Developer & Fixer Question

[brianandree]

I bought some developer and fixer to try some black and white film development, and I finally got it.

I am a little confused because it doesn't say how much to pour in? Honestly, my tank isnt here till tomorrow and I am planning to develop my film tomorrow so it would be nice to know before I do it.

 

For developer and fixer I am using Kodak Professional D-76 developer & Kodak Professional Fixer

 

For a tank I am using a Anscomatic Model F-698

 

Thank you,

Brian

[AJG]

I'm not familiar with your specific tank, but you could pour water in to cover the empty reel and then pour it out into a graduate to know how much you need. Be sure you dry it completely before you try to load it with your film in complete darkness.

[glen_h]

First, you need to mix the developer and fixer as appropriate. Some are diluted again after mixing.

 

You want enough to cover the film. For 35mm, most tanks will do with 8 oz (about 240ml), but some take a little more.

 

You can put the reel in the tank, adjusted to the appropriate width, pour in water until it covers the top of the reel, then measure how much water that is.

 

The Anscomatic is typical of the usual plastic reel/tank of the time, adjustable from 35mm to 120/620.

I have the Yankee II, which is similar, and which has the amount needed for each film size on the lid.

I believe, as above 240ml for 35mm.

 

The more common now Patterson tanks, I believe, need a little more, maybe 270ml for 35mm film.

 

But many will recommend the stainless steel tanks, which are also 240ml for 35mm, and 500ml for 120.

 

When I used D76 years ago, I don't remember much about the capacity, but the usual numbers

for D76 stock (as mixed from the powder) are eight rolls (35mm 36 exposure, or 120) per liter.

Diluted 1:1 are half that, normally used one shot. For 120, you should be able to do two rolls

with 500ml in one session, but normally not save it after one use.

 

You don't mention stop bath. If you don't have one, you should use a water rinse,

maybe twice, in between developer and fixer. Next choice is to use diluted white

vinegar.

 

You don't say where you are. Some suggestions are different for different places.

[glen_h]

Vintage Anscomatic Gaf F-698 Film Developing Tank With Adjustable Reel 6686 • CAD $22.99

 

is a picture of the tank.

[thirteenthumbs]

Powdered chemicals should be mixed and allowed to sit for at least 12 hours before use.

Tech Pub J78 http://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/uat/files/wysiwyg/pro/chemistry/j78.pdf tells you all you need to know about D76.

Read Delelopment Times on page 2 of the PDF.

1 135-36 roll of film= 1 120 roll of film= 1 8x10 sheet of film= 80 square inches of film.

Fix for 5 to 10 minutes for standard fixer, 3 to 6 minutes for rapid fixer. T Max and Ilford Delta films should be fixed in rapid fixer, increae times in standard fixer.

Fixer can be reused and should be filtered between uses to prevent redepositing residual silver onto the fresh bath of film being processed. A coffee filter in a funnel works well for this.

[rodeo_joe1]

35mm film in a plastic tank of that sort usually needs no more than 350ml of solution. It really doesn't matter if you use a bit more developer and fixer than the minimum. Better that than too little.

 

I'll second AJG's advice to just see how much water it takes to cover the reel. And in any case, tanks such as that usually have the required amounts printed on the bottom or on the lid.

 

Just use the D76 at stock strength and pour it back into a well-filled airtight bottle after use (Pharmacies are a good source of 1 litre brown bottles if you ask the parmacist nicely). If you dilute it 1:1 you'll have to discard it after use, which makes it uneconomical. All chemicals should come with instruction leaflets anyway. Follow those instructions and you won't go far wrong.

 

There are many other threads here that explain the developing process and go into the finer points of agitation etc.

 

Do you have a light-tight changing bag? Most common beginner mistake is to think that you can get away with just pulling the curtains and turning out the light in a normal room to load the tank - you can't! Film needs to be loaded in absolute darkness. So if you haven't already got one, get a "changing bag" and practise using it before you attempt to load film for real.

Edited April 14, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

[glen_h]

From: http://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites/prod/files/files/resources/j78.pdf

 

the capacity of D76 is four rolls (135-36, 120, or 8x10 sheets) per liter stock, or two for 1:1.

 

I suspect that in years past when I used D76, I used it longer than that.

 

I thought last I knew it was eight/L for stock, and four/L for 1:1, which makes it equally economical in those cases.

 

HC-110 is much better economically, though the bottle costs more.

[Rick Helmke]

I don't speak metric but you can use 8 ounces per roll of 35mm film and you will be fine. D-76 I would use it 1:1 with water and dump it after a single use. That will give you consistent results on film development. Temperature 68-72 degrees F and keep it the same within a degree or two for everything ie if your developer is 70 degrees make sure the fixer is within a degree or two of that and the wash also. I say dump the developer after a single use. It's not expensive and re using is, to me at least, not worth the trouble.

 

Rick H.

[glen_h]

I was surprised that the rated capacity for D76 1:1 is two rolls (135-36) per liter or per quart. (That is 8/gallon.)

 

That means that you need 16 oz for that 135-36 roll.

 

The D-76 sheet does say that you can do two 135-36 rolls with 1:1 dilution in a 16oz tank, increasing the time by 10%.

That would seem to me to also apply to one roll in an 8oz tank, but it doesn't mention that one.

 

I seems that if you use D-76, you really need to also use the replenisher.

 

For HC-110, on the other hand, you can use dilution B, 1:31, with the capacity of 1 roll (135-36) per 8oz,

for a total of 128 rolls per liter of concentrate.

[ben_hutcherson]

Interesting...I've been known to do 2x35mm or 1x220 in 16 oz of D76 1:1. The contrast is a bit slower than 1x35mm in straight D76(8oz) but I actually sort of prefer it. Of course, I use the data corresponding to increased time for the 1:1 dilution, but I haven't adjusted for the volume of film. I think offhand that a roll of 220 has about the same area as 2x36 35mm. 220 and 35mmx36 are roughly the same length(6ft or so) and I know the 220 is twice as wide so I suspect the area is similar.

 

I also regularly do 4x 4x5 in 16 oz. of 1:1. I'm too lazy to compare area wise how that translates to other formats, but again I like the results.

[glen_h]

Yes, the 220 reels have the finer spacing of 35mm reels, where 120 reels don't.

 

I suspect that means that agitation is harder.

 

It is usual to consider 135-36, 120, as 8x10. Note that the negative pages take up close to 8x10 in size,

so your 4x 4x5 should also be equivalent. So, 16oz should be right.

[ben_hutcherson]

Fair point about the contact sheet size(which should correspond to the amount of developer required).

 

With that said, 135-36 won't QUITE fit on an 8x10 contact sheet, or at least not with print file pages. The standard PrintFile page is meant to contact print to 8x10, and as you mentioned a roll of 120 and four 4x5s fit perfectly. For 35mm, the 5-frame pages will print to 8x10 but will only fit 35 frames. Of course, if we want to split hairs, the holes in 35mm probably make up for the surface area of at least one frame :) .

[glen_h]

Sometimes I put two rolls in three pages.

 

I haven't tried actually making contact sheets for a looong time.

[ben_hutcherson]

I honestly don't waste my time on them in 35mm, but I find them very useful in MF and 4x5. They're big enough that I can pretty easily evaluate without a loupe whether or not something is worth printing or scanning.