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Kashiwa girls, Konica Pan 400, 17.5min in Xtol 1:2
Today I developed my own film for the first time in what must be over 5 years. It was fantastic and it is remarkable that I haven’t forgotten that much. The reels I managed to buy on Yahoo auctions for my new tank arrived today, so it was time to test. The Paterson reels are a lot easier to load compared to what I had before. Loading the reels in warm and humid weather was a real pain and difficult because the film expands a little and gets sticky, and so would I in a small darkroom. Anyway, those new reels work great, no problems whatsoever!
The film came out OK, maybe slightly overdeveloped, because of the warm summer temperatures right now. I cooled things down to around 17 degrees before pouring it in, but on exit I noticed that the temperature was now 25 degrees. Add to that the lack of information about developing my current type of film (Konica Pan 400) with Xtol, and you have slightly off results. I also have some water stains so maybe I have to get some wash aid.
However, it was just so much more enjoyable than plugging a USB cable into the computer, and I had forgotten about that.
Update: the film is dry and I noticed I have increased grain. Now this could either be due to the developer/film combination, the high dilution development or the over-development. Or it could be that stop and fixer are room temperature (around 30 degrees), causing some effects, but then the jump from 25 to 30 is not great, or is it? I am planning to switch to Neopan 400 soon anyway, but I have some remaining stock of Konica Pan to use up, so I would really like to correct this at least a little bit.
I like Xtol 1+1 as a one-shot developer — I agitate for a full 30, then just a couple of inversions every 30 secs and then no agitation for 1 or 2 of the towards-the-end cycles (for a wee bit of “compensating effect” along edges). Getting the temp right can be a chore, especially if the “cold” water coming from the tap is higher than 20C! I usually use filtered water (using a Brita home purifier) in the fridge — I keep 5liters of Xtol stock on hand, then start adding the water from the fridge or from some at room temp until it’s all about the right temp. If it’s a little below 20C, I then pour-off a little into a separate beaker and give it 5-second bursts in the microwave, pour it back in, let the temp settle, repeat if necessary. I also make and use the dilution a full liter at a time — more inertia means less temperature variance diring development. I try to keep the other chemicals at near the developer temp using the fridge as needed. I filter ALL water — even the wash water.
17.5 mins in xtol 1+2 — where did you get this long dev time? Could be related to your grain issues… digitaltruth.com has zip on guidance for that film stock.
(Caveat: I switched back to Rodinal, mostly to get strong Rodinalish effects. Still have a 5liter of xtol powder waiting in the darkroom, but haven’t touched the stuff since April)
Dirk,
grain is from over development and possibly with high temperature at the end of developing. What I do in hot day is keeping dev. tank whole time in cold water bucket. I have that squared one normally used for hand washing. Just cheep plastic. I put there cold water. When I have tank in it up to as much as it can stay alone without floating as I do not hold it between inversion while developing.
Maybe you can try that to keep your temperature down together with fix bath. BTW I do not use stop bath. I was but I had feeling it made negative little bit more grainy, at least the one I was using especially with xtol.
And yes, if you have so hot there try xtol 1:1 and make shorter time. I do not know how do you scan but normally negative scanner can pick up incredible details from even little undeveloped negative.
I wish you good luck!
-richo-
First of all thanks for taking the time to help me out with advice, chaps.
On the way home I reasoned that the grain is the tell tale sign of a pushed film, and that’s what I have effectively done. Only problem is I didn’t expose for that.
The long development time doesn’t help the temperature control either, so I will switch to 1:1, because it is proven and used by many people. I used 1:2 for economic reasons: I need 300ml liquid per film in the tank, and minimum proportion of Xtol is 100ml, so I mixed 1:2 and saved 50ml… stingy bastard I am.
Where did I get the long time from? Well, there are no times for Konica Pan and Xtol, even on digitaltruth.com they only have Konicadol in the film chart, and only Konica IR in the developer chart. So I checked the datasheet for the film and found a time number for HC-110, then I looked at another film with the same time in HC-110 and then looked up that film in Xtol and found a 1:1 number (13.5min). I then looked at some 1:2 numbers and found that they are more or less 30% longer than the 1:1, so I just added that. 🙂
My agitation was first 30s and then one inversion every 30s. I will try skipping the last 1 or 2.
Anyway, I shot two rolls, one 100 and another 400 today, to be used as test films. Tonight is a rather cool evening and I will see what will happen.
As a little experiment and to understand it better I measured the temperature of water over a 15 minute period in the tank today (no spools or films). Starting at 20 degrees water temperature (coming out of the tap at 29) and 30 degrees air temperature, the water was 23 degrees after 5 minutes, 24 after 10 and 25 after 15. So there’s the over-development.
Now the question is, what is more practical, trying to keep temperature of the tank down, like in a water bath, or just factoring in the increase and shortening development time? I favour the former.
I have had very successful results with development in a cold water bath. While the temperature is not always predictable, for example it may even decrease depending on the temperature of the water bath, it is at least stable over the whole period. I measured twice within the process and that gives me a very good idea about development time.
I have also tried pre-cooling the tank itself, but I then realised the immediate build-up of condensation in this humid climate, so I won’t do that anymore.
If I can’t control for high or variable temps, I use Diafine to develop film.
I really like the stuff for shooting street photos with old meterless cameras in random light.
Diafine Recipe: 3 min in A, 3 minutes in B and away you go. It does tend to give nice smooth highlights without the “pushed” look, even if you do get slightly above film speed. If the light is flat, shoot at normal ASA or below, if light is contrasty, shoot at about 2x ASA i.e. underexpose.
You do have to mix the poweder stuff at high temps and let it cool down for a day before you use it.
B & H and Calumet carry it in US, not sure about where you are.
http://www.photoslave.com/misc/diafine.html
http://sddunnam.home.comcast.net/diafine_developer.htm
Jeff, thanks for stopping by.
Appreciate the pointer to Diafine. I am just starting out (again) on b/w development and I am still trying to get some orientation. Diafine indeed seems to suit my needs with the temperature independency. Very helpful, thanks, I will look out for it in the shops.
Great front pic on your site!