Very Basic Film Question

[raytoei@gmail.com]

amyukie: Yes. D76 makes a whole gallon. Unfortunately, the shelf life is about 6 months if there is no air bubbles, else it will be shorter.

Fortunately, D76 also comes in 1 litre packs from Ilford and Fomadon:

Fomadon P

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/09513...Film-Developer-W37-to-make-1-liter?cat_id=301

Ilord ID-11

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/1960457-Ilford-ID11-1-Liter?cat_id=301

My suggestion is, if you are new and willing to experiment, try out a couple of these developers, think of it as Film's End of Days 🙂

With regards to Rodinal, there are many proponents of this excellent developers, however, it is generally used for slower films but some have used it to great effect with Tri-X, notably Ralph Gibson.

raytoei

ps. here is a picture i found to be mostly correct:

 

[amyukie]

Wow, that's really helpful chart! I'll get the ID-11 and Microphen from freestyle tomorrow. Thanks a lot!

 

[BobYIL]

Wow, that's really helpful chart! I'll get the ID-11 and Microphen from freestyle tomorrow. Thanks a lot!

- ID-11 is the same as D-76. Go with the less expensive one and do not mind if you can not use it all in six months. $6 a gallon (D-76) should not be worth to worry about.

- Microphen is "good" for sharpness with medium size grain, Acufine and Diafine is "excellent" for sharpness with more acutance and the grain size is medium-fine.

- For best sharpness with ID-11/D-76 use 1:1 diluted; the grain size will still be medium-fine. This may also be the best choice for pulling.

 

[Rayt]

raytoei,

Kodak D-76 only comes in powder, right? Don't you need to make a gallon using the whole powder at the beginning? I don't think I'm going to develop film very often, that's why I prefer liquid developer. But I might be wrong. So, can I store the rest of chemical in a container for later use?

I use Rodinal with Acros and am happy with the combo. Aside from the Rodinal look I also like the convenience of a liquid developer but D76 is very good with TX and Tmax films. I mix a gallon of it and store them in Grolsch swing top bottles. Fill it to the top and the D76 will last a real long time.

 

[crispy12]

The only required chemicals for developing film at home (B&W) are developer and fixer. The fixer doesn't affect the tone of the image, so any generic one will do (as long as you follow the instructions included).

I use tap water for my stop bath. Just rinse many times. Usually 2 mins of rinsing is more than enough.

Photo-flo is to stop water marks appearing on the film as it's drying, this can happen if there are lots of minerals in your tap water. You can avoid this by using distilled water, filtered water, or adding photo flo. A cheap alternative for photo flo is a tiny drop of dishwashing detergent. I put the tiniest drop on my finger and swirl my finger in the tank when I wash.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

ps. here is a picture i found to be mostly correct:

Ilford give similar information for their films in their data sheets, but in a table, rather than a graphic.

Oh, and I never try for more than 36 frames. The 'saving' is negligible and I store my negatives in glassine sleeves with slots for 6 strips of six frames. Any more than 36 is a PITA.

 

[jb17kx]

Oh, and I never try for more than 36 frames. The 'saving' is negligible and I store my negatives in glassine sleeves with slots for 6 strips of six frames. Any more than 36 is a PITA.

Incidentally the reason for my bulk-loaded rolls being 30 or 35 frames (6 or 7 strips of 5 fit nicely in the sleeves I use)

 

[amyukie]

I want to try buying bulk also. Sounds fun and way to save money.

 

[rog]

If you like grainy images, incredible contrast and reasonably sharp, use rodinal/R09 in the dilution of 1:50 (6ml will be enough rodinal per film) @ 20 degrees celsius. Agitate the first 30 seconds a few times, then once per 45seconds and poor out after about 13 minutes. that will work for your average tri-x film @ 400 iso and/or @ 200 iso.

Now if you want to push it. Make it stand-development.
Dilute 1:100 (again 6ml per film rodinal) @ 20 degrees. Poor in, agitate first 30 seconds gently. give it a bounce for the airbubles and leave to stand for an hour. Very nice, grainy and controlled highlights and enough shadow detail.
If you want more contrast (less highlight details too) agitate once after 20 to 30 Minutes.

It's just another way of developing your film. Try everything, see what works for you.

 

[amyukie]

Thanks rog for the complete instruction. I just purchased R09 and Microphen. Can't wait to try them out!

 

[Bingley]

I use Rodinal a lot, particularly with TMax and Tri-X (Arista Premium 400) films. In working on my development technique, I've learned a lot from charjohncarter here, and most of John's views are summarized in this thread:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100287

It's worth a look.

A couple of additional thoughts in addition to what others on this thread have said.

I recommend mixing your developer with distilled water rather than tap water, particularly if your tap water is "hard". Ditto for the final rinse. Although I use tap water for most rinsing, I pour distilled water into the tank for the final rinse, and I also use distilled water for the photo-flo solution. Since adopting this practice, I have had no problems with water spots on negatives.

Good luck!

 

[amyukie]

Great! Thanks for the tutorial link, I'll definitely check on that.

Yukie

 

[Fotohuis]

R09 one shot/Rodinal is a real acutance developer. In 35mm suitable for slow- and medium speed films (iso 25-200).

This is what you can expect with a Leica M7 + Elmarit 2,8/28mm with Fomapan Creative 200 and R09.

Already pretty much grain. Microphen is a speed enhancing type developer, if you want to push or getting out maximum speed out of the film.

 

[amyukie]

That picture is classic! so what if I use the Rodinal with 400 ISO film? or which developer should I use for 400 & 800 ISO film, Rodinal or Microphen?

 

[BobYIL]

That picture is classic! so what if I use the Rodinal with 400 ISO film? or which developer should I use for 400 & 800 ISO film, Rodinal or Microphen?

You have the answers... all you need is to read the posts..

 

[amyukie]

Well, I read every post sir. Fotohuis mentioned one shot R09 is suitable for 25-200 film and Microphen is for pushing. I am asking him about normal 400 films. Ok then I guess I need to try myself and quit asking.. Thanks

 

[Fotohuis]

I will show you the extreme situations in iso 25 and iso 1600.

Efke 25 in Beutler A+B. 1+1+10 for 7:00 minutes at 20C.
Beutler is a very high acutance developer. More acutance then Rodinal so emphasized grain. But in an iso 25 film the grain is already very small. So you will get a very sharp negative.

M7+Summarit 2,5/75mm.

 

[Fotohuis]

Now an example of Neopan 1600 E.I. 1600 in a speed enhancing developer, SLD. But the same you can get in Microphen, DD-X, Acufine etc.

M7+Summicron 2,0/50mm wide open.
Ravenstein by candle light.

 

[Fotohuis]

And a last example in an Ultra Fine Grain type developer, CG-512/RLS. But the same results you can get in Perceptol, Microdol-X etc.
With all Ultra Fine Grain type developers you will loose 1 F stop in speed. So the Rollei Retro 100 TONAL (in fact a modified Efke 100 film, (made Orthopan) is E.I. 50. The grain is suppressed, almost neglectible and you will have less sharpness.

M7+Summicron 2,0/50mm

 

[Fotohuis]

Exactly the same (TONAL) film in AM74/RHS a semi-compensating developer, pretty sharp. But now in a 6x7cm roll film camera: C.V. Bessa III 667. Now you can see that not only grain counts but that sharpness, and film format is a really big issue. Even a Leica negative can not compete with a 6x7cm roll film format.
But all Leica-M RF cameras a very compact and can be used quickly in different circumstances. So overall it's a very handy camera and in 35mm the M-lenses are really excellent. I can only advise you to try some iso 25-200 films in your M7. Almost all M lenses you can use wide open without to many limitation.