What Am I Doing Wrong?

[edmelvins]

Hi guys,

I've just got my Paterson tank kit and also a D-76 and Ilford Rapid Fixer. I tried to develop a 120mm Ilford Delta 400 but it didn't turn out so well.

I developed it for 9.5 mins as instructed in the film box.
D-76 1:1 @give or take 20degrees. Agitation for 5 secs every 30 secs. Rapid fixer for 4 mins @ +- 22 deg. Agitation for 5 secs every 1 min.

The film turned out to be dirty and there were some underdeveloped photos. What did I do wrong? How to properly develop the film? Do you have any input? It'll be greatly appreciated. 🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The spots are just dust on the film when you printed it (or scanned it if you scan film). Clean the negs with a pec-pad or canned air before scanning or printing to remove dust and you won't get the spots anymore.

 

[Disaster_Area]

For what it's worth the above scan looks pretty good. I've yet to find ANY way of getting rid of 100% of the dust and specks you're seeing. Short of working in a lab spec clean room, you're GOING to get at least some dust on some frames, that's what photoshop is for 🙂

You've got really good shadow detail, sky looks blown out, but that looks like an exposure problem not a developing one. If you're worried about exact times, number of inversions etc do what I do: soup everything in Rodinal 1:100 for an hour. Half a dozen inversions at the start, 3-4 at half an hour, fix as usual. Works for every film, pushed, pulled, C41... any ISO... hell throw some 100 and some 800 in the same tank, it'll come out great. You loose a bit of contrast, but that's easily brought back in photoshop. Seriously it's so close to magic I can smell the unicorn farts they put in it 🙂

 

[bwcolor]

It would be helpful if you were more specific as to what type of water you used and when... how you dried/stored your negatives.

 

[Disaster_Area]

I wouldnt worry too much about your water. If that sample is typical of the rest of your frames, you're doing a pretty good job of keeping the crud to a minimum. Like I said, I rarely get any frames on a roll that don't need any dust removal and I've tried everything from well water, distilled water, bottled water and tap water. Your shot has a lot of whites, so maybe there's more dust we're not seeing, but it's not too bad.

From my experience, where you dry your negs has the biggest impact on the final amount of dust you'll see while scanning. I use a closet, you want somewhere with little or no air movement, that's fairly easy to keep free of dust. Don't use any film squeegies, just do a final rinse if photoflow or something similar, give your rolls a few taps on the side of the sink to shake off as much water as possible before taking the film off the spool, and then carefully hang, trying not to disturb the air as much as possible.

Five minutes in photoshop will get rid of all but the nastiest dust and scratches from what I've encountered.

 

[bwcolor]

My experience with regards to water is at odds with the above. I never drink the stuff that comes out of my tap. Your supply may be good and may be bad, but in order for me to keep the negatives clean I must use filtered water. How I filter depends upon the stage. Also, I dry in a small bathroom. I keep the sink full of hot water until dry.

 

[Disaster_Area]

bwcolor makes an excellent point, keeping the humidity up will keep dust out of the air.

 

[edmelvins]

Wow thanks for the excellent input guys! Thanks a lot!

Oh, and also, do the inversions and the temperature have to be exactly as they say? I have a hard time keeping the temperature at 20 deg especially because I don't have a professional darkroom setup.

@Disaster Area
I'll try your suggestion to use the Rodinal. I use a Paterson tank that fits 3 rolls of 120mm film, do I have to modify anything if I develop 3 films at the same time? Thanks again for your replies! 🙂

@bwcolor
That's a great thing to know! Thanks! I will try to keep my bathroom as humid as possible.

 

[DNG]

Wow thanks for the excellent input guys! Thanks a lot!

Oh, and also, do the inversions and the temperature have to be exactly as they say? I have a hard time keeping the temperature at 20 deg especially because I don't have a professional darkroom setup.

@Disaster Area
I'll try your suggestion to use the Rodinal. I use a Paterson tank that fits 3 rolls of 120mm film, do I have to modify anything if I develop 3 films at the same time? Thanks again for your replies! 🙂

@bwcolor
That's a great thing to know! Thanks! I will try to keep my bathroom as humid as possible.

I put the hot shower on 10min before drying, and turn it off, and then I hang it up in a very humid bathroom... after I Photo-Flo. It takes 1h15m to dry... I scan right away. and sleeve.

I use Xtol, So I have to have a Charcoal filter on my kitchen sink, and I have a 200micron funnel I use during the pour process. I Funnel every step also. OCD? Maybe... But Xtol needs filtered with mixing.

I still get micro sized dust or something every few rolls, not bad, but still takes 10-20min to spot each frame that has them. And not on all the frames of the roll.

I gonna try Adonal (Freestyles Rodinal clone). And see I get less dust or whatever.

My Work-flow for Mixing and pouring is really a particle free method I use, that should cover every base.... But, dust during drying is the hardest to control 100% of the time..

BTW... turn off your air handler (heater or air-conditioner) during drying... so no dust from other rooms pours in through the vent.

 

[Disaster_Area]

Wow thanks for the excellent input guys!

@Disaster Area
I'll try your suggestion to use the Rodinal. I use a Paterson tank that fits 3 rolls of 120mm film, do I have to modify anything if I develop 3 films at the same time? Thanks again for your replies! 🙂

as long as your tank has enough room to fit a 1:100 mix of rodinal, with at least 3ml's of developer per roll in the tank you're fine. You might have to do just two rolls at a time in a patterson tank, I can't remember. As for temperature, it really doesn't matter with long development times, as long as it's around 18-20 degrees. The longer your dev time, the more leeway you have with all variables (concentration, inversions, temperature)