benmabry

Those idiotic YouTubers ought to be sued for spreading misinformation and ruining countless films!

 

I have no idea where that dumb figure-of-eight action came from. Nobody of any note has done that, or advised that since I started tank-developing film when I was aged 11... and that's over 60 years ago now!

So, I developed my first role with Ilford chemistry and the tried-and-true method of agitation – Perfection! There are no ugly marks and the negatives look quite good compared to the ones developed in the monobath. It was totally worth the extra 5 minutes.

Thank you!

That sounds right. Having the tank brim-full will actually inhibit agitation, because it's the airspace bubbling past the film that does the work of mixing stale with fresh developer.

 

You're not by any chance following the dumb YouTube videos that show a slo-mo figure-of-eight wrist roll for agitation, are you?

 

That's completely wrong, and could result in creating standing waves in the tank.

 

All that's needed is a fairly quick inversion of the tank; hold it upside down for a slow count of two or three; then right the tank again. Anything else is a waste of effort, and inefficient. You're not doing Tai-Chi or Yoga on behalf of the film!

 

For 'continuous' agitation you only need to repeat the inversions 5 or 6 times a minute. And beyond 4 will probably make absolutely no difference to the appearance of the film.

Ha! My agitation action may be my problem then as I am doing compound flip/spin movement. I'll try the simpler method the next time I'm developing and report back. Thanks!

Almost certainly.

 

Also, how full is the tank?

These really do look like flow marks, as if the film hasn't been fully covered.

I follow the measuring instructions on the side of the Jobo tank. So, 485ml for inversion (240ml for rotation). It feels full but with a bit of room for the liquid to move around.

I'm using a small Jobo tank and a constant inversion agitation (per the DF96 instructions). I follow the Ilford rinse method with tap water and a few drops of wetting agent. Hang, squeegee, dry. I'm pouring straight from the bottle into the funnel of the tank so it's only 5 or so seconds between pouring, securing the lid, and beginning agitation.

These were my 11th and 12th rolls on the same chemistry and although the bottle claims 16 before exhaustion, it's looking a little grimy. Could it be due to exhaustion?

Also, I washed the tank to remove any dust or dirt before processing. If it wasn't properly dried would residual water from my washing cause marks?

Point taken on the convenience! I plan on switching to separate developer and fixer once I can figure out what is causing these ugly marks.

Thanks for your input!

I've started processing BW film at home and my last two rolls have these marks. What might be causing this? I'm using Cinestill DF96 Monobath.