Testing film and saving rolls

[jett]

I want to do some film tests to see the differences in tonality, film speed, and contrast with different developers and development times.

I'm no Ansel Adams so I don't plan in getting all zoned out. I just want to learn how to get decent negatives in different lighting scenarios (sunny, cloudy, indoors, etc.).

I plan on testing tri-x developed in Rodinal and Xtol. I want to do this without wasting too much film so I was thinking of cutting the 120 rolls in half and the 35mm rolls in thirds.

Is this generally OK? I figured that this is probably OK if I'm not doing stand development, but I just wanted confirmation before wasting a bunch of film.

 

[ChrisN]

You can certainly test on short rolls. If using TRI-X why not get a 100-foot roll of either TRI-X or Arista Premium 400 (TRI-X sold under a different name, from Freestyle) and load your own short rolls.

And in passing can I recommend this article by Barry Thornton which explains the best shortcut to producing good negatives? It helped me to understand what I should be looking for. I wasted a lot of film before I discovered this.

 

[neelin]

With 35mm I have rolls of 36 I've shot sequencing through 3/4 or 5 exposure times, through the whole roll on the same scene. I then cut off enough to ensure I've included at least one of each of the exposures, and develop them.

You might find http://www.charlielemay.net/azsfiles/zonepg1.htm an interesting read on a simplfied zone methodology.

Robert

 

[hausen]

This thread is great timing for me. Summer here in NZ and like Chris I'm sure, we have some bright sun here and I have been a little disillusioned with quality of some of my negs. These two articles couldn't have come at a better time. Thanks guys😀

 

[jett]

Thanks! I was aware that arista premium 100/400 = kodak plus-x/ tri-x. I actually shoot it for 35mm. I decided not to bulk load because there really isn't much savings with the low freestyle prices. Short rolls do have their benefits, like for testing, so I'll grab some on my next order.

I hope to stop blowing my highlights in 2012.

Thanks for the link and Happy New Year!

 

[shadowfox]

"cutting the 120 rolls in half"

Explain to me this one, please 🙂

 

[ChrisN]

"cutting the 120 rolls in half"

Explain to me this one, please 🙂

After exposure, before developing (in different developers). 😉

 

[Rob-F]

"cutting the 120 rolls in half"

Explain to me this one, please 🙂

I'm sure you are thinking about the difficulty of dealing with the paper backing. Sounds a little tricky, doesn't it?

 

[jett]

"cutting the 120 rolls in half"

Explain to me this one, please 🙂

I meant after the exposure.

I'd shoot a bunch of frames, cut the film up in my changing bag, then place them on different reels.

 

[shadowfox]

I'm sure you are thinking about the difficulty of dealing with the paper backing. Sounds a little tricky, doesn't it?

I'm struggling with the concept of "why bother" ? 🙂

Not that I'd like to discourage anyone, but I'm way past the idea of tweaking development recipe to get different looks.

If I can buy a machine (or train a pet) that follows my single development recipe, I would.