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Help with B&W Development

photo-bowman

New member
Hello!

I could use some help.
I started to work again with film. I did some Black&White (Kodak TriX400 and Rollei RPX100) 120 films and used Adox Atomal 49 and Adofix in a Paterson tank. So far so good. The first rolls came out fine, but later in the usage the films came out as if I had misjudged the light. They are all to bright.
I did use Atomal 49 as a Stock Solution for up to 10 go-arounds and increased the time per the suggestion for 1 Minute after the 5th film per extra film and one turn of the tank per 30 sec.

As the first rolls were good I do suspect it to be the solution (that it had not decreased in potency as suggested).

Now for my question:
I am looking for a good one time developer and fixer now that gives me a fine grain as well.
I hear that Kodak HC-110 does offer a fine grain when you use a more diluted solution. I did some research of the web but so far found no good info about it.
What might you be able to tell me?

Any help is appreciated.....

Thanks!!!
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I develop 120 B&W roll film in an Agfa Rondinax 60 (200ml of solution required) using HC-110 diluted 1:49 from concentrate (nominal standard is 1:32 IIRC). All my film is processed the same way (70°F, 8 minutes of processing in developer and Ilford Rapid fix, with a 1 minute pre-wet, 1 minute stop rinse, and eight changes of water (1 minute each) for post-fix wash). The Rondinax tank requires continuous agitation. I get very consistent results for up to three rolls of film, then dump and re-mix both developer and fixer for the next batch.

I've adjusted the EI of all my films a little bit to accommodate this standardized processing (I reduce nominal film speed by 20%). The results are a contrasty and slightly grainy image with good shadow detail and tonal scale, very suitable for scanning and rendering with image processing.

HC-110 at this dilution, processed in a more traditional daylight tank with minimal agitation and 20% more processing time, nets finer grain and softer contrast, if that's what you're after.

As you well know, processing B&W film is a matter of experimenting until you get the results you like... :D

G

Hello!

I could use some help.
I started to work again with film. I did some Black&White (Kodak TriX400 and Rollei RPX100) 120 films and used Adox Atomal 49 and Adofix in a Paterson tank. So far so good. The first rolls came out fine, but later in the usage the films came out as if I had misjudged the light. They are all to bright.
I did use Atomal 49 as a Stock Solution for up to 10 go-arounds and increased the time per the suggestion for 1 Minute after the 5th film per extra film and one turn of the tank per 30 sec.

As the first rolls were good I do suspect it to be the solution (that it had not decreased in potency as suggested).

Now for my question:
I am looking for a good one time developer and fixer now that gives me a fine grain as well.
I hear that Kodak HC-110 does offer a fine grain when you use a more diluted solution. I did some research of the web but so far found no good info about it.
What might you be able to tell me?

Any help is appreciated.....

Thanks!!!
 

photo-bowman

New member
I develop 120 B&W roll film in an Agfa Rondinax 60 (200ml of solution required) using HC-110 diluted 1:49 from concentrate (nominal standard is 1:32 IIRC). All my film is processed the same way (70°F, 8 minutes of processing in developer and Ilford Rapid fix, with a 1 minute pre-wet, 1 minute stop rinse, and eight changes of water (1 minute each) for post-fix wash). The Rondinax tank requires continuous agitation. I get very consistent results for up to three rolls of film, then dump and re-mix both developer and fixer for the next batch.

I've adjusted the EI of all my films a little bit to accommodate this standardized processing (I reduce nominal film speed by 20%). The results are a contrasty and slightly grainy image with good shadow detail and tonal scale, very suitable for scanning and rendering with image processing.

HC-110 at this dilution, processed in a more traditional daylight tank with minimal agitation and 20% more processing time, nets finer grain and softer contrast, if that's what you're after.

As you well know, processing B&W film is a matter of experimenting until you get the results you like... :D

G

Hello !

thanks for your answers.
I am currently learning for I am a child of the digital age and am only now stepping "back" into the film-age. And so I am still learning. But as you said.... it is an experimenting thingy. Even so I am looking to get the basics right to then KNOW what I am doing where....

Thanks again anyway....
 

jdphoto

Well-known member
Personally, I'd use Ilford liquid developer (ilfosol 3, stop bath and rapid fixer). This way, you use only what you need. It's much easier and cleaner to measure. It mixes at 1 - 9, so 1 part developer to 9 parts of water.

Let's say I want to use 500ml to develop two rolls in one tank. I'll take the desired amount (500ml), divide it by the total of the two numbers in the ratio (1+9=10), then multiply that (10) by each individual number in the ratio. So, 500/10=50, 50x1=50, 50x9=450 or 50ml developer to 450ml of water.
 
Last edited:

jdphoto

Well-known member
Typo alert! ignore the "(10)" in the formula below. So, again...

For 500ml of chemistry at 1:9 ratio, add the two ratio numbers, 1+9=10, divide the 10 by 500 (total working solution desired) and you get 50. Multiply this number to the first number in ratio 1x50=50. Then multiply second number in ratio 9x50=450 to get a ratio of 1:9. 50ml of developer and 450ml of water. for a total of 500ml of working solution.

Let's say you want to just use 300ml of chemistry, (which is what I normally use), but this time using 1:14 as a ratio. Add the numbers together in the ratio, i.e. 1+14=15.
divide 300 (total working solution) by 15 (total of numbers in ratio) to get 20...300/15=20. Now multiply this 20 with the numbers in the ratio, i.e. 20*1=20 and 20*14=280, so your chemistry ratio is 20ml of developer to 280ml of water for a total working solution of 300ml @1:14.
 
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