Recent content by laingsoft

I'm probably misremembering then, I probably made a 1.5m stock and then diluted it. Regardless good to know there's a cliff. I opted to just buy rapid fixer anyways.

Absolutely, happy to contribute.

There was a post a bunch of years ago where PE was talking about certain software that Kodak had that let you simulate different emulsions. I spent a bunch of time working and reading on what is possible, and I came up with some software that I'd like to share if anyone is interested. I went...

Afaik it is a canadian-manufactured clone. I think it differs a tiny bit from classic rodinal, but not significantly.

I had blazinal fail, but for me I just got completely blank negatives. Same issue, lots of "rocks" at the bottom of the bottle that wouldn't dissolve.

Sodium Thiosulfate does work, but it is exceedingly slow. When I tried it I think I was using a 1.5 mol and I was getting clearing times measured in hours. It got a bit better if you warmed it up, but it was still egregiously long and a 1.5m solution of thiosulfate leaves residue on everything.

I don't really do it. The only real exception is when I'm doing Foma 400 in medium format. In that case I find the dyes take forever to come out after fixing if I don't prewash. Typically 3-4 minutes, tap water at the same temperature as a dev.

Finally had some time to head back into the darkroom, I was looking over some papers and I found a scavenged-together blix formula I made that seems to work fairly well. Keep in mind I put this together during the pandemic when getting chemicals was difficult. It's a pretty slow working blix, I...

I have two loaders, a Lloyds and a Watson. I like both. The biggest pro, and the reason why I even bother is cost. It can be significantly cheaper, especially if you are shooting something like foma 100, Orwo UN54+ or some other cheap film. If you want HP5 or Tri-X your savings will probably...

Before PE passed away I remember a post on here explaining that metropolis looked like a film that was having trouble with interlayer scavengers. I would suspect that the supply chain for the specialty chemicals needed for C41 films is pretty locked up tight by Kodak and Fuji, hence why we had...

I do run a 2-developer darkroom, but I'm a bit strange. I use blazinal and Ansco-17 that I mix myself, but treat as if it is d-76. Typically for cheap, slow film like foma or orwo I will use rodinal, for expensive film like hp5 or Tmax 400 I will opt for d-76. To be honest though, sometimes if...

As everyone has said, you're likely making your photo flo too weak, so make sure you're following the instructions . If your city/tap water is really hard, you might want to try investing in a water filter or using DI water for a rinse. Personally I just have a carbon filter attached to my sink...

Absolutely unbelievable. The horrid, horrid photo engineers at Harman can't even make a perfect replica of portra first try. I know what I'm going to be doing with my money. Buying a brick of it and having fun. Jeeze guys, lighten up. It's not like you can't still buy portra if you want it...

I always use a twizzle stick for developers. Once I get to the fix though I usually shake it pretty roughly.

I do like foma, but like a lot of cheap films I notice that it can get really muddy if conditions aren't perfect. Even in harsh conditions I still tend to get soft photos. It's not an issue so much as it's something that you need to be aware of when using it. The only time I have been truly...