giverin

It was so interesting to read all the replies. I've learned a lot...thanks.

John, I know what you mean about one gallon of D-76 being too much but they do sell D-76 in one litre packs. I know they do this size in North America because B&H stock it.

I was wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of mixing your own developer from the base chemicals. I was reading about the two bath development method where you have to mix your own chemicals but I was also considering formulating my own D-76 because the price has increased quite a lot in recent years where I live. I know I'll have to buy some accurate scales but that isn't a big expense.

<p><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7120/27333321364_bae650f3c2_c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="374" /><br>

Pentax MX, M50 f/1.7, Neopan 400, D76</p>

<p>Thanks for that Lex.</p>

<p>I've just shot a couple of rolls of Delta 3200 at EI 1600 tonight. I've got D-76 and Tmax dev to hand. Is any one of those going to give me better results than the other? Thanks.</p>

<p>IMHO, throwing away fixer after a single use is a terrible waste of money and I'm sure many of us can't afford to be that extravagant. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies. I've just found a couple of rolls of HP5+ in the freezer that I had forgotten about so I'll probably take that with me too.</p>

<p>Hi Michael, stand developing is out I'm afraid. I use plastic reels and my past attempts at stand developing with Rodinal have resulted in streaks from the sprocket holes. I do have some APX100 in the fridge but I don't plan taking it as I think it will be too slow for the conditions. I'm not taking a tripod either because I want to stay fairly light. I might take my monopod though as its quite compact. I'll be taking three small Pentax M bodies so I will be able to have all three film types loaded and ready. That's the beauty of older SLRs. I can carry three bodies and a couple of sharp primes in the bag that would normally hold one DSLR and a zoom lens.</p>

<p>I'm spending Christmas in Paris and really looking forward to it. I've spend a lot of time there and its great for street photography. The only problem is that the weather forecast isn't that great with it predicted to be cloudy/rainy for most for the time. I don't mind the rain because it presents lots of possibilities. <br>

I'll be taking some Tmax 400, Nepopan 400 and also some Delta 3200 with me. I planned to use the Delta 3200 nights/evenings, possibly at 1600 if conditions allowed. So I was wondering, for day time use, with cloudy rainy weather, would the Tmax 400 or Neopan 400 be better suited to those conditions?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Just out of interest, what is the camera? Is it vertical or horizontal shutter?</p>

<p>Clay and Kate.... that's handy to know. I've only experienced reticulation once before when developing my own film and that was indeed with Neopan 400. I've still got about 10 rolls of it in the fridge so now I know to be especially careful with the temps.</p>

 

<p>Just as an observation, on the last shot, the spots seem to be concentrated in vertical bands.</p>

<p>I keep my working fix in clear glass coffee jars and I get exactly the same problem.</p>

<p>Martin, if you don't keep all your chems close to the same temperature, you run the risk of reticulation, which is crazing of the emulsion layer.</p>

<p>Thanks Mikes ;)<br>

Panic over. While rummaging in the bottom of the freezer, I found a solitary roll of TMY2 so I'll use that and take a roll of the Tri-x 400 as reserve.</p>

 

<p>Tomorrow evening (Friday) I will be shooting at an outdoor concert at 1600 iso or possibly 800 depending on how the weather is. I'd normally push TMY2 but I've let my film stock run down and the only 400 film I've got in the fridge is Tri-x 400 and Neopan 400. Out of the two, which would be better for a 1600 push.<br>

<br />And to save me asking later, I've got Rodinal, D-76, Tmax and Microphen developers. Am I right in thinking that the Microphen would be better than the Tmax for a 1600 push?<br>

Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Hi Ken, I had the same challenge a couple of years ago. Here is a link to the two threads I started on the subject and the results of my own development. If its the same film as I had, it can be inspected under red light during development.<br>

http://www.photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00ZQwI<br>

http://www.photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00ZT4N</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I need a better set of graduates to measure things. Definitely at least one graduated to or can accurately be interpolated to single CCs, especially for 1+14 development.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A lot of people use a plastic medical syringe for measuring out small quantities of developer.</p>

<p>Thanks again for everyone's input. The thing to remember is that I use about half dozen different types of film and four different developers with the same stopbath, same fixer and a demineralised final rinse for all. Its only the TMax 400/TMax dev combo that gives me a problem. Its been suggested that a presoak might help so I'll give that a try. It may be that the TMax developer has gone off. The bottle has been open for 2 years but I've used less than half as I only use it for pushes. I might try it with another film type.</p>

<p>Thanks guys. I appreciate what you are saying but my dust regime is pretty good. I do reuse stopbath and fixer. I don't reuse developer except microphen stock. The thing is.... this problem has only happened twice, both with TMY and TMax dev. The day before I developed the TMY, I was developing Neopan 400 in D76, using the same stopbath and fixer and drying the negs in the same dust sealed room, without any sign of spotty negs. It just seems too much of a coincidence that the both times it happened it was with the same film/dev combination. </p>

<p>A few months ago I was at a friends wedding and was shooting TMY at 800. I developed in TMax developer and I got a lot of small white spots on my negs. I figured they were too small for dust and I dry the film in a dust free environment anyway. I wondered if the spots were due to the film being in the stop bath for too long (about a minute) so from then on I started 2 stage stop bath procedure..... 15 seconds in stop bath followed by a minute in plain water. For the next couple of months I was shooting Neopan 400 and HP5+ in D76 and Neopan 1600 in Microphen... all with my new stopbath system and all was fine.</p>

<p>Then last week I was at my son's wedding and I was shooting TMY at 1600. Again I developed in TMax dev. The dreaded spots appeared again (see 100% crop). Is this still a stopbath issue? I've read elsewhere that TMax dev can react with acid stopbath and cause pinprick blistering in the emulsion. Does this sound reasonable?</p>

<p><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8509/8507016153_5a54e6acbb_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="686" /></p>

<p>Well that was interesting but I don't think I'll be adding TMZ/Rodinal to my favourite combinations list. I shot the film at 1600 and stand developed for 2 hours in Rodinal 1+200. I did suffer from uneven development..... streaking from the sprocket holes in some frames (plastic reel). I suppose the streaking was the least of my problems. The fogging was quite bad and grain that the Rodinal produced wasn't great but it was all good fun and only cost me 2.5ml of Rodinal and a couple of hours on a murky Sunday afternoon.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8354851446_59ed073110_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="535" /></p>

<p>Hi guys, it was only the TMZ that was expired. The Neopan is well in date. Lex, I like your idea, particularly as I do have Microphen and Rodinal in my darkroom at the moment. I might actually go with the Rodinal as the stock Microphen I have on the go has been used 5 times already. With the 1+200 Rodinal stand development, would you recommend any agitation after the first minute? I know some people like to agitate after an hour or so.</p>

 

<p>A few weeks ago I bought a load of film from an ebay seller who was giving up film for good. He was selling lots of 35mm, 120 and sheet film. I bought 10 rolls of Neopan 400 (good exp dates) and a single roll of Tmax 3200 with an advertised date of 05/2014. However when it arrived I found the date was 05/2004. The seller had made a typo in the listing and refunded the purchase price.</p>

<p>So what do I do with this roll of TMZ? Its over eight years out of date and going on my experience of Delta 3200 that was one year out of date, it will be fogged to death. Should I just throw it in the bin? My only thought is to keep it for use when testing for light leaks on older bodies. It would have been handy to have on my leaky Kiev 4A last year. </p>

<p>Hi John, I only use RC paper and I have some dedicated fixer for that anyway. I'll try Alan's suggestion and see what happens.</p>