Water After the Dev...

[mad1]

Is it true that it's good to drain the dev and replace it by water for few

minutes before the stop or the fix? It's supposed to help getting details in the

shadows... And what is the best pH of the water, if this is true?

 

thx

[ronald_moravec1]

If that is your goal, sodium carbonate or sodiun metaborate would better fit the bill. You then have a psuedo two part developer.

 

Plain water? Won`t make a noticeable change.

 

Try something really cool. Skip the water and stop and just use dev-fix. Sure it wears out the fix faster, but I learned years ago not to reuse it anyway. If you are not using a diluted developer, this will get you finer grain.

[john_shriver]

Search for "water bath". Look at Michael and Paula's website discussions of developing by inspection.

 

http://www.michaelandpaula.com

[mad1]

thanks guys!

 

Ronald: I have pH up from pool supply wich contains Sod. Carb. and I was using it for my coffee developer... Could it does the thing? I mix it with water and use it as 1st dev and w/out wash betweeen I switch for my 2nd dev? thats it?

[mad1]

I remember that I used sodium BIcabonate in the past but I think it was giving huge grain...

[richard_ilomaki7]

Look for details on split D23- one of the very best developers for LF negs used for Alternate processes such as Pt/Pd.

 

Very simple- Sol'n A- 5 gm Metol + 100 gm sod Sulfite. Sol'n B Borax 5-9 min agitated 10 sec min in A, no rinse then 3 min in B no agitation.

 

Check those times as they are from memory.

 

Cheers

[mad1]

Thanks ;)

[hjoseph7]

"Try something really cool. Skip the water and stop and just use dev-fix."

 

My Large Format photography teacher said the same thing. Stop Batch can shock the developer causing more grain.

[Vlad Soare]

But the fixer is acidic. Won't it stop the development suddenly, like the stop bath would? Why is the shock bigger with stop bath than with fixer?<br>

I thought any kind of acid would stop the development instantly. Or maybe the fixer has a lower PH than vinegar?

[sitemistic]

I've always just used a quick water rinse - a few shakes of the developing tank - between the

developer and fixer. I stopped using stop bath years ago because the reaction between the

developer and stop bath tended to blow little pin holes in the emulsion of thin emulsion film.

The water rinse removes a lot of developer and tames the reaction between the developer

and fixer. YMMV

[big toys are better]

I hear a lot of mixed reviews as to whether or not the "shock" of going from alkaline developer to acidic stop bath of fixer causes grain, but I suspect it isn't good regardless, so a water bath in between developer and any acid is probably good, and with a strong carbonate based developer like Rodinal, probably essential unless you don't mind the thought of CO-2 bubbles forming within your film emulsion. And a water bath is nominally neutral in pH although it often varies a bit depending on the source of the water, acid rain and alkaline soils often being issues in the eastern and western U.S. respectively.

 

As far as getting good shadow detail, proper exposure and development is the solution there. Unless finer grain is needed, diluted accutance developers like Rodinal and the "semi-stand" method work well to ensure that shadow details in contrasty scenes are pulled out as well as the original exposure allows.