Thanks! I really like the results I see from stand-developing. Usually nice contrast and tones, just like in your photo.
From your comment, talking about film speeds, can I assume that 1600 does not do well with stand-developing?

Thanks Phantomas. You mean ISO 1600 film at box speed? I've never tried it so can't comment on that.

 

[degruyl]

Thanks Phantomas. You mean ISO 1600 film at box speed? I've never tried it so can't comment on that.

I suspect you want to treat that as pushed one stop (if Neopan 1600). I believe that the native ISO is 800 for that film and it is listed for 1600.

Don't quote me, though: I just use Tri-X for anything over 100.

 

[Phantomas]

A couple of cautions:

make sure that there is space below the reel (I use one 120 reel in a 2 reel tank, with 35mm spacers above and below).

Don't be surprised if the spent developer is very dark, that is the anti-halation layer.

You will see significant edge effects (halos). Or, at least I did. I like this, but you may not.

Large areas of even exposure (sky, walls) look splotchy and uneven.

Thanks for that! I was meaning to ask about the downsides of stand-developing (why wouldn't everyone do it?) but my guess was that it's due to personal preferences, plus I guess "regular" developing would be considered more "scientific" what with more exact times and agitation techniques.

 

[pufy]

Large areas of even exposure (sky, walls) look splotchy and uneven.

One way to aovid that is to simply hit the bottom of the tank gently a couple of times, this way you get rid of the air bubbles.

Another thing worth mentioning is you should avoid overexposure, you will get burned highlights a lot quicker this way. Also, the temperature is not so crucial in stand developing, anything between 17-23 degrees Celsius should do the trick.