1st attempt at developing film

[Rob MacKillop]

I'd appreciate some constructive criticism from the experienced members here.

My first-ever development was partial success, with some dire failures. As it is all new to me, and I was a bit nervous, I thought I'd play safe by developing the film in the CineStill monobath, which is getting great reviews. For agitation I did three full minutes at the correct temperature, turning the stick in the middle of the tank, four turns forward, four back, at a constant rate for three minutes. I used an Ilford wetting agent for the final flush, hung them up, and then did something I've seen others do successfully, but it might have had a negative effect: used my right-hand index and middle finger like tongs, just gently wiping the excess water off the film. I'm not sure if this was a contributory factor, but there is a band streaked across many of the shots, which is quite depressing. I let them dry overnight before scanning.

The film is Delta 400, the camera a Leica M-A with an old Elmar 50mm f/4 lens. I used an old Leitz yellow filter for two stops.

I'll give a good one, which I'm very happy with...



and a couple of not so good ones with the band...






Really, I only got one, maybe two decent shots out of the complete role. Perhaps the problem was some not-so-exact exposures when taking the shots, they all look to have more grain than Delta 400 usually gives. Or perhaps some light got into the developing tank? I have an AP tank and reels, which I had no problem with in the changing bag.

Here's one of the disasters:



Thoughts?

Rob

 

[Pete Askew]

My first thoughts are that the streaks have nothing to do with your finger squeegee technique (unless you had developer on your fingers by mistake), but looks to be something to with partial development. And this might be due to way they were loaded on the spiral. Were the good shots towards the outside of the spiral?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Interesting. Unfortunately I can't remember, not sure I noticed.

I loaded them in a changing bag, and the whole process seemed to go very smoothly.

 

[Pete Askew]

What volume of developer did you use?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Enough to the point of seeing it rising to the hole I was pouring it into, which I'll admit doesn't sound very professional now that I think about it! If anything it would have been too much rather than not enough. Would this be cause of the banding? I assumed it was less of an issue with monobath, and have seen guys on youtube doing similar with good results.

Regarding your previous question, I could look at the numbers on the negatives to see if the decent ones were together at one end of the film. I'll do that later. I do, however, remember disconnecting both sides of the spriral, and being impressed that the film had made it to very near the middle, so that should not be the problem.

 

[Pete Askew]

No, that would be fine, but I usually leave some air space and tend to use inversion (with the cap on!) rather than the 'twirler'. Bands can form is there is not sufficient developer or if the film is in contact and not evenly spaced on the spiral, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And I assume no light could have gotten in?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I've had time to check the negatives now. Numbers 1 to 12 are fine, the rest are a mess. The good ones would have been at the centre of the spiral, the others towards the outer edge. So, what would cause that? I can only think of agitation. I'll try the inversion method next time, though I've seen people use the twirler without a problem. In fact, the guy at Emulsive recommends the twirler for this particular monobath.

 

[Pete Askew]

Yes, I use thee old Patterson Universal tanks. They don't leak.

Would the dark 'band' on the negative be at the top or bottom of the strip? - think out they way it would load onto the spiral.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Hmm, I loaded it in the bag, then never noticed which way I put it in the tank.

I have the AP tank and spirals. The spirals are easy to guide film on with. The tank, I'm told, is as good as a Paterson, but I wouldn't know for sure.

 

[Pete Askew]

I don't know the AP tanks, but they look fine and seem popular.

Tricky problem. The light areas on the scans must arise from either part of the film being over-developed or exposed to a low level of light. I guess a rapid change in temperature as the developer is poured in could cause something similar. There does seem to be some streaking in the lighter are as well although there seems to be a distinct 'step' in the density.

I am not especially familiar with monobath developers, but the most obvious thing is agitation and making sure your temperature time is sufficient get full development and fixing. You could also try a pre-soak of the film with water before developing. Just make sure all of the temperatures are close to each other. Check also with water to see if you can use inversion mixing, but you'll need to make sure there is a bit of air space to get that to work.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks for all the helpful comments, Pete. I did use a prewash at almost the same temperature. I then placed the developer bottle into a small bathroom sink with hot water until the temperature reached the required level, then poured it into the tank, and kept the tank in the warm water while agitating. Perhaps the developer temperature continued to rise a few degrees beyond the recommended level. I'm not sure how sensitive the developer is.