jane_robinson2 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I have recently developed an Ilford HP5 in Kodak D76 1:1, for 11 minutes at 20C. The negative is very dark or "fat". Can anyone tell me why? It was a very hot day and whilst the dark room was cool, it took a while to get the 1:1 solution at 20C and of course it was all checked prior to getting my film in to the developing tank. I managed to do a contact sheet with an aperture of f4.5 and a run time of 30 seconds but it was rather pale. The paper I was using was Ilford Multigrade IV. I produced a couple of prints - again with an aperture of f4.5 and a grade 2 contrast filter and a run time of 60 seconds. The enlarger I was using was old and cheap (!) and f4.5 was the largest aperture it had. I'm relatively new to this game, enjoying it immensley, but still have SO much to learn! Thanks in advance for your help - from what I have seen you all a very helpful bunch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelging Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 If a negative is Dense, it can be from over-development or over-exposure. If you can't read print through the highlights,(darkest) part of the neg then its probably over developed, if you can then it's over exposed.You thermometer might be wrong. There are many causes to a dense neg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank.schifano Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Truth is you can't really tell if that exposure time is excessive without knowing a few things. Granted, it sounds like it could be, but you never know. A lot depends upon the enlarger, the light source, the distance from the negative stage to the baseboard, etc. The further away the light source is from the baseboard, the longer your exposure times will be. Try making another contact sheet with more exposure, then see if the resulting images show too much contrast. If they do, then you might have over developed the film. If the images appear extremely flat, then it is likely that the film was massively over exposed. Keep using the grade 2 filter, since that will give you a more or less "normal" contrast range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 If the shadow areas of the neg are dense then it's down to over-exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rui_alves_da_silva Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Probably bad ISO at camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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