Many thanks to SS and some questions to ask

sumball · 11th June 2004

Finally, I developed my first roll of b&w film last night. Basically, I was using SS's method except I mixed all my chemicals at 20 deg C. Many thanks for his detailed instructions. I could not imagined that I can actually develop my own B&W film by myself at home

, that was the time before I read his thread... However, now I can

! Thanks thanks thanks!

At the same time, I still have some questions in my mind hope to get some opinion/advises from those experts here

1. How can I tell/judge that the negative is well developed? ie. no under/over-developed, grain,... etc (because I assume that the development part will directly affect the quality of the final print)?

2. Yes, I mixed my chemical at 20 deg before I pour them into the tank. My question will be do I have to maintain this temp constantly ( I think the temp will definitely be increased) after pouring the chemical into the tank? Say for example the tank should put into a pail or something which contain some iced water that is at 20 deg C?

3. After I dried the 5 meter long negative, I find there are some water stain on the negative, can I simply use some wet cotton wool or soft cloth to clean it?

Hope to hear from all the nice guys here.

Thanks in advance!

sfhuang · 11th June 2004

1. To assess if your negs are over or under-developed or just right, look at the film frame markers at the edges. Take a Kodak T100 film for instance, look for the 'Kodak' marking at the edge and see if it is too dark (under-developed) or too light (over-developed). Somewhere in between is fine.

2. Yes, the temperature will increase, unless you're working in an aircon room like at SAFRA dark-room. Theoretically you will have to maintain constant temperature, but with experience you will know how much compensation (in terms of temp/developing time) to use.

3. To remove water stains, you can soak them in a wetting agent and try drying them again. For stubborn stains, you can use soft sponge (must be super clean) to remove.

hope this helps.

sumball · 11th June 2004

Originally Posted by sfhuang

1. To assess if your negs are over or under-developed or just right, look at the film frame markers at the edges. Take a Kodak T100 film for instance, look for the 'Kodak' marking at the edge and see if it is too dark (under-developed) or too light (over-developed). Somewhere in between is fine.

I think mine is just nice, not too dark, not too light.

Originally Posted by sfhuang

2. Yes, the temperature will increase, unless you're working in an aircon room like at SAFRA dark-room. Theoretically you will have to maintain constant temperature, but with experience you will know how much compensation (in terms of temp/developing time) to use.

That means I have to keep the temp as 18 or 19 deg before I pour the chemical into the tank in order to compensate for the increase in deg in the tank?

Originally Posted by sfhuang

3. To remove water stains, you can soak them in a wetting agent and try drying them again. For stubborn stains, you can use soft sponge (must be super clean) to remove.

Roger! Thanks!

sequitur · 11th June 2004

it's not his method he's clarified a lot of times.

i've also mentioned it's not his method.

you should thank him for showing the method though

anyway... if you do it at 20deg.. then uh.. isn't that just normal b&w film develolping ? lol

as in.. one of the methods of developing b&w film.. yeah...

StreetShooter · 11th June 2004

If you want to understand the basic chemical processes behind B&W developing, you should read this website:

http://www.tpub.com/content/photography/14209/

Chapter 2 and Chapter 10 are the relevant chapters (esp Chapter 10).

sumball · 11th June 2004

Originally Posted by sumball

Finally, I developed my first roll of b&w film last night. Basically, I was using SS's method except I mixed all my chemicals at 20 deg C. Many thanks for his detailed instructions. I could not imagined that I can actually develop my own B&W film by myself at home , that was the time before I read his thread... However, now I can ! Thanks thanks thanks!

Yes, sor..r....y.! I should re-phrase the sentence to: ..... I was using the method which SS highlighted to us,.......

Anyway, thanks SS, sfhuang, sequitur, and of course other kind ppl here.

11th June 2004	#1
sumball Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4,224	Many thanks to SS and some questions to ask Finally, I developed my first roll of b&w film last night. Basically, I was using SS's method except I mixed all my chemicals at 20 deg C. Many thanks for his detailed instructions. I could not imagined that I can actually develop my own B&W film by myself at home , that was the time before I read his thread... However, now I can ! Thanks thanks thanks! At the same time, I still have some questions in my mind hope to get some opinion/advises from those experts here 1. How can I tell/judge that the negative is well developed? ie. no under/over-developed, grain,... etc (because I assume that the development part will directly affect the quality of the final print)? 2. Yes, I mixed my chemical at 20 deg before I pour them into the tank. My question will be do I have to maintain this temp constantly ( I think the temp will definitely be increased) after pouring the chemical into the tank? Say for example the tank should put into a pail or something which contain some iced water that is at 20 deg C? 3. After I dried the 5 meter long negative, I find there are some water stain on the negative, can I simply use some wet cotton wool or soft cloth to clean it? Hope to hear from all the nice guys here. Thanks in advance!

11th June 2004	#4
sequitur Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 2,827	it's not his method he's clarified a lot of times. i've also mentioned it's not his method. you should thank him for showing the method though anyway... if you do it at 20deg.. then uh.. isn't that just normal b&w film develolping ? lol as in.. one of the methods of developing b&w film.. yeah... __________________ my flickr.

11th June 2004	#5
StreetShooter Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Katong Posts: 4,702	If you want to understand the basic chemical processes behind B&W developing, you should read this website: http://www.tpub.com/content/photography/14209/ Chapter 2 and Chapter 10 are the relevant chapters (esp Chapter 10). Last edited by StreetShooter; 11th June 2004 at 03:04 PM.

11th June 2004	#2
sfhuang Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 972	1. To assess if your negs are over or under-developed or just right, look at the film frame markers at the edges. Take a Kodak T100 film for instance, look for the 'Kodak' marking at the edge and see if it is too dark (under-developed) or too light (over-developed). Somewhere in between is fine. 2. Yes, the temperature will increase, unless you're working in an aircon room like at SAFRA dark-room. Theoretically you will have to maintain constant temperature, but with experience you will know how much compensation (in terms of temp/developing time) to use. 3. To remove water stains, you can soak them in a wetting agent and try drying them again. For stubborn stains, you can use soft sponge (must be super clean) to remove. hope this helps.