Depth of processing chemicals

Kev M

Kev M

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Is there a minimum depth of processing chemicals when printing or can you get away with just enough to cover the paper? At college I only print big so when setting up my darkroom I ordered 16x12 trays which is about the limit of my enlarger and negs. 2ltrs of fluid gives me about 10mm depth and 3ltrs about 15mm but obviously that's 50% more expense in chemicals and water.

I'm just waiting for the blackout material to arrive and then my wife won't see me for dust (the lucky thing).

Cheers,
Kev
 
In the days of yore, when I was a young wipper snapper, and spent days in a darkroom printing, I found that there was an optimum depth of chemical needed to process the paper prints. Now from memory that was about 1/2 inch ( about 13mm or so in new money). Anything less and you risked not getting the paper immersed evenly. However as I wasn't paying for the chemicals it was usually a bit deeper.

Using smaller dishes you could use less chemical, however I was usually processing maybe up to 6 prints at a time so the deeper the solution the less chance of the prints "sticking" together and leading to uneven processing.

Strange I can still remember the smell of D163 Liquid developer ...
 
I always used to use just enough to cover the paper, but the problem is the paper can tend to curl a little once it's in the developr, so I always used to gently agitate the dish to get a nice wave going and keep the paper covered.
 
The other problem is the less chemicals the quicker they will become exausted.
 
cheers folks.

The thing is I'll probably only make a couple of prints at a time. False economy you might think but it's to do with fitting college around work and trying to print what I can when I can. The other thing is it can take me all morning to get one print right never mind a handful. I'll try two litres and go from there.

How do you know how many prints your chemicals can do? I'm using Ilford chemicals if that makes any difference.:shrug:
 
Kev M said:
How do you know how many prints your chemicals can do? I'm using Ilford chemicals if that makes any difference.:shrug:
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When your print's been in the dish half an hour and not reached full development it's a good sign the developer has had it. :LOL:

You can get some chemicals which have an indicator for exhaustion Kev - they change colour when they're knacked.
 
I use enough to just cover the paper, just 1 litre works for me though I only print up to 8x10". When the prints looks crap and I can't explain why (blacks not black enough, taking too long for an image to form) I refresh the developer, which tends to fix the problem. I dont really keep count because I'm not the only person who uses the darkroom I use...
 
CT said:
When your print's been in the dish half an hour and not reached full development it's a good sign the developer has had it. :LOL:

You can get some chemicals which have an indicator for exhaustion Kev - they change colour when they're knacked.
Click to expand...

The problem is the fixer, if it doesn't develop you'll know, if it doesn't fix properly you might not know for a while.
 
swanseamale47 said:
The problem is the fixer, if it doesn't develop you'll know, if it doesn't fix properly you might not know for a while.
Click to expand...
Indeed - I'd always favour a fixer with an exhaustion indicator.
 
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