one-shot develop 2 rolls vs 1 + 1 rolls ?

[Mr.Prime]

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Assume that I have two rolls of 35mm film and my stock developer has been diluted to a one-shot working solution. A real world example would be two rolls of FP4+, a Patterson tank of size suitable for up to two 35mm spirals and 600ml of ID-11 at 1:1 dilution ready to go.

The obvious way forward is to load both rolls onto spirals, load both spirals into the tank, then use the developer to process the two rolls together. As it’s a one-shot dilution the working solution is discarded after the development has finished.

Question: what happens if, instead, the two rolls are developed consecutively, i.e. one at a time, with the working solution of developer being re-used. After developing the first roll in the full 600ml the developer is not discarded but put aside whilst the first roll is then fixed and washed. Then this developer solution is used once again, to develop the second roll with minimal time between rolls. Temperature is controlled throughout. After the second roll the developer working solution is discarded.

In both scenarios the same amount of working developer is used, the same total area of film is developed. Would there be a difference in the results?

 

Why do I care? By extension, can I use one batch of working developer to develop a roll of FP4+ and HP5+ which benefit from different development times.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Mr.Prime

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[Chuck Albertson]

It's your experiment, but I think the diluted developer wouldn't have quite the oomph to fully develop the second roll. One of the reasons for dilute development is to stretch the use of the stock developer, but I wouldn't take it further than that - false economy.

[Pyrogallol]

If you developed them separately in only 300 ml then you would need to extend the second use time. Some developers would give you a factor to use, but as 1:1 is intended to be only used once you would have to guess how much extra time to add.

[250swb]

I'm not sure I see the logic in this. You want to mix 600ml and develop one roll not two,.......... why not mix 300ml instead?

[Aryel]

As pointed out above, why not simply get a second graduate and mix two batches of 300ml and keep the second one ready for when you are done with the first roll?

Ps: i just realized that I never thought about doing this. I always wait to have a few rolls with the same time... i really like it, and will probably start doing this too 😃

Edited February 17, 2021 by Aryel

[Ouroboros]

If you have the means and the chemistry to process 2 rolls of the same film together then it would make no sense to process them seperately.

If you have 2 different rolls, then use half the developer for one roll and the other half for the other roll.

Maybe that's just too easy!

[TomB_tx]

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Used Nikor stainless tanks and reels are common and inexpensive. I use both single and double (35mm) tanks, so just mix enough 1-shot for either 1 or 2 rolls.

If you use inversion agitation (as I always have) there can be bad effects of using a tank half full, as the sloshing and moving air will be different. If you do process a single roll in a double tank be sure to add a 2nd reel if inverting, and it's best to fill to normal level instead of just enough to cover the bottom reel.

I haven't used "twist / twirl" agitation in the last 55 years, since my days of 127 film and a cheap Yankee tank.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

As was said before if you should fill the tank you are using. So if you have 600cc of developer ID11 1:1 and two different films I don't see a problem developing one than the other, I might extend the second roll by 30 seconds but not much, 600cc of ID11 should has enough punch to do 2 rolls of film back to back. But as was also said it is your experiment. Good luck but I don't think you will need it. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by tommonego@gmail.com