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Old 1st April 2010, 02:08 PM
camerashake camerashake is offline
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Default Please help - developer volumes and development times

Les

My questions relate to published film development times and developer volumes - my thread was originally started in another section of this forum, however, i'm not too sure how i can move it here.

The tread can be found here: http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...8240#post28240 and i would appreciate any help that you can offer.

Should you require me to extract the relevant points and start a new thread within your section, please let me know.

Many thanks, Jag
 
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Old 11th April 2010, 06:41 PM
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Les McLean Les McLean is offline
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Hi Jag,

Sorry to have taken so long to reply, clearly I missed your post on 1st April. I followed your original thread and noted that the FADU members offered lots of advice and opinion, which is the normal response on this forum for we all wish to help as much as we can.

I take it that you are a relative newcomer to film photography and understandably confused by all the different times, dilutions and temperatures available on the manufacturers instructions. Please don't get too worried if you are, I think most film photographers experienced the same nightmare at the beginning of their journey into the potential mysteries of the process.

My first suggestion is not to get too bogged down in trying to understand some of the manufacturers comments relating to the somewhat technical comments in the instructions. That understanding will come when you have gained a little experience with the materials in question. Accept the dilutions, times and temperatures given and use them as a guide or starting point to your own tests to determine your preferences relating to contrast and density of the negatives. In my time in photography I've spent many hours with the technical staff of most of the manufacturing companies and they do know what they are doing and understand the requirements of the photographer. However, they cannot possibly give processing instructions that suit everyone so they always recommend that we do our own tests.

Might I suggest that you expose a roll of film, one if 35mm and two if medium format, on a subject that has a full range of tones. A good starting point is to set up a still life so that you know that nothing will change. Meter the deepest shadow and make one exposure at that reading then make another two exposures, one stop less and one stop more. Repeat this pattern of exposures for the rest of the film and on the same subject. Before you process the film cut it into three equal lengths, load one into your tank and store the other two in a light tight place. Develop the first length as recommended by the developer manufacturer then process the remaining two pieces at different dilutions and times but keep the temperature at 20c. When you complete this test you will begin to understand the effects of time and dilution simply by comparing the three lengths of film on a light box. I cannot suggest what times and dilutions you should use because I don't know the materials you will be testing but if you need further guidance please get back to me either on the forum in Ask Les or by PM.

This is just a test so don't use subjects that are important to you hence the reason that I suggest setting up a simple still life that shows a full range of tones. You can also repeat the tests which gives you consistency if you leave the still life set up. I do this whenever I need to test film or developer. One point that I did not make above is to change ony one factor at a time so that you can identify the reason that the results are different.

I hope this helps you in your search for understanding.
 
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