More developing problems, this time HP5+ based

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kreuzberg

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I seem to have come across another problem, this time to do with developing HP5. The negatives have been coming out very dark and grey, with no contrast what-so-ever. At first I thought I was over-developing so I cut the developing time from 8 to 6 minutes. I've got the negatives hanging up now but they look exactly the same. Heres an example from the film I developed for 8 minutes:

dwrngi.jpg


I was using the same set-up as before, shooting on a Holga and developing in R09.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated!
 
I dont think its the Holga because I shot a roll on a Brownie and it came out exactly the same. When I compared the negs with the Rollei Retro that I developed the other day (also taken with a holga), there are no blacks and no clear bits at all, their just all very dark.
 
Lack of contrast maybe, shake more when you are developing? How do you develop at the moment?
 
Hmm, I have had similar results when I have underexposed but its hard to tell from these...
 
kreuzberg said:
Constant agitation for the first minute, then 2 agitations every 30 seconds
Click to expand...

I recently shot with the same film/dev combo (albeit with a 35mm SLR) and my process was:

Rodinal 1:50 for 11-min with one inversion of the tank once a minute. Stop dev with water for 30-sec. Fix for about 4-min. Wash for 10-min. Very contrasty pics scanned with a Canon 8800F flatbed.
 
As already said try more agitation. I find with Holga shots it doesn't hurt to agitate continuously for the first minute then for 15 secs every minute. Also they might just be well over exposed as you have no control over exposure with the holga. Was it a very bright, sunny day when they were taken?
 
I think they're over exposed and under developed. Difficult to say from a scan as the scanner will have applied its own levels.

There is plenty of detail in the shadows so they arent underexposed.

Massive dev chart gives the time for R09 & HP5 as being 12-14 minutes at 1:40 so if you only dev'd for 6 minutes...........
 
Do you mean the negs are dark (as in, you couldnt read a newspaper through them, aka thick)?

Or do you mean the scans are dark, but the negs are very light (aka thin)?

Is the film rebate clear?
 
I mean the actual negs are very dark.

By the rebate, do you mean the clear bits along the top? if you do then yes they look clear
 
For a bit of a laugh I decided to give it another fix tonight after I developed a roll of Neopan and i think its given them more contrast. When I compared it to the Neopan that I just did, it looks a lot sharper and the Neopan looks like it now has the same problem as the HP5 did so I'm going to give it a re-fix too.

I don't understand where I'm going wrong when I fix them though as I fix them for 4 minutes with constant agitation for the first minute, then twice every 30 seconds.
 
For fix time, do a clip test - take a sliver of film off the start/end of the roll of film, before putting it into the tank. Let this bit get exposed to light, and when you prep. your fix, dunk the sliver of film in the fix. Measure the time that this film takes to clear completely. Double this time is the time you need to leave your neg's in the fix. Not sure what fix you're using, but for Ilford's stuff, if it takes more than 5 minutes to clear, i.e. a 10 minute+ fix time recommendation, then the fix is on it's way out, dispose of it, and mix some fresh.
 
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