M9reno Posted July 27, 2013 Share #1 Posted July 27, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi people, I'd be grateful for anyone's advice on a practical way to check, hopefully without wasting good exposures, whether a developer has gone stale. Many thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 27, 2013 Posted July 27, 2013 Hi M9reno, Take a look here Testing developer. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
VisualLifeLine Posted July 27, 2013 Share #2 Posted July 27, 2013 There are different possibilities. Some developers change their color, if they are expired and no more working correctly (e.g. Kodak HC-110). If you want to be really sure, just shoot a test roll or cut a piece of an existing roll (2 frames or so) and develop it, then you can easily judge the outcome....this is obvious, isn't it?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share #3 Posted July 27, 2013 Thanks. I'm using Ilfosol. I've had mine in an accordion bottle, airtight, but mixed in January. Just checking whether I'm missing an easy trick, like the colour change. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted July 29, 2013 Share #4 Posted July 29, 2013 Cut a small piece of leader off of an unprocessed roll of film, expose it to bright light, and then develop it normally. If the film comes out clear with no density then the developer is bad. If the film is very dense the developer is probably fine. This is not a scientific test but usually works for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 29, 2013 Share #5 Posted July 29, 2013 I would be inclined to make a proper exposure, or several, just to check a nice tonal range is still produced by the standard development. If any doubts, throw it out. Developer is still pretty cheap, so far! I'm about to do exactly that test, but to check the camera, not the developer. Just got my M7 back from having the RF re-calibrated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
}{B Posted July 29, 2013 Share #6 Posted July 29, 2013 I use Ilfosol 3, if that is what you are using, and I was under the impression that it should only be made up in a working solution at the time of use. Have a look at this thread for storage times and ideas. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/darkroom/293090-storing-unprocessed-exposed-film.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share #7 Posted July 29, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for the link. Howard. What in the end was your experience with exposed film stored in the fridge? That is what I do. I have a good number of Ilfords that have now been in the cold for a couple of months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
}{B Posted July 29, 2013 Share #8 Posted July 29, 2013 Thanks for the link. Howard. What in the end was your experience with exposed film stored in the fridge? That is what I do. I have a good number of Ilfords that have now been in the cold for a couple of months. I've only stored a total of five films so far and kept the oldest for about three weeks before starting to process them ( oldest first ). I kept them in a compartment in the door of the fridge so they were cold not frozen and the only effect I could see was that the older ones seemed a bit more 'curly' once processed and cut into strips of six negs to scan. They didn't seem to lie as flat as negs processed as soon as exposed but other than that I could not see any difference when scanned. I also reduced my fixing time from 5 minutes to 3 after doing a test to see how long it took a bit of leader to clear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 29, 2013 Share #9 Posted July 29, 2013 Excuse my ignorance guys, but why do you delay processing? My impatience would not permit that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
}{B Posted July 30, 2013 Share #10 Posted July 30, 2013 Excuse my ignorance guys, but why do you delay processing? My impatience would not permit that. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/darkroom/293090-storing-unprocessed-exposed-film.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share #11 Posted July 30, 2013 I know, Erl. Developing B&W is so easy, I dont really have a good excuse. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 30, 2013 Share #12 Posted July 30, 2013 I know, Erl. Developing B&W is so easy, I dont really have a good excuse. Unacceptable! Get yourself into the darkroom and don't come out till all film is hanging up drying! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted July 30, 2013 Share #13 Posted July 30, 2013 Excuse my ignorance guys, but why do you delay processing? My impatience would not permit that. I will occasionally delay development until I have a large batch of film to processes so I don't have developer sitting around going bad. Once I have a good quantity of film I will mix developer and use it all up. Also if the weather is nice I am busy shooting and will save the developing and printing for a rainy day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 30, 2013 Share #14 Posted July 30, 2013 I will occasionally delay development until I have a large batch of film to processes so I don't have developer sitting around going bad. Once I have a good quantity of film I will mix developer and use it all up. Also if the weather is nice I am busy shooting and will save the developing and printing for a rainy day. Fair comment Dave. Re protecting your developer from going bad, which is important, have you tried 'one shot' developers. ie. mix just enough for the films in hand, process and dump. I originally adopted that approach to ensure consistence of process because every process starts with absolute fresh developer. I could never wait for a rainy day to process, at least not where I live. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted July 31, 2013 Share #15 Posted July 31, 2013 Fair comment Dave.Re protecting your developer from going bad, which is important, have you tried 'one shot' developers. ie. mix just enough for the films in hand, process and dump. I originally adopted that approach to ensure consistence of process because every process starts with absolute fresh developer. I could never wait for a rainy day to process, at least not where I live. Erl, I use Rodinal and Xtol so to answer your question yes I have used one shot developers. I switch between the two depending on the affect I am looking for. The one shot developers are convenient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 31, 2013 Share #16 Posted July 31, 2013 Exactly the two I use, primarily Xtol. The keeping qualities of Xtol are easily 12 months as a stock solution and Rodinal I think seems to last indefinitely, despite its colour eventually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted July 31, 2013 Share #17 Posted July 31, 2013 Exactly the two I use, primarily Xtol.The keeping qualities of Xtol are easily 12 months as a stock solution .... You trust Xtol more than me, that is why I always test it before I use it. I learned the hard way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 31, 2013 Share #18 Posted July 31, 2013 You trust Xtol more than me, that is why I always test it before I use it. I learned the hard way. You are right about Xtol. It does eventually go off. Unlike Rodinal, colour IS a bad sign with Xtol. With my lower throughput of film I now weigh out small amounts of the powder and mix up a stock solution that I bottle in very small bottles to exclude air. Each bottle is usually used up with in a month or so, which is safe. One of the practicalities of the current times I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted August 3, 2013 Share #19 Posted August 3, 2013 There is no correct activity home test for Xtol except to develop a full roll. Got this straight from Kodak Professional advisors. Follow instructions and pray which is why I mix D76. Works every time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted August 3, 2013 Share #20 Posted August 3, 2013 There is no correct activity home test for Xtol except to develop a full roll. Got this straight from Kodak Professional advisors. Follow instructions and pray which is why I mix D76. Works every time. The advise by the Kodak adviser is wrong because you could always process a control strip and measure the densities with a densitometer and plot your results on an H&D curve and compare your results with a know good development. This process is more for the pro lab than the home hobbiest. When Xtol goes bad, it goes really bad and you won't get any development at all. Doing a clip test from a light exposed film leader will verify if your Xtol is working. If your Xtol is working the film will come out black with density. If your Xtol is not working your film will come out clear with no development at all. Risking an entire roll of film of photos in a questionable developer is not very good advice. After loosing a few rolls of film in Xtol once I always test my Xtol even when it is new. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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