shawn_hoefer

Sine I am bulk processing films in the newspaper darkroom (you did read and respond to my previous post, didn't you?) I do not have the option to push development, or even to vary it. Is there a film or process that will allow for basic shots (mugs, grip-n-grins, and the like) and action shots (sports primarily) at the same time?

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Thanks

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Shawn

Get a cup of coffee (or tea, or a glass of soda, or...) and sit back as this might take a while, but I really need the help...

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Several months ago the newspaper where I am the production manager (as in computers and graphics) was bought and our entire system was switched from in house printing to a sister-paper'sprinting facility. AS such we lost all of our darkrrom / pressroom presonnel and I was handed the keys to the darkroom and given a quickie course in basic black and white. All has been working fine, but I want to find a way to make it work better (and reassuring myself that I am not screwing up anywhere along the way sure wouldn't hurt). Here is the process and products we use:

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Kodak TMax 400, TMax 100 and 3200 film, D76 developer, Kodak rapid fixer, photo flo 200 (?) Kodak Polycontrast RC papers and an RC processor (the papers and processor are only used for contact prints and resale prints as all of our news photos are scanned on a Microtek Scanmaker 35t+ or Nikon 3200(?)).

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Film is bulkloaded at ~20 frames per roll.

All chemicals are heated/cooled in a waterbath to ~68F

Pop roll, remove film, clip ends ts to round and elimiate rough edges which interfere with loading on reels.

Load film on reels.

Place film on rods into canister, and cap.

Add mixed D76 at 68F to canister til full, and cap.

Set timer to 5 minutes.

Rap canister on table to dislodge bubbles and continue to agitate for one minute, then 10 seconds every 30 seconds.

(to agitate, I tell the canister it's fat and has an acne problem :-)

No, really, I give the canister a rapid circular shaking motion, using mostly my wrist.

At 5 minutes, drain the developer (discard)

Add rapid fixer, recap, reset time to 5 minutes.

Rap canister on table and agitate 30 seconds, then 5 seconds every minute.

At five minutes, drain fixer back into jug and recap (I discard the fixer when it begins to have a yellow cast to it).

Wash 5 minutes, changing water at least 3 times.

Ad squirt of Photo flo (like the precise measurement there?) and fill fill water, agitate a couple seconds and drain.

Remove film and hang to dry.

When film is dry, we cut to lengths of 5 frames and insert into a printfile sleeve.

Place printfile sleeve on one sheet of Polycontrast RC weight with a clean sheet of plexi and shoot under enlarger for 5.5 seconds.

Run contact print through processor and rinse with water. Hang to dry.

Take a coffee break.

Return to normal production chores.

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What I want to know is:

1. Is this procedure all right? If not, what am I missing?

2. A. Kodak Polycontrast RC paper is relatively expensive. Is there a lower cost RC paper I can use without sacrificing quality (we tried a lower cost, lighter weight RC paper whose brand name escapes me, and it curled so bad as to make it almost unusable.

B. Should I consider switching to a fiber based paper and a tray processing system? I realize that this will take a little more time, but believe it will save a lot of money.

3. I want to switch to a liquid concentrate developer (mixing D76 to temp on deadline is a real problem). Can anyone recommend a good product?

4. I want to cut costs in this area. Should I use a replenisher rather than dumping the developer?

5. In the same vein, what other films are available for general B&W photography that are comparable to what I am using that would cost less and behave the same?

6. Same...What chemistry could I use to achieve the same results and save a penny?

7. Finally, could somebody give me a clue as to the chemistry needed to tray develope regular paper as opposed to RC? All I've been trained on is RC and really want to broaden my horizons. I have a box of Gekko in house and am willing to order small test quantities (or accept donations of the same) to determine usefulness and capabilities of almost any system that will accomplish the same tasks, cost less, and improve quality.

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Any advice, tips, tricks, hints and helps are welcome.

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My sincerest thanks if you've made it this far...

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Shawn