I hate my weak negatives

[matt_hall7]

<p>Hey people. I am very agitated about something so I came to the people who can help. I just developed 3 rolls of Kodak 400 film at the same time last night and all 3 rolls came out the same way- extraordinarily weak. So weak that they are practically transparent. I developed them using Sprint developer at 75 degrees F for 7 minutes 30 seconds as it said to do on the developing chart.<br>

Agitated as instructed.<br>

Then stop bath for 1 minute.<br>

Then fixer for about 3 minutes.<br>

Then water wash for 30 minutes.<br>

Then wetting agent.<br>

And that's it. I have no idea what the hell went wrong and I dont want to to any more developing till I get some ideas as to what the problem could be. I hope you can all give me some ideas and any info will be much appreciated.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>For doing an analysis: Tmax 400 or Tri-X 400 film?<br>

Concerning the problem I suppose this is not the first time for you, using this film-developer combination?<br>

If it's NOT the first time and having very weak negatives now it's almost for sure the developer.<br>

To check it out, mix a fresh developer and redo the process with a test film or a part of a test film.<br>

I have no idea what's the lifetime of the Sprint developer but you should check that either.</p>

<p>Best regards,<br>

Robert</p>

<p> </p>

[andylynn]

<p>Is it possible the images were simply underexposed?</p>

[tobey_bilek]

<p>Developers go bad, ie have a shelf life.<br />Certain ones do so without outward signs, like Xtol. Good old D76 will turn brown if it gets too bad. A little bad it still looks good. My test show 6 mon in sealed bottles, then it gets weak slowly.<br />HC110 stock goes brown.<br />DDX will look good and not work just like Xtol.</p>

<p>Personally I am suspect of all premixed developers unless they have have an expiration date printed in plain English like milk has. No codes, no having to e-mail the manufacturer. Any developer needs to be stored away from air once open, protectant spray, marbles, accordian bottle, or my fav, 4 oz bottles with well sealing tops.</p>

<p>I would mix developer from powder or do like I do, raw chemicals and date them and decant to 4 oz bottles as soon as they are cool.</p>

<p>I did a quick look a Sprint`s site and they do not say what the active ingredient is. If asorbic acid like DDX or Xtol, it has no warning sign and there is no home way to test including clip tests that are 100% valid. The developer needs to be decanted when you open it as half full bottles go bad fast. A partially full bottle will not be good to exp date.</p>

<p>You have put too much work into a roll of film to trust it to a developer that is questionable. That`s my view and pleanty of others will disagree and claim they never had a problem. Well bless them for being non observent or lucky. You had a problem you don`t want to repeat.</p>

<p>You can try intensifying if there is shadow detail.</p>

<p> </p>

[brucecahn]

<p>Why don't you use D76 at the recommended time and adjust from there. I am sure that if the D76 is fresh & uncontaminated and the exposures good, you will not have any problem.</p>

[conrad_hoffman]

<p>"...I dont want to to any more developing till I get some ideas as to what the problem could be."<br>

You're now a lab worker, even if it's a personal lab of one, so tests are in order. When something goes wrong, the very first thing I do is shoot some more and do clip tests. One reason I like bulk film is so I can wind off a few frames to test ideas and chemistry. Lacking that, I have no qualms about cutting a commercial roll in half and putting the other half in a reusable cassette. Or, shoot a few frames and just cut them off in the darkroom. That said, it's either exposure or development. Look at the numbers on the frames. It's not a super accurate test, but if the numbers are weak, development is likely the issue. Numbers strong but images weak, certainly underexposure. The leader is also another good place to check unless you cut it all off before developing. I try to keep a little for just that purpose. I tried some Sprint chemistry a while back and thought it was pretty decent, but I process so little that prepared chemistry makes no sense. Now I just keep the raw ingredients on hand for D-76 and some of the FX formulas, and mix what I need right when I need it. No worries about freshness or manufacturers changing things.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>There are really only a few things to do in this situation.</p>

 

<ol>

<li>If the edge markings of the negatives (frame numbers) are properly developed, then your camera's shutter speed is probably off, and you need to either have it serviced or set the ISO setting to a lower speed to correct for it. Sounds like shooting at ISO 100 or so might get you in the ball park.</li>

<li>Develop the film longer. If you're off by two stops, increase development time by about 40%. E.g., give it 10-11 minutes and see what happens. </li>

<li>Your developer is exhausted or weak. To correct for this, either extend the film development time or strengthen the developer mix. E.g. if you're mixing developer at 1:3, try 1:1.</li>

</ol>

 

[gerry_hopkins1]

<p>Dont know much about sprint its not available in the uk, but if the developer was fresh and you did what the packet said then I would say its underexposure in the camera, check your cameras meter would be a good start.</p>

[tomwatt]

<p>You could always run those negs through a light selenium toning bath and punch them up a little.<br>

I second the D76 suggestion. Reliable, very reliable.</p>

[adam_n.1]

<p>this won't really solve your problem but why are you fixing for only 3 minutes? if you're using tmax 400 you should be fixing for 10 minutes. if its trix 400 then at least 5 minutes...</p>

[matt_hall7]

<p>Thanks for all the input everybody. Looks like I got some work to do. The thing is I am using a "community" darkroom in which all the chemicals are supplied by the owners of the darkroom so I really have no idea how long the developer has been sitting there, and from what I remember the numbers were not visible. So I am going to have to consider bringing my own developer with me next time.<br>

As for the fixer time, I was just going by the instructions I read in 'The Essential Darkroom Book' but I will keep that in mind next time. Thanks everybody.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>Some good, practicle and reliable for longtime use developers are:<br>

HC-110<br>

Rodinal</p>

<p>You can take the liquid concentrate by a syringe and directly put it in the dilution. Rodinal has the longest lifetime from all liquid developers. Suitable for classical slow and medium speed films.<br>

About the right fixing time:<br>

Take a piece of film and put it in the fixer. Till the film is clear, that's the clearing time.<br>

Regular films: fix time = 2x clearing time<br>

Tgrain type films: fix time = 3x clearing time<br>

Hopefully this will solve your problems.</p>

<p>Best regards,</p>

<p>Robert</p>

 

[larrydressler]

<p>Robert my 2 favorite developers... I always know they are good....</p>

[robert lee]

<blockquote>

<p>Developers go bad, ie have a shelf life. ... Certain ones do so without outward signs, like Xtol.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This isn't quite the case. Newly mixed or otherwise "fresher" stock solutions are near clear water transparent. My last 400mL of Xtol, probably close to 9 months old but kept in a sealed container, looked orange/yellowish. The tinge was very aparent from a side by side comparison in clear plastic graduates.</p>

<p>The old solution may still have been good enough to use, but I didn't take a chance with it on the 4 rolls of TMY I ended up developing a few nights ago.</p>

<p>By the way, HC-110 syrup shows the same kind but much more pronounced color shift as it oxidizes over time.</p>

[kari v]

<blockquote>

<p>The thing is I am using a "community" darkroom in which all the chemicals are supplied by the owners of the darkroom so I really have no idea how long the developer has been sitting there, and from what I remember the numbers were not visible.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>...or perhaps someone has used it already x times. Buy your own chems, very small price to pay for not messing up randomly.</p>