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  #31  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:12 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmuir View Post
There is one thing that occurs to me, although I may be way off the mark. HC110 original formula is pretty thick. It has to be thoroughly mixed to ensure an even solution. I know this from experience. If it is not completely diluted, you will end up with uneven development. I hope you find a solution. Home developing allows far more control and flexibility than commercial processing.
Alex
I've been pretty careful (I think) to thoroughly mix the thick concentrate with water, but it's conceivable I haven't done it well enough. But I'd think I'd get more random patterns of high density areas if insufficient mixing were the culprit, instead of fairly straight lines placed at a similar distance from the frame edges. But I guess anything is possible.
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  #32  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:18 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyNL View Post
When hand processing, I only agitate 2 turns every 30 seconds. I don't know how you can get 5-7 turns in 30 seconds, it certainly seems over zealous by my processing standards!
Also, I switch hand positions to alternate the twist direction.
This is a direct quote from the Kodak Tri-X 400 data sheet (emphasis mine):

MANUAL PROCESSING
Small-Tank Processing (8- or 16-ounce tank)
With small single- or double-reel tanks, drop the loaded
film reel into the developer and attach the top to the tank.
Firmly tap the tank on the top of the work surface to
dislodge any air bubbles. Provide initial agitation of 5 to 7
inversion cycles in 5 seconds; i.e., extend your arm and
vigorously twist your wrist 180 degrees.
Then repeat this agitation procedure at 30-second
intervals for the rest of the development time
.


Note that I am not dropping the reel into the tank full of developer, but pouring in the chemistry through the opening in the tank lid. I don't know of anyone who does the former.

I figured that following the film/developer manufacturer's instructions would be the smart thing to do, but I'm going to try a different agitation scheme the next time I develop a roll.
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  #33  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:30 PM
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Uwe Pilz Uwe Pilz is offline
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> Uwe, are you using a motorised base for this?

No I tilt manually. With Rodinal I have dev times up to 20 mins. With 120 film, I wait until I have two films - less walking around tilting the tank.
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  #34  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:30 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skellum View Post
Different rolls shot in different cameras showing a similar fault- that really points to a processing issue rather than faulty cassettes or dodgy cameras. At the moment I'm suspecting uneven development for some reason.

loganca- could you take us through your process step by step?
To give you an idea, here's mine.

Load film to spiral. Carefully- any kinks can stress film, and will produce white marks in the print.
Fill tank with water at 21 c to warm. Invert a couple of times to dislodge air bubbles. Leave to stand.
While film is soaking, mix developer to 21C. My working temperature is 20, but the dev will cool during development.
Dump wash water.
Pour in developer, close lid. Slow inversions for 30 seconds. Don't invert too vigorously as you may generate froth, and you don't want the dev 'surging' over the film.
I invert gently twice every 30 seconds, and give the tank a small tap on the bench afterwards- again, to shift bubbles.
At the end of dev time, dump dev.
Fill with water at 20c, invert 5 times, dump.
Refill with water, invert 5 times, dump.
Pour in fix and invert for 30 seconds.
At the end of fixing I wash by Ilford method.
I finish with 1 dop of wetting agent in the tank, then drain the film at an angle so the water runs to one side, then down the film.

Perhaps you could take us through your process to look for possible flaws?
Here's my process:

In complete darkness, carefully load film to reel. Place loaded reel into bottom of two-reel tank. Place empty reel on top. Close lid to ensure light tightness. Turn on lights and move on to processing.

Fill tank with developer at 20 degrees C/68 degrees F. Invert 5 times in the first 5 seconds and tap tank bottom on counter to dislodge bubbles. Perform 5 inversions/tank taps at every subsequent 30 second interval until development is complete (total dev time = 6.5 mins).

Pour out developer approx. 15 seconds before the development time ends. At the 6.5 minute mark when all the developer has been poured out, pour in stop bath, agitate twice/tap tank and let sit for 10 seconds (these are the Ilford Ilfostop directions).

Pour out stop bath. Pour in fixer. Perform 4 inversions/tap tank during the first 10 seconds of fixing and then repeat at the beginning of every minute until fixing complete. Total fixing time = 4 minutes (these are the Ilford Rapid Fixer directions).

Pour out fixer. Fill tank with tap water at the same temperature as the processing chemicals and perform 5 inversions. Dump out water and refill. Perform 10 inversions. Dump out water and refill. Perform 20 inversions. Dump out water.

Remove the film from the reel and place into a tub of Photoflo diluted with distilled water, 1:200 dilution as prescribed by Kodak (note, I tried also putting a few drops of water into the developing tank filled with distilled water during other attempts). Let film soak for 1 minute.

Remove film and hang vertically to dry, using a binder clip to hold the top of the film and a larger binder clip to weight the film bottom.

After 24 hours, cut film into strips of 6 and sleeve in a Printfile sleeve.
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  #35  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:34 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Since HC-110 seems to be the common thread running through some of these issues, can anyone suggest another developer that I might try that works well with Tri-X? I have a new bottle of Ilford's DD-X that I was planning on trying with HP5+ if I ever achieved success with Tri-X, but I'm not sure that's a good choice for Tri-X.

I'd rather avoid powdered developers if possible, which is why I haven't tried ID11.
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  #36  
Old 17th May 2022, 06:54 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Ilford DD-X is known as liquid ID11 = Kodak D76.
It's an excellent developer.
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  #37  
Old 17th May 2022, 07:05 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loganca View Post
Thanks Svend. I read through the 'covington' site many times while planning my use of HC-110, it's very informative. I do plan on trying Dilution H to extend the development time, I just need to do a bit of math to ensure that I have enough developer in the tank to avoid exhaustion at such high dilution.

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but I have been using a double-reel tank with an empty reel on top and filling the tank so that it just covers the top reel - so basically I'm making enough chemistry to develop two rolls of 35mm film although I'm only loading one reel, so hopefully Dilution H will allow for enough developer in that case. But I would like to develop two rolls at a time at some point as well without risking exhaustion of the developer.

Hi Logan,

I'm not sure if you would risk exhaustion at Dilution H, at least with a single roll in a double tank (@7.5ml syrup). Note that Covington talks about 6ml syrup per roll as a minimum; however, I've not heard of that from any other source, including Kodak's own tech sheet.

In any case, it would be worth submitting a roll to Dilution H (using a double tank to ensure sufficient syrup), extending your dev. time accordingly, and then agitating continuously for the first 30 seconds to see if this clears it up. From everything being said in this thread (i.e. eliminating your cameras, dip and dunk tanks, etc.), I'd say chances are good that longer dev. time and longer initial agitation will do the trick.
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  #38  
Old 17th May 2022, 07:30 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is online now
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I have looked back at the original post, and the replies, and it occurs to me that I agitate spiral tanks continuously for the first minute, then intermittently for the remaining time. I started doing this after reading the Darkroom Cookbook. This can cause a bit of fine tuning of the development time, but not by very much. It’s worth trying, whichever developer you use. For HC110, Kodak suggested agitation every 30 seconds. This differs from other manufacturers , who recommend one period of agitation every minute. HC110 was designed for use in commercial processing machines, which may account for the different routine from others.
I haven’t used DDX, but would hope that you get some decent results. For people starting out in B&W processing, I would recommend ID11 diluted for one shot use. Mixing from powder is less convenient than from a liquid concentrate, but I’ve never had any issues with it.
Alex.


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  #39  
Old 17th May 2022, 07:57 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmuir View Post
For people starting out in B&W processing, I would recommend ID11 diluted for one shot use. Mixing from powder is less convenient than from a liquid concentrate, but I’ve never had any issues with it.
Alex.


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Yes, Alex, my recall on all the threads in all the world. No, sorry that's from Casablanca. All the threads on developer issues on Photrio I can't recall there being anything on ID11 gave issues. I think the same goes for FADU

Mike
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  #40  
Old 17th May 2022, 09:17 PM
loganca loganca is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Svend View Post
it would be worth submitting a roll to Dilution H (using a double tank to ensure sufficient syrup), extending your dev. time accordingly, and then agitating continuously for the first 30 seconds to see if this clears it up.
I think I'll do exactly this for my next roll.

Any suggestions for extending my development time? If the time is approximately linear in the dilution (I believe the Covington site states that) and I'm currently using Dilution E at 1:47 for 6.5 minutes and the negatives look pretty good (at least those without streaks ), then maybe about 9 minutes would work for Dilution H at 1:63. Does that sound like a reasonable starting point?
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