My first attempt at B&W developing!

[sfhuang]

After reading the articles & threads at Offstone and Clubsnap, I finally took the plunge (literally) and tried my hands at B&W developing. Here are the results:



The photochemicals, materials and timings/temperatures used are as follows:

Film: 400TMAX @400EI
Developer: TMAX Developer 500ml (4+1), 21C, 6.5mins (first 10secs agitation + 5secs agitation every subsequent min)

The rest of the procedures are as per SS's HOWTO posted in this forum (albeit with a few changes and adaptations from lessons learnt at Offstone's threads e.g. 5mins running water after HCA + mama lemon wetting agent etc ... )

The negs look okay to me ... apart from the dust and scratches due to my neophyte handling of the film and dust-prone environment. I am quite pleased with the results given that this is my first attempt. I would be grateful if the experts here (Streetshooter, plsoong, Ansel ... and the regulars here!) could give me pointers so I can do better next round.

There are a few questions I would like to ask though.

1. I am using the reel of the ball-bearing type, and had trouble getting the film out of the reel after developing. What is the best way to unreel? Pull it through the bearings or curve it a little inside and lift it out from the reel?

2. Which of the photochemicals (i.e. developer, fixer, HCA) are reusable? I funneled the fixer and HCA back to the pet bottles, but threw the developer away. Somehow I think it can be reused ... then it would've been such a waste...

3. How many minutes should I do the final wash (straight after the HCA)? 5 or 10 mins? (the HCA specs says 5 mins, but that's at 21C ... hmm)

Whew, thanks for reading until here. Hope you guys can help answer my questions.

And thanks again to StreetShooter (for his tutorial) and Ansel (for his advice during SEED) ...

cheers,
sfhuang

[StreetShooter]

You can "break" the plastic reel by twisting clockwise a bit hard. There will be a click and you can pull apart the 2 halves. Then the film will just drop out. To put it together again, twist anticlockwise.

I wash about 5 minutes after HCA. Without HCA you need to wash about 15 minutes. The HCA helps by removing fixer chemically. (Hypo-clearing agent clears away the hypo (ie fixer)).

[sfhuang]

Originally Posted by StreetShooter You can "break" the plastic reel by twisting clockwise a bit hard. There will be a click and you can pull apart the 2 halves. Then the film will just drop out. To put it together again, twist anticlockwise. I wash about 5 minutes after HCA. Without HCA you need to wash about 15 minutes. The HCA helps by removing fixer chemically. (Hypo-clearing agent clears away the hypo (ie fixer)).

Thanks for the reply. What about reusability of the chemicals? Do you re-use any of them?

[Ansel]

congratulations and welcome to our club. Keep it up. shoot more. To help save on film costs, go get a bulk roll and and a roller. that way you won't be inhibited by film costs. Moreover you can load short rolls of 10-20 exposures for experimentation purposes and not have to shoot 36 frames every time.

Hey, aren't you glad u took the plunge?

[sfhuang]

Originally Posted by Ansel Hey, aren't you glad u took the plunge?

yes! the results are just so gratifying (literally lost my breath for 3 secs when I unrolled the film from the reel ... sorry if I sound too zealous, because I am a b&w newbie!)

I will follow your suggestion and get the bulk roll etc. (I already have the roller)

ps. do you re-use the chems and which one to re-use?

Hi Sfhuang,

congratulations on the success.

Chems that can be reused are Fixer ( up to 6 rolls 35mm) and HCA (about 3 rolls)

try not to reuse the developer.

cheers.

[chyeo]

Nice to see u starting b&w sfhuang... tot you buried under the pressure of your S2Pro liaoz!

[StreetShooter]

Yah I reuse the fixer and HCA. Developer throw away.

[chyeo]

Yup try not to reuse the developer. But if you must, then have to process longer so that the negs wun be undeveloped.

usually the bottle outside got tell you if it's one-shot or reuseable. I usually start pouring the developer at 18 degrees, after a while it becomes 21-22 degrees.

[sfhuang]

Originally Posted by andylee usually the bottle outside got tell you if it's one-shot or reuseable. I usually start pouring the developer at 18 degrees, after a while it becomes 21-22 degrees.

Hmm wouldn't that change the timing that the developer is in contact with the negs, since you then need to take into account the gradual rise from 18 deg to 21-22 deg in the developer? Or just use 'agar-ration' to follow timing for 21 deg?

thanks.

usually i will start at 18 degrees because i found out that when i pour my developer out that time, it's already 25 degrees. timing still remains. thank god i've got the bible for timing. i don't invert, i only swirle the tank clockwise.

[sfhuang]

Originally Posted by andylee usually i will start at 18 degrees because i found out that when i pour my developer out that time, it's already 25 degrees. timing still remains. thank god i've got the bible for timing. i don't invert, i only swirle the tank clockwise.

bible for timing? Is it the Kodak handbook you're referring to?

[Ansel]

Originally Posted by sfhuang bible for timing? Is it the Kodak handbook you're referring to?

It's called th Massive Development Chart:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.html

Use it as a guide only cos ultimately you are the real judge.