Basic question for D76.

<p>Hi everyone. I've been shooting digital for a while and now try to come back to B&W film. I plan to use TriX and D76 as a lot of people here recommended. I'm gonna buy D76-make 1 liter bag- so my question is<br>

1. How many rolls of 120/220 I can use at one time if I mix this solution. I only plan to mix and use it once then discard it. And it would be very helpful if someone can help me with the process, agitation steps, and time for developing TriX 320.<br>

2. What exactly does it mean when people say D76 1:1?<br>

3. What kind stop-bath you recommend for TriX and D76?<br>

Many thanks in advance.</p>

<p>1. It depends on the size of your tank: the tank will tell you how much fluid (developer/stop/fix) you need to cover the number of films of whatever size you have; that's how much you should use, and you can work out how many films you'll get from 1 litre of developer from that.</p>

<p>2. 1:1 means dilute the made-up solution with an equal volume of water, eg 150ml stock solution plus 150ml water to give 300ml developer to put in the tank with the film</p>

<p>3. Any stop bath, or even none at all. You can even use kitchen vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice if you really want. It's just something acidic to stop the development which only works in alkaline conditions. However the development will stop by itself once you wash away the developer with water or when you empty the tank and put the fix in.</p>

<p>1st heres thee kodak time and temp chart for d76<br /><a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j78/j78.pdf">http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j78/j78.pdf</a><br />you'll find tri-x 320 listed<br />the number of rolls you can do at once is only limited by your tank size. note there are different times for small and large tanks.<br />D76 1:1 means 1 part stock developer (as mixed from power) and 1 part water.this strenght you use once and throw away. only dilute as much as you need for the current session. Make sure you use the right time and temp for 1:1<br />the processing steps after loading tank and getting chemicals at right temp ( put bottles n water bath)<br />Developer - agitate slowly for 1st 30 seconds and the once evry 30 secounds<br />Stop bath - with agitation ( Kodak indicator stop bath is easy, or acetic acid cut properly)<br />Rinse<br />Fixer for recommended time<br />Rinse<br />optional Hypo clearing agent<br />wash<br />optional photo flo wetting agent for better drying results</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Do not skip the stop bath. Any brand will do, and there are options. Distilled white vinegar cut with an equal amount of water, or 50ml. of 28% acetic acid in 4L of water are functionally equivalent, but lack an indicator dye to signal exhaustion. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of citric acid in a litre of water also makes a good stop bath, but one with a limited capacity compared to acetic acid. I know there are a lot of people out there who swear that stop bath damages film, and you might read some of that advice or hear it from somewhere. I've been developing film for more years than I care to count. I have ALWAYS used a stop bath, and NEVER has it caused a problem. There are a few specialty developers that specifically recommend against the use of an acid stop bath. When I use them, I comply with the directions. </p>

<p>Agitation, again there's a lot of bogus advice out there about how it should be carried out very gently. Funny how the same people who swear by very gentle agitation are often the very same people complaining about uneven development. Hello... Do you think there might be a connection there? Agitation should be vigorous enough to insure complete exchange of developer each time. The rest time between agitation cycles drives, in part, the overall development rate. Obviously agitation should not be so vigorous as to dislodge the film from the reel, but anything just short of that is fine. </p>

<p>PhotoFlo or some other wetting agent optional? Well, technically yes but not for me. And again, it's funny how some of the same people who say no to Photoflo are the same people complaining about drying marks. Used correctly it absolutely insures that you will not have any water spots on your film. For Photoflo 200 with my water supply, a dilution ratio of 1+400 works fine. Using more concentrated solution makes too much foam and that's just as bad as not using enough. The amount of Photoflo you need depends on your water supply. Hard water with a lot of dissolved minerals needs more. Soft water needs less. You need to determine what's needed for your water supply. The rule of thumb I've developed says to use just enough to make the water sheet off the film and no more.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Do not skip the stop bath.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Why?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have ALWAYS used a stop bath, and NEVER has it caused a problem.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Personally, I have ALWAYS put down anti-elephant powder in my garden, and not only has it NEVER caused a problem, it has been 100% effective in keeping out elephants. I've not seen one within 100 yards. I recommend others do the same. </p>

<p>While you may have no elephants in the garden, the the Lions, Tigers and Bears are having a good time there.</p>

<p>Why? Because it stops development on the spot. It preserves, to some extent, the life of your fixer. It eliminates the possibility of dichroic fog developing when active developer is carried over into the fixing bath. You can use lots of water over a period of minutes if you like, or you can use an acid stop bath for 30 seconds. A quick rinse with water between developer and fixer won't do that.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>dichroic fog</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Elaborate on this please? </p>

 

<p>Kodak indicator stop bath is cheap and a bottle of concentrate last a long long time. Until Kodak stops making it (no longer an impossible thing) you might as well use that.</p>

<p>Is that an African or Indian elephant?</p>

<p>http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/photo-entry.pl?id=Dichroicfog</p>

<p>Here we in in the past fired 2 workers about not using stop bath; fired for cause; not following written instructions the read; understood; signed off on.<br>

In process camera work the developer is quite a base; and it ruins the fixer quicker without the stop bath. Thus one gets the angry courthouse calling with last years work to be redone; because a begineer wanted to be a smart ass and change an established process that was decades old and well controlled.<br>

If you want to not use stop bath; that is fine.<br>

If you work for another; review with them before assuming and changing a process; ie dropping stop bath; not washing your hands if a food worker or in a hospital.<br>

It is all right to screw up you own stuff; but when anothers they might not be so thrilled.<br>

One can drop certain steps in C41 too; or E6; or just wash prints for a few seconds.<br>

Whether to use stop bath is a personal matter; if you go work for a lab; review your ideas of dropping steps; if you want to say employed.<br>

Whether oen can get way without stop bath; taking a bath; brushing one teeth; depends</p>

<p>re dichroic fog - interesting. Never seen it, although I rinse before fixing. (And I'm not an expert in developing by any means.) Pity the photonotes site doesn't give references or substantiate, and there's very little of substance turned up by a google search either. </p>

<p>One of the reasons to carefully monitor the strength of your stop bath, especially with D-76, is that developers of that sort, that use high levels of carbonate, when put into strong acid stop, create CO2 gas and that gas pops a tiny hole in the emulsion. It shows up as a black spot on a print-very hard to get out. Lots of folks think its just dust on the neg before exposure, not so. So make the dilution 1/2 as strong as the formula for prints. But the reasons given for using a stop are good ones. Developer and fixer truly don't like each other and will stain your negatives.</p>