Tutorial How to develop your first B&W film.

steveo_mcg said:
Whats the difference between Rodinal and Rodinal Special though?
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You're asking me..........!..........:confused:

On the side of the bottle it says Rollei Retro 100/APX100 4 MINS at 20 degrees or you have Kodak, Ilford and Fuji
 
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I've only been home processing for a year or so, though I'm ashamed to admit I've developed far too many films, I mean far too many in that time - mainly b/w (I didn't like C41) 120 and 35mm. I've even developed a 127.

So, bearing in mind that I'm a noob.... I find R09 / Rodinal a really handy and convenient easy-to-use developer. I buy R09 in a squeeze pack so that I can squeeze out any air after use. You might be surprised how little developer that you use. Just a squirt really, even at a dilution of 1:25. From a bottle you may find it easy to get a precise dose with a syringe. Or you need a very small measuring tube. Myself - I'm a cowboy, I rarely bother with precision, although it probably shows on my images. R09/Rodinal can make for grain with a fast film - so for finer stuff, I make up a five litre stock of Ilford ID11. Fits nicely in a recycled 5 litre drum, and I can squeeze quite a lot of air out as it is used.

Water temp should be within a few degrees of 20C for optimum - great thing is, straight from the tap at mine at the moment is around 18.7 C. To be honest, I don't always worry about the water temp too much, as it's not far off 20C - room temperature. I just use an infrared thermometer. I found C41 developing enlightening - it has to be much warmer, with very little temp tolerance - and the liquids constantly want to drop to room temp during the process. Returning to b/w I realised just how easy it is in comparison.

I use stop, but I have just used a water bath when I've run out, with out any issues. I have often used washing up liquid instead of wetting agent, but if you squeegy (not all do), then wetting agent allows the squeegy to slip down the film better than plain Fairy Liquid.
 
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Crtm said:
You're asking me..........!..........:confused:

On the side of the bottle it says Rollei Retro 100/APX100 4 MINS at 20 degrees or you have Kodak, Ilford and Fuji
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It sounds like from reading the web Rodinal (R09) Special is equivalent to Studinol which I've neither heard of or used but the times look similar to what you've got there. It would be nice to know what the film was cut from but I'd take a punt at 5-6 minutes and work from there based on the general times on the Massive Dev Chart. Hopefully someone who knows better will respond!

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=&Developer=Studional&mdc=Search&TempUnits=C
 
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steveo_mcg said:
Where are you stuck Carol? You don't need stop just wash it between steps.
Fill tank with tepid tap water,
invert 10 times,
empty, fill again,
invert 20 times,
empty, fill, invert 40 and empty.
Add fixer, fix for 5 minutes, drain fixer to bottle for reuse.
Repeat washing

That wash technique is frequently attributed to Illford.
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Ok film on spiral and in tank, fixer made up 1 - 4 (125ml fixer to 500ml water) don't need all of that but for the first time made it easy on myself. Developer I need 1 - 15 (25ml developer to 375ml water) which gives me 400ml total but I only need 370 so willing to sacrifice 30mils of solution. Wetting Agent TETENAL says 1 - 400 so I take it it means 1ml to 400ml? I will follow your instructions Steven re washing the film with water instead of stopper.

Fingers crossed and here I go.
 
Crtm said:
Ok film on spiral and in tank, fixer made up 1 - 4 (125ml fixer to 500ml water) don't need all of that but for the first time made it easy on myself. Developer I need 1 - 15 (25ml developer to 375ml water) which gives me 400ml total but I only need 370 so willing to sacrifice 30mils of solution. Wetting Agent TETENAL says 1 - 400 so I take it it means 1ml to 400ml? I will follow your instructions Steven re washing the film with water instead of stopper.

Fingers crossed and here I go.
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Good, luck. What times did you decide for developer?
 
steveo_mcg said:
Good, luck. What times did you decide for developer?
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The bottle say 4 mins and you thought between 5 and 6 mins so I will go for 5mins and hope for the best! Not sure there will be much on the film except fingerprints, was rather tricky getting the 127 on the spiral but it's a learning curve and if I get one photograph out of it I will be delighted......;)
 
Crtm said:
The bottle say 4 mins and you thought between 5 and 6 mins so I will go for 5mins and hope for the best! Not sure there will be much on the film except fingerprints, was rather tricky getting the 127 on the spiral but it's a learning curve and if I get one photograph out of it I will be delighted......;)
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Fair enough, just remember different films need different times so the five minutes is just a punt and you'll need to make some adjustments once you see these.
 
Well I have something on the film, 8 negatives but what like they are I'm not too sure, they are still drying at the moment. :banana:

Steven I developed them for 5 and half minutes in the R09 Special.

I will post them on a separate thread once scanned. :D
 
Isn't it a magic moment when you pop the lid and there are actually images on the film....
 
Andysnap said:
Isn't it a magic moment when you pop the lid and there are actually images on the film....
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Yes it is and even my husband was excited about it!:D
 
This thread has been most helpful. Inspired, today I developed my first FP4 for some years (46). It was difficult dealing with the aged person-proof cap on the bottle of Fomadon: I managed to open it in the end but don't know how....I transferred the goop into a brown reagent bottle with ground glass stopper. The second, more serious problem was my dark wrestle in getting the film on to the reel. It looked like a Patterson reel but wasn't and may have been reverse-engineered. The film did load eventually onto this monstrosity. The rest was easy in comparison but getting the processed and washed film off the reel wasn't as easy as I remember. I had to clamp the end of the film to a bench and then pull on the reel gently as if assisting at child-birth. My negatives look alright and I can't wait to cut into strips and scan. A second film is being exposed. Maybe if I can get to developing as soon as possible it might go easier. I did my final rinse with distilled water but wished I had some Dingsbumps to get rid of those final tears.
 
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Scenario for a numpt:

So a roll of 35mm is spooled and canned, with an empty spool on top in a Patterson tank. says 290ml on bottom.
So the dev (Iford ifosol3) ratio 1+9 easy enough to work out.

This is where I'm stumped as the stop and fix bottles have no ratio?
How much of what to what do I need?

Sorry for dumb question. I'm in the middle of moving so my heads up my arse.
Many thanks :thinking:
 
What stop and fix are you using?
 
1+19 for Ilfostop
 
Ilfostop is 1:19. I wouldn't worry too much - not much more than a squirt. Stop isn't a critical step. Some people replace it with rinsing.

Fixer? Umm if it is Ilford Rapid Fixer then 1:4 will give you a fast fix of 2 to 5 minutes.
 
Sow how much of each should I use (in the patterson) for one roll of 35?
Sorry to sound kinda domb..
 
It probably tells you on the bottom of the tank.

I use 500ml, 'cause it's easy to work out the ratios and I'm dumb and lazy.
 
For one roll I always go with 300ml seems to do the job.
 
Just had a look on the bottom of my tank.

1 roll of 35mm uses 290ml.

I'm using too much! Might have to do some thinking. :eek:
 
Fixer I just dump 500 odd ml I don't bother measuring, I'm pretty fast and lose with the ratios too, doesn't really matter.
 
Hmmm, my rodinal bottle is rattling. Seems to be working, does this stuff actually die of old age?
 
steveo_mcg said:
Hmmm, my rodinal bottle is rattling. Seems to be working, does this stuff actually die of old age?
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It just gets a bit crusty, I strain mine through a sieve when it gets a bit lumpy.
 
RaglanSurf said:
It just gets a bit crusty, I strain mine through a sieve when it gets a bit lumpy.
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Sounds rather like my afternoons decanting the port ready for the post-dinner refreshments... though I trust you use your own straining device and not the one in my pantry Sir.
 
Hi, Steve T sent me a kit of stuff to get me started with processing, but unfortunately it was a Rollei Digibase C41 kit, rather than for proper black and white. I don't think I'm going to be ready for C41 for a while, so I was going to move it on for a charity donation (via the Classifieds, of course). There's a pack of developer, one of bleach and one of fixer, all part used. I was just going to put the lot up, but should I hold the fixer back? Ie, is it useful for black and white?
 
Fixer is cheap, just order a bottle when you get your developer. Splitting it will just cause confusion for whoever takes up your offer.
 
Great, thanks.
 
ChrisR said:
Hi, Steve T sent me a kit of stuff to get me started with processing, but unfortunately it was a Rollei Digibase C41 kit, rather than for proper black and white. I don't think I'm going to be ready for C41 for a while, so I was going to move it on for a charity donation (via the Classifieds, of course). There's a pack of developer, one of bleach and one of fixer, all part used. I was just going to put the lot up, but should I hold the fixer back? Ie, is it useful for black and white?
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no, I think it's best to keep it all in one "set" - B&W fix is cheap, and re-useable for ages, so there's no real point.
 
If anyone in Edinburgh wants that C41 softpack set, it's now up in Edinburgh, see thread here.
 
So, I bought my chems (Ilfosol 3, Ilford Rapid Fixer and Ilfotol stop bath, IIRC) the other day in Camerabase, and I have a couple of questions...

a) the guy seemed to be hinting that it was sensible to reuse the fixer if I was devving several films in one session, but otherwise maybe treat it as a one-shot fixer. Is this sound advice?

b) I was wondering about what folk do after washing and hanging up to dry: do you cut a strip of 6, scan the strip and file before moving to the next strip, or do you cut and file the whole film, then remove each strip to scan, as if it had come from a dev shop?

I'm sure there are more important things to worry about...

At the moment I can't try it, as I and the chems are in Edinburgh, and the tank's home in Kenilworth!
 
a) I use the same batch of fixer for weeks - at least a month or so.

b) I cut and scan 2 X 6 cut from the strip. I only file them all first if the film's too curly to scan. I leave them 24 hours under a pile of books.
 
ChrisR said:
a) the guy seemed to be hinting that it was sensible to reuse the fixer if I was devving several films in one session, but otherwise maybe treat it as a one-shot fixer. Is this sound advice?
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With Ilford Rapid Fix, yes. I've found that it goes off very quickly once mixed up, to the extent that fixing time can double (or more) from one weekend to the next. If you're processing several films in a session then it'll probably be exhausted even if it's only a few days before your next session.

ChrisR said:
b) I was wondering about what folk do after washing and hanging up to dry: do you cut a strip of 6, scan the strip and file before moving to the next strip, or do you cut and file the whole film, then remove each strip to scan, as if it had come from a dev shop?
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Cut and file before scanning in the hope of reducing dust contamination. Make sure the strip is definitely dry first, it can be even worse if the film sticks to the sleeve.
 
Quick and painless way is to test your fixer each time before you use it. Typical starting point is 2x clearing time plus 1 minute, so if the clearing time for new fixer is 2 minutes (likely to be less) then multiply that by 2 and add a minute. Each time you develop a film, use the leader you have cut off to test the fixer and when the clearing time doubles from the original clearing time then discard.

File and scan later, as said keeps the chances of dust down..
 
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