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  #1  
Old 27th June 2020, 06:03 PM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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Default Developing in me 'ed. Mental gymnastics of a darkroom newby

I haven't set up my darkroom yet but I'm thinking through the process I'll employ when it is up and running.
With B+W film, I spotmeter the darkest part of the image that I want to have just discernible detail and knock the reading down a couple of stops to put it in "zone 3" kinda.
I'm thinking that first I'll take a strip of negatives and make a test strip contact print and find the dmax of the paper to hone in on the required paper exposure needed based on max black.
Then I'm thinking I'll double that exposure and print the negative at 1min, 1.5mins, 2mins, 2.5mins etc intervals to find the minimum developing time to give me maximum black.
At this point I'll have my exposure time and development time, and this will take care of the shadows but the mid tones and highlights will lay in zones determined by my negative film development time/agitation.
I have some questions
1) is my thinking correct?
2) If I wanted brighter midtones/highlights, how could I achieve this with the negatives as they are?
3) Would it be better to just do a test strip across what should be midtones of the image, and take it from there with a split grade technique. (I saw a Dave Butcher video suggesting do this for filter 2.5 then just divide the time by 2 and expose with this time for grade 0 and grade 5 each, and take it from there).
Pete
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Old 27th June 2020, 06:35 PM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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EDIT: I just found another Dave Butcher video, and "from there" he reduced the exposure of the grade 5 filter so as to not block up the blacks so much, and he varies contrast by changing the grade of the low contrast filter, and in the video he changes from grade 0 to grade 1 for the same time to brighten the highlights and provide a bit more midtone contrast.
https://www.davebutcher.co.uk/new-pr...arkroom-dave/# ).
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Old 27th June 2020, 06:38 PM
MikeHeller MikeHeller is offline
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That all sounds jolly compllcated to a bear with a small brain like me. Just do a test strip at, say Gr 2 and develop it as recommended by the developer`s manufacturer recommendation. When the resulting print, ideally when dry, looks right to you then experiment with different development times, paper grades and other variables and see if it comes out better in your opinion. Be prepared to waster paper. There is no better teacher than experience.

Mike
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Old 27th June 2020, 06:40 PM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeHeller View Post
That all sounds jolly compllcated to a bear with a small brain like me. Just do a test strip and develop it as recommended by the developer`s manufacturer recommendation. When the resulting print, ideally when dry, looks right to you then experiment with different development times and other variables and see if it comes out better in your opinion. Be prepared to waster paper. There is no better teacher than experience.

Mike
Haha. That's the problem with having lots of time for my dream world and thinking too much about stuff. I have to admit, Dave Butcher's approach seems more attractive, and it has clearly worked for him
Pete
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Old 27th June 2020, 06:46 PM
MikeHeller MikeHeller is offline
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Well, go for it. Don't overthink it.

Mike
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Old 27th June 2020, 07:26 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Rather too complicated for me, I simply use the camera's meter if it has one, a lot of my cameras don't, such as my Bronica.s rolleiflex Leica's Ect, then I simply take a incident reading, use that, develop my negatives for the time I have found over the years using either ID11 or Rodinal, then just get on and print them, I have never understood all this zone system, I use a RH Designs analyser/pro to get the timing and grade I want, my attitude to the black arts is keep it simple, could be something to do with my advancing years,
Richard
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Old 27th June 2020, 07:26 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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There's a lot in your post, Pete!

To find the dmax of the paper I would just use an unexposed piece of film = film base+fog.

For the print processing time, it will depend on RC or FB paper. In any event, just process to the manufacturers time. In all honesty, significantly shorter or longer processing times will just add to the confusion.

Try not to introduce too many variables at any one time. Try to standardise and keep it simple.
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Old 27th June 2020, 07:43 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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For what it may be worth to you, High Sierra, David Allen, a friend here, laid out a very comprehensive film speed testing procedure which then led on to getting the right print exposure from the then correct negative the film speed test gets you to

That procedure is here on FADU. Someone might be able to link you to it or use the search option to get to it.

Mike
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Old 27th June 2020, 07:54 PM
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DaveInElland DaveInElland is offline
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Again for what it’s worth I would also champion the keep it simple approach. I use a standard development time of 2 minutes for darkroon prints. This keeps one of the variables constant. I then produce a test strip at my favoured f-stop and take it from there. If I want to dodge/burn etc and I have a relatively short exposure time I will close the lens down one stop and double the exposure time.

YMMV but I have found that getting the basics nailed down in this way first and starting to produce decent prints is a good way to build confidence before moving on to using filters and experimenting with split-grade etc. Knowing the basics makes it easier to understand the more advanced stuff. Don’t forget many negatives don’t need anything other than basic dodging and burning to bring out the best.

Hope this helps
All the best
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Old 27th June 2020, 09:06 PM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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That all makes sense. Thanks guys.
Pete
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