JeremyR
Photography Geek
I am now the proud owner of a developer tank, some Diafine and some Rodinal, and other sundry items. Soon I'll be attempting to process my first roll of Tri-X. Wish me luck! 
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
Good luck, Jeremy, from another Culminar user. You should be OK if you dislodge air bubbles at the start with a firm tap or two, and if you invert (or agitate) as advised.
350D_user
B+W film devotee
When you see that first strip showing photos, you'll wonder why you were worried.JeremyR said:I am now the proud owner of a developer tank, some Diafine and some Rodinal, and other sundry items. Soon I'll be attempting to process my first roll of Tri-X. Wish me luck!
Just don't forget the washing-up liquid.
sienarot
Well-known
I still continue to get a smile when I pull out a fully developed roll from the spools, but nothing was as pleasing as the first time because it seemed like such a difficult thing to do until I tried.
A couple tips I picked up along the way:
- when loading the spool, at every complete rotation, jiggle the film in and out a bit. If there's any resistence, the film may be caught somewhere and could potentially trap air bubbles, to which you should unwind it a bit and try reloading until it's loose.
- Be sure to fix the film completely. If your film looks a bit hazy (sometimes slightly yellow/brown tinted) and not evenly transparent, put it back in for more fixing. If it's not fixed properly, your film could begin to fade over time and you'll lose your pictures.
Have fun! In no time, you'll be making your own prints! That's when the real fun starts!
A couple tips I picked up along the way:
- when loading the spool, at every complete rotation, jiggle the film in and out a bit. If there's any resistence, the film may be caught somewhere and could potentially trap air bubbles, to which you should unwind it a bit and try reloading until it's loose.
- Be sure to fix the film completely. If your film looks a bit hazy (sometimes slightly yellow/brown tinted) and not evenly transparent, put it back in for more fixing. If it's not fixed properly, your film could begin to fade over time and you'll lose your pictures.
Have fun! In no time, you'll be making your own prints! That's when the real fun starts!
JeremyR
Photography Geek
Tonight I mixed up batches of Rodinal and Diafine. (Let me just say that potassium hydroxide is nasty stuff! ) Getting closer to dunking that first roll...
) Getting closer to dunking that first roll...
Bryce
Well-known
I did some of this last night, first time in... well, a couple of months.
Try it, you'll like it!
At the very least, it gives background on how we all got where we are. It also allows you to make the very best B+W's man knows how to make so far.
Enjoy!
Try it, you'll like it!
At the very least, it gives background on how we all got where we are. It also allows you to make the very best B+W's man knows how to make so far.
Enjoy!
JeremyR
Photography Geek
Success!
Success!
I did it! The first roll is drying now...
I started with the Diafine developer. (I must admit it was nice to not have to worry about precise temperatures, developing times, etc.) I thought for sure that I'd screw something up, but upon opening the tank after final rinse, by George, there were images on that roll!
Having read much about Diafine's "curious" behavior, I shot a trio of exposure series from EI 320 to EI 1600 in 1/3-stop increments to see what sort of performance it would give at varying exposures. Just glancing at the results, the apparent consistency between shots is pretty amazing, given that there's more than two stops of exposure between them! Of course my scanner has a finer eye for detail than I do, so tomorrow we'll have a closer look at grain, shadow detail, etc.
Although the subject matter is some of the most prosaic imaginable (e.g. cat, teddy bear), I'm excited to see the results up close! If the scans look as good as the negatives, I don't know if I'll ever get around to trying out the Rodinal...
Cheers,
Jeremy
Success!
I did it! The first roll is drying now...
I started with the Diafine developer. (I must admit it was nice to not have to worry about precise temperatures, developing times, etc.) I thought for sure that I'd screw something up, but upon opening the tank after final rinse, by George, there were images on that roll!
Having read much about Diafine's "curious" behavior, I shot a trio of exposure series from EI 320 to EI 1600 in 1/3-stop increments to see what sort of performance it would give at varying exposures. Just glancing at the results, the apparent consistency between shots is pretty amazing, given that there's more than two stops of exposure between them! Of course my scanner has a finer eye for detail than I do, so tomorrow we'll have a closer look at grain, shadow detail, etc.
Although the subject matter is some of the most prosaic imaginable (e.g. cat, teddy bear), I'm excited to see the results up close! If the scans look as good as the negatives, I don't know if I'll ever get around to trying out the Rodinal...
Cheers,
Jeremy
JeremyR
Photography Geek
Diafine
Diafine
Color me impressed! This stuff is amazing. EI 320-1600 all on the same roll, and it could have gone even farther (but that's an experiment for another day)
Here's EI 320:
and EI 1600:
Full-size images of the entire series are at http://ubergeek.smugmug.com/gallery/2769565. I did quick levels and curves adjustments to achieve greater similarity between the exposures in the final images. All photos were taken with my Yashica Electro 35 GL at f/2.8, with the shutter speed chosen by the camera.
Anyway, gotta run!
Cheers,
Jeremy
Diafine
Color me impressed! This stuff is amazing. EI 320-1600 all on the same roll, and it could have gone even farther (but that's an experiment for another day
)Here's EI 320:
and EI 1600:
Full-size images of the entire series are at http://ubergeek.smugmug.com/gallery/2769565. I did quick levels and curves adjustments to achieve greater similarity between the exposures in the final images. All photos were taken with my Yashica Electro 35 GL at f/2.8, with the shutter speed chosen by the camera.
Anyway, gotta run!
Cheers,
Jeremy