Bad grain from 35mm hp5

[curtis_leblanc]

<p>I know there has been some discussions about his in the past and I'm hoping there is a quick answer now. I just developed two rolls of hp5 in the same tank, one was 120 and the other 35. I just finished scanning the 35mm roll and it not very sharp and has the worst grain! I love grain but this is bad. the 120 looks fine as always. I shoot hp5 all the time and always get good results. </p>

<p>Did I just get a lemon? are there film lemons? the film is new not expired or anything<br>

But the 35mm looks not so great. it looks like cracks in dry mud or a dried up lake... not little circular dye clouds<br>

I think this could also just be a scanner issue because one of the shots from the 35 looks fine (grainy but good grainy) <br>

I tried re scanning at different resolutions and with or without sharpening (Epson v700)</p>

<p>*I used ilfasol 3 developer and recommended time and temperature *</p>

<p>The only thing I can think of is that I washed it for longer than usual (I read here that is a possible cause) and I used hotter than usual water during the wash. I also agitated a little harder than usual (still not very hard though) I have done all three of those things before and avoided these results. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p><div></div>

[lex_jenkins]

That's reticulation. The emulsion was damaged by

uncontrolled temperatures. Never use hot water

for any part of b&w film processing unless the

goal is to deliberately damage the film.

 

If using tap water be sure to let it reach room

temperature or use a temperature control bath.

Running tap water washes can vary significantly,

especially in summer.

[tim_bradshaw1]

<p>What Lex says is right: that's reticulation and it's a thermal-shock problem in processing.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Definitely looks like reticulation from a temperature shift. Wash water temp isn't critical but should be close to the temperature of your chemicals. I typically run everything, both chemical and wash, around 75F.<br /><br />But the question remains as to why you would have problems with the 35mm roll and not the 120. Were they washed separately? Can't explain why one frame of 35 came out OK other than just luck.</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>How were the rolls stored before developing? Were they both stored under the same conditions? How long between exposure and developing?</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>Another cause of reticulation is rapid and large change in pH. One way of reticulating film deliberately is to go from dev to a dilute strong acid (e.g. 10% hydrochloric acid). </p>

[lenny_eiger]

<p>Of course, you could have made a post with the same subject if you did everything perfectly. HP5 is a very grainy film and Ilfosol is not particularly exceptional. If you want less grain, move to Delta 100, or TMax and Xtol 1:1 or Pyro. </p>

[curtis_leblanc]

<p>I always use a thermometer to check my chemicals and rinse but my house is old and the taps fluctuate in temperature. I was told that the rinse temperature was not super important so I haven't been keeping the closes eye on it recently. I usually run everything at 20C. Ill keep a closer eye on it from now on. <br>

Now that I'm thinking back it might have been the pre wash water being to hot... either way I won't be making that mistake again. <br>

Both rolls were subject to the exact some development and washed together. Stored in the fridge but the 35 was sitting in my hot car for a day... both shot and developed on the same day. <br>

I usually shoot Delta or hp5(120) and tmax or Delta(35) developed in d76 but I felt like changing things up and shooting HP4 and HP5 developing in Ilford chemicals. I'm still figuring out my go to bw films and developers<br>

Might switch up my developer to Xtol and see how that goes </p>

<p>Thanks for the thoughtful responses</p>

 

[lex_jenkins]

<p>HP5+ grain isn't bad at all exposed at EI 200 or so with commensurately less development in ID-11 at 1+1. Around 9 minutes in typical daylight conditions worked well for me. It scans well enough without exaggerated grain and prints even better in the darkroom.</p>

<p>But temperature control is important. When I lived in a rural home with well water the running tap water temperature could vary significantly. For negative and print washes I filtered and bottled several gallons at a time in advance and let it come to room temperature. I used the Ilford wash method for negatives, which used very little water.</p>