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Am i doing it correctly?

joe7

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35mm
i'm still new in b&w developing,yesterday i'm trying Kodak Tri-X 400,pushed to ISO800.

dev:kodak D76 (1+1) ,9 3/4mins @20celcius
stop bath :water,5mins @20celcius
fixer:Ilford Rapid Fixer (1+4),5mins @20celcius

my question is..

1)is the developing time for Kodak Tri-X 400,pushed to ISO800 really
9 3/4mins?the instruction at the d-76 packaging write the same dev time for 400 and 800..should i increase the dev time for the iso 800?
what is the formula for calculating the push/pull in developing time?is it same for all kind of developer?

2)can i reuse the fixer or use it for one time only?

3)is it ok if i'm agitating the developing tank more than the recommended?

all the pics seems ok to me,but i want to make sure that i'm doing it in a proper way.


thanks in advance.
 
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Your evaluation of the time/temp required is probably more useful than the docs - consider the docs a starting point for development time. Your results will be determined by a lot of factors just make sure you do development consistently and change time based on what you see.

The 5 mins stop is probably too long - won't cause a problem in water, just wasting your time.

The fixer has a certain capacity that usually on the bottle or in the packaging for whatever dilution you are using - if you stick to that capacity it can be reused. I personally don't use that fixer so I do not know that capacity.

You are okay with more agitation but... generally it will shorten the time needed and give you slightly different results than less agitation, just make sure it is consistent from session to session. Change one thing at a time to experiment and you will see the result and know what else to change or modify to get the results you want.



RB
 
My time for trix push one stop in d76 straight on a jobo is 9 min. You are listing a 1:4 mixture ,
If it works and your negs look good then keep going.
 
According to the MDC Tri-X shot at 400 in D-76(1+3) should be 20 mins I've never seen a time for (1+4) dilution. It does show 9 3/4 mins for (1+1) dilution.
Over agitating raises contrast, so its up to you to decide if the results are acceptable to you.
You do not need to leave the film in stop for more than 3o secs to one minute.
I dont use Ilford, so the dilution should be whatever the instructions call for.
Be careful to follow directions and double check dilutions for all chems.

Rick
 
Reuse your fixer.

Stop bath for 30 seconds to one minute. It is an acid so do not over do it.

How long did you rinse the film?

I strongly suggest that you use PhotoFlo for the final rinse, hang to dry, no sponge or squeegee.

Most important: If it feels good keep doing it. If it hurt when you do it, you are doing it wrong.

Steve
 
It might be best to try finding the true exposure index for your Tri-X before playing ariound with pushing. Experience what a proper neg is supposed to look like before becoming "creative." And Tri-X and D-76 has long been a classic combination. If you cannot get good negs with that combo, you were born under an unlucky star.
 

Along those lines, I shoot Tri-X at box speed, ISO 400, in 135 and 120 on multiple cameras and lenses with great results. Later you might want to try XTOL undiluted for finer grain.

Steve
 
yup,you're right..this is my first time with trix400..i should use the iso 400 as a starting.
thanks

i rinse the film around 2 mins in a big bucket of water..btw,is the rinse time need to be considered?will it be any difference in the result ?
i'm not using PhotoFlo for the final rinse right now,but i'll use it in the future,thanks for the advise .

i just fall in love with this b/w thingy...need to learn more.



sorry,actually my developer is kodak D76 (1+1) not (1+4)..my mistakes..
 
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An important point to understand is that using an exposure index other than box speed does nothing except change exposure. Uprating a film (like you did by exposing Tri-X 400 as if it was an 800 film) underexposes it across the board, because you have lied to your light meter about the film's true speed. Nothing is "pushed" when you are talking about exposure. It is only pushed when you are talking about development. Therefore, saying that you pushed a film before you have developed it makes no sense. All you have done at this point is to have exposed one stop less than normal.

So, by uprating, you have an underexposed roll. What pushing in development lets you do is to try to adjust for that underexposure. There is nothing that can truly "fix" underexposure. All you can do is to make changes in the image that will help you to recover from it as much as possible. Pushing does this by raising contrast on the negative itself, before printing. This as achieved by raising the density of the most exposed areas of the negative. The way developing works, an area that has received more exposure will develop not just more than, but at a higher rate than an area that has received less. Because of this way that development works, the relationship between exposure, developing, and final negative density is obviously exponential, not linear. What "normal" development theoretically does is stop development when the high tones, mid tones, and low tones are in "proper" relation to each other. Thus when you push by extending development time, the dark areas of the composition get "left behind". If dark areas are only raising in density a little, and bright areas and mid tones are raising more, then there is obviously going to be an increase in contrast. That is how pushing works.

Don't get it into your head that you are actually changing the speed of your film. You are not. You are only changing exposure, and taking steps in development to compensate for this. These steps come with compromises, of course, but when you decide to push, you are saying that the compromises are better than simply having underexposed pictures. It is basically just bumping up the contrast, but unlike printing (or a computer) you are doing it "blind" because you are doing it before you ever see the pictures.

A decent starting point for a b/w film pushed one stop is to use 125 - 150% of the normal development time. Doing it this way is always a rough guess, though, and there is enough information about Tri-X at 800 out there that you should just be able to find an outright time...probably from Kodak itself, in fact.
 
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joe7 said:
i rinse the film around 2 mins in a big bucket of water..btw,is the rinse time need to be considered?will it be any difference in the result ?
Click to expand...

Two minutes of rinse is way too short. Ten minutes in slowly running water or many rounds of filling and dumping the tank. Later, you can use Hypo Clearing Agent to reduce the rinsing time, but for now rinse for ten minutes.

Not rinsing long enough can shorten the life of the negative. Resoak your film and rinse for ten minutes.

Steve
 

I agree that if unsure that a longer wash should be used rather than a shorter one. I just wanted to add a note regarding film wash times.

I used to use a sodium based old style hypo with harder a long long time ago and washed my film like crazy (30 years ago) and that is what I got used to and what made me feel good.

I switched to an alkaline ammonium based rapid fixer with no hardener a long time ago and was "concerned" with the short wash times recommended so I tested them on all the films that I used. My findings indicated that there was no residual fixer in my negatives after a 5 min wash so I stopped washing my film for much longer than that.

Your milage may vary based on flow rate, etc. But I just wanted to pass along some results of my testing.

RB

Ps. Testing your process for both film and especially fiber based paper is easy and give you either some piece of mind or real data to modify what you are doing.
 
For those of us that don't feel comfortable running a tap for 10 mins, I suggest using the Ilford wash method. Fill tank, invert 5 times, empty. Repeat but invert 10 times then again for 20 times.
 
Chris Nielsen said:
For those of us that don't feel comfortable running a tap for 10 mins, I suggest using the Ilford wash method. Fill tank, invert 5 times, empty. Repeat but invert 10 times then again for 20 times.
Click to expand...

I kinda remember that you have to let it stand for 5mins between each fill as well but I could be hallucinating.

RB
 
rwboyer said:
I kinda remember that you have to let it stand for 5mins between each fill as well but I could be hallucinating.

RB
Click to expand...

What are you smoking? I am out of stash! Please send some now!

Steve
 
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