Need some advice re equipment for BW home development

[Bateleur]

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Lots of good advise here! For what it's worth I'd avoid a changing bag too, I've had bad experiences especially with larger format inside a changing bag. If you can stand an enclosed space a suitably light proof cupboard makes for good spiral loading area instead and of course for dust free drying of your films.

[aesop]

Lots of good advise here! For what it's worth I'd avoid a changing bag too, I've had bad experiences especially with larger format inside a changing bag. If you can stand an enclosed space a suitably light proof cupboard makes for good spiral loading area instead and of course for dust free drying of your films.

 

 

...+1. Nothing beats a suitably light-proofed space.

[250swb]

If changing bags don't float your boat, and with large format they are a pain in the ***, try a changing tent. Calumet make/market one that isn't too much money and it makes the world of difference if you have larger items to sort out in the dark.

 

Calumet Changing Room

 

SORRY, I've just seen that Chris also posted about this. Still, two recomendations is better than one!

 

Steve

[Jeff S]

And the Massive Development Chart iPhone App is extremely handy. Well worth the couple of quid to purchase. All your timings are done for you.

 

Call me old school, but these types of guides are just that...guides for a starting point. Because of the many variables involved with each user...camera, meter, enlarger, agitation technique, etc...I think one should do one's own film speed and development time tests for each camera. These are simple to do; once and done.

 

Just my philosophy, of course. I shot Tri-X at different speeds for different M cameras, even when I used two M6s or two M7s simultaneously. " Different is not the same," as one darkroom teacher of mine was fond of repeating.

 

Jeff

[StS]

There is already lots of very good advice given here.

 

Two additional snippets - I use a Tetenal odourless fixer, which requires the use of the Tetenal Indicet stop bath. I suspect it is actually a two-step fixer, I have the impression, that the developed part of the film is washed out already with the stop-bath; this stop bath is purple after use.

 

In case there is trouble loading the reel, it might be worth to cut a bit more film than just the leader. When following the ancient Leica trimming instruction, this is automatically ensured. Leicas (at least the M) wind the film on the spool in the "other" direction compared to the cartridge to enhance film flatness. The first piece of film curved in the "wrong" direction can block in the spool. Additionally, the film can be wound back completely in the cartridge and should relax a bit.

Additionally, the edges of the film can be rounded after cutting.

 

Stefan

[tobey bilek]

It all works, it all has quirks which you need to learn to work around.

 

The only real dog is the economy brand with black plastic caps. Some day that top will split center to edge when you cap the tank. When the light goes on, the film is gone. The split is silent and well documented. Happened to me once.

 

My Nikor tanks are from 1965 and I am still using them. I like their reels best but there are imitations that are dogs.

 

I got some Hews in trade and they are ok, but I find them harder to load than Nikors

 

Brooks , Vivitar, and other off brands are dogs. Some are not ever made from type 316 stainless and they rust.

 

Patterson Super System 4 are close to fool proof, but you need the twisty stick for the first agitation ONLY, The other issue is they need an odd amount of liquid like 300 cc and you end up wasting lots of developer. But if you do everything right, the film will be perfect. And keep wetting agent away from the plastic or film will not load over time. There is no known way to clean them either. That makes used ones suspect.

 

Used stainless can have bent reels that will not load.

[sblitz]

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question -- after developing how do you clean your tanks, reels, etc? A dishwasher? soap and water, water rinse only?

[250swb]

Water only. Don't use detergent, you are trying to get rid of all things that can make the developer froth up when you use the tank next time, so rinse wetting agent from all jugs, tanks, and reels as well.

 

Steve

[Kugelfest]

I only use hot water and have a toothbrush (my wifes) to clean the metal thingies if they look stuck.

[philipus]

I have not replied to this thread, which I started by now quite a while ago. However, I have followed it with great interest and read it several times, and wish to thank each of you for the very valuable information you have shared.

 

I have looked around for Hewes reels and Kindermann tanks and came across a seller who has the below items which she thought might be Kindermann but wasn't sure. Do they look familiar to you? Would they seem to be of OK quality?

 

Cheers

Philip

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[kdriceman]

A couple things I learned the hard way when I restarted developing after a decade long hiatus. 1) I wear a Luminox watch with very bright hand illumination and didn't remove it. I don't know the impact of this on B&W film because: 2) I did not make my cellphone light tight and it was sitting right there beside my film and reel when someone called me, splashing light all over the place. There was some fogging on some frames. I now remove the watch and just use a changing bag instead of blacking out the room.

[mobirobo1]

wow, how many films are you going to develop at once? these look huge! they do not look Kindermann - hewes to me.

my tanks have a less wide filler cap and the hewes / taiwanese reels comparison was shown earlier in the thread.

 

the reel on the very top of that heap looks TW origin but the others I do not recognize with the black covers.

 

but steel tanks and reels do it for me. i have been using them for 30 years with a 10 years of storing and moving house in between.

out of the removal box everything worked fine, no rust or other defects.

[philipus]

Hi Rolf

 

Well I don't know how many I'll do at any given point but I guess I could develop several at once if that's necessary in order to use tanks of this size. I'm just now awaiting delivery of bulk rolls, incl 400 foot of Eastman 5222, as well as heaps of Tri-X, so I'll have enough to play with. But perhaps it is wasteful, thinking of the environment here, to use larger tanks than necessary?

 

Cheers

Philip

[mobirobo1]

hoi Philip,

 

i guess it depends on your film turnover :-)

in average i use 2 or perhaps 3 films per week and with that turnover my little two film tank is just fine and I don't have to go to the fitness centre to train for proper agitation :-)

 

but perhaps you can sell "handmade" film development and turn it into a neat side business!

 

serious, I am often dissapointed with the service I get for E6 development. (not black and white I know) i get the slides back with plenty of scratches.

 

rolf

[philipus]

serious, I am often dissapointed with the service I get for E6 development. (not black and white I know) i get the slides back with plenty of scratches.

 

Hi Rolf

 

I have had more bad luck with b/w commercial deveopment actually, even from "good" labs it's a bit hit and miss (ie not a difference in kind - as in good labs always being better - but a difference - as in good labs less often being bad). The main problem is not scratches, though I've had that too, but stains which I find more difficult to clone away in post.

 

My tank and steel reels arrived the other day. The tank came with an extra lid and seems very well built indeed. I think I'll be fine with such a big tank since I'll just develop when I've got enough to develop

[tobey bilek]

You don`t need a bag if you have a dark room.

 

Have not used acid stop for decades. It increases grain. Its purpose is to stop alkaline developer from deteriorating acid fix and prolong life of fix.

 

First off, I never reuse fix or any chemical. Silver precipitates from stop starting in 24 hours and sticks like glue to the next film. You can see the grey metal in the bottom of the bottle.

 

Secondly, I use alkaline fix and developer is alkaline so there is no problem.

 

Water and air filters are required. So are glass bottles you can clean. All the retouching goes away when I adopted all the above. Took me 35 years to learn the hard way. Learn from me and save yourself a bunch of trouble.

[Orient XI]

Cleanliness is everything. If at all possible filter ALL solutions. I've given up film processing now that I no longer have the resources of a University Chemistry lab behind me (e.g. copious quantities of distilled water and vacuum filtration through the best filter papers), but a small kitchen filter funnel plugged with cotton wool removes an impressive quantity of solids from developers, stop baths, and fixers. Wash the filter thoroughly between solutions and discard the cotton wool plug after each solution. If you live in a hard water area use boiled water (after cooling!) to wash the fixed film, but filter it first. Ilford's recommended washing procedure uses little water and is very efficient and quick. First wash; five inversions of the tank and discard washing and drain film. Second washing; ten inversions of the tank and as above. Third washing; 20 inversions and as above. I always added a fourth washing of 40 inversions just to be sure.

To minimize troubles from cross-contamination make up the solutions in their order of use (i.e. developer, stop, fixer). LABEL their containers — the 3 solutions look exactly alike!

[pico]

A fetish approach to filtering water is silly, and in the case of washing it is counter productive.

 

My water is rather hard. I mix chemicals using distilled water. (I have my own distiller.) For washing I use the hard tap water because the minerals carry away the chemistry very well. Finally, I rinse film with distilled water and Photo Flow. It is all good.

 

For drying rollfilm I use a Senrac dryer with my own air filters, a layer of foam and a HEPA filter.

[Orient XI]

A fetish approach to filtering water is silly, and in the case of washing it is counter productive.

 

My water is rather hard. I mix chemicals using distilled water. (I have my own distiller.) For washing I use the hard tap water because the minerals carry away the chemistry very well. Finally, I rinse film with distilled water and Photo Flow. It is all good.

 

For drying rollfilm I use a Senrac dryer with my own air filters, a layer of foam and a HEPA filter.

 

The minerals in SOLUTION may well assist the washing process, for example initial washes in sea water reputedly decrease the washing times required. However, the purpose of filtration is to remove suspended, INSOLUBLE particules that adhere to the soft, wet gelatine layer of the film. Drying the film with these particles on the surface will ensure they become firmly and irremovably embedded in the surface and give white spots on every print made from the negative.

When washing prints the damp chlorine that passes for tap water in this area is an excellent hypo (sodium thiosulfate) remover; further the acids produced are neutralized by the calcium hydrogen carbonate present in the hard water.

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Hallo,

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