I have seen this in a batch of sodium sulfite I bought. I would pick them out with tweezers, but I'm sure I missed some. There weren't many, but I would spot them from time to time. Actually the only time I worried about them and picked them out was when making an VitC type developer. The developers like BTTB and such I didn't pay much attention to it.Interesting that you mention this. I can't remember which chemical it was but after weighing one of them, I noticed a black speck or two in the pile that was on the scale and I'm 100% certain that I scooped it up from within the container. I picked them out before mixing, perhaps something to keep an eye out for the next time you mix a batch.
Would this junk be the same thing as tiny black specks that occur in solution after developing? I posted a question last year about this when I was dumping the D-23 back into its graduate and saw black spots floating about. At first I thought the specks may have been from the film flaking off. First time ever noticing these black specks is when I started mixing my own developer and then when I bought from a different source the specks were much lesser to nonexistent.
I'm about to develop two sheets of TMX 4x5 film contacted with a step tablet to generate a couple of curves. Since it is a tabular grain film, I'm going to assume, right or wrong, that even with the BT2B developer or just a divided developer in general, that the film will be just as sensitive to a one-degree change in temperature deviation as with using any one shot developer. For curve evaluation, I want to keep that variable consistent with how I'm developing TMX in XTOL currently, which is 68F..........currently waiting on both baths A & B to reach 68F.
I'm thinking I'll do 4min 30sec time for both A and B baths. As far as agitation goes, I'm going to follow BT's words and not agitate in bath B since it is a sheet film and should not be subjected to those sprocket streams he mentioned, and I'll not use a pre-wash. For bath A, I'm thinking I'll agitate just as I do for XTOL, 10 sec initial with 5 sec every 30 sec. However, I've got some time due to waiting on the tempering bath, if someone with more experience with T-grain films and using BT2B can suggest a better time and agitation scheme, I'll be watching.
I'm about to develop two sheets of TMX 4x5 film contacted with a step tablet to generate a couple of curves. Since it is a tabular grain film, I'm going to assume, right or wrong, that even with the BT2B developer or just a divided developer in general, that the film will be just as sensitive to a one-degree change in temperature deviation as with using any one shot developer. For curve evaluation, I want to keep that variable consistent with how I'm developing TMX in XTOL currently, which is 68F..........currently waiting on both baths A & B to reach 68F.
I'm thinking I'll do 4min 30sec time for both A and B baths. As far as agitation goes, I'm going to follow BT's words and not agitate in bath B since it is a sheet film and should not be subjected to those sprocket streams he mentioned, and I'll not use a pre-wash. For bath A, I'm thinking I'll agitate just as I do for XTOL, 10 sec initial with 5 sec every 30 sec. However, I've got some time due to waiting on the tempering bath, if someone with more experience with T-grain films and using BT2B can suggest a better time and agitation scheme, I'll be watching.
I found that with some films I occasionally got patchy, uneven development if there was no agitation at all in Bath B.
Noted. thanks
Well, the temp reached its mark and so I had to start...........the negatives definitely have some issues. Perhaps it is the warning that @retina_restoration mentioned, idk. But I will not produce curves from these negatives. I taped these to a window to use the bright snow outside for the backlight. These are TMX and are differentiated by one being exposed at box speed and one being exposed at 1/2 box speed. I chose a half box speed example because I currently rate TMX at EI50 in XTOL 1+0 and wanted to compare with BT2B. For the ISO100 sheet the issue is the straight angled higher density line through steps 6 to 8. For the EI50 sheet the issue is from steps 11 to 16. Trust me I have never in my years seen either of these types of issues on any sheet that I have ever tested.
I'll reiterate the particulars:
- the sheets were developed in an SP445 tank; the negatives are oriented to you as they would be in the tank's film holders, one sheet per holder; I did not put two sheets on one holder.
- development was 4.5 min x 4.5 min at 68F
- bath A agitated by 10 sec initial agitation with 4 inversions (forward to backward) every 30 sec after that. Agitation was exactly like I do for TMX in XTOL..
- bath B received no agitation.
I don't have BT's books so I'm wondering if there are any specific notes as this process relates to T-grain films. A question I have is.....is it possible that this occurred in bath A and not bath B? Does a T-grain film need more time in bath A for complete soaking of the emulsion? Idk, just my thoughts. I'd be interested in other's thoughts.
I have already exposed two more sheets in the same manner but wanted to hear other's thoughts before deciding on a time and agitation scheme and I'll develop tomorrow. I'm giving myself 6 sheets to get this BT2B processing to a point I can call it successful, two down four to go. If not by then, then it'll have to wait a while.
View attachment 387584View attachment 387586 that EI.
I can't point you to any sensitometry besides my own (see attached extract/examples) because I don't know of any, but if it helps at all I'm not the only one who noticed the "straightening" effect - I recall an article Sandy King wrote about his own experiments with two-bath/divided development in which he discussed a similar finding, which led him to opine it might be a useful thing for negatives destined for scanning.
I don't think "restrained highlights" says much on its own. It has to be relative to something such as an overall gradient, emulsion speed, contrast on another part of the curve, etc. I think a better characterization of this type of development is that one can reduce the overall gradient while substantially retaining emulsion speed and without over-flattening of highlights. It's different than what one typically thinks of as "compensation", where there is highlight compression relative to the midtone gradient.
What film did You used 120 or 135 for graphs? For rollfilm fog density is too big. In my own experiments fog density is formed in the first bath and slightly depends oт time, agitation and temperature of second bath.
But have you stood film for 4.5 min without agitation before?Trust me I have never in my years seen either of these types of issues on any sheet that I have ever tested.
1) I have found that for my needs, many (most?) films perform better at a minimum of five minutes in Bath A, and in some cases I extent the time in A to 6.5 minutes. I don't exceed 5 minutes in Bath B. I have experimented with increasing the time in Bath A as much as 8 minutes and it had no negative effects on a film like Tmax 100. (Click to see example)
High contrast, slow speed films like Ferrania Orto perform beautifully at the standard 4.5 minutes in each bath. It tames some of the contrast without making negs look "soft". See example here.
2) I have also found that BTTB reduces effective film speed by about 1 and a half stops for many films. For certain circumstances, that is excessive, but with how I work, it's not unreasonable in many cases where I use a tripod and long exposures. The Ferrania Orto produced great negs at 25 ASA, so just one stop under box speed.
3) I find certain films really sing in BTTB and others produce mediocre images. Fomapan 400 and 100 produce beautiful negatives in BTTB.
Positively not, but BT apparently thinks it's "ideal" for his bath B with divided development with film that does not have sprocket holes. So, I gave it a try to see how TMX would handle that, apparently not good.
You've misread Thornton. He did not say no agitation at all was ideal. He said not agitation for the first three minutes was ideal. Here's the complete excerpt—the sentence about "no agitation is ideal" must be read in relation with the sentence that came before (emphasis mine):
Then pour in Bath B, and after a quick rap of the tank on a hard surface to dislodge any air bells, let the tank stand still with no agitation for three minutes or so when all development has ceased. Note, though, that while no agitation is ideal, and usually works well for unsprocketed roll film (120/220), there can be streamers from 35mm sprocket holes.
Nice examples on your Flickr images, especially the TMX at 8 min in bath A; how did you agitate in bath A for that 8 min.?
Yes, that's the agitation routine I use with BTTB and I get no streaking or unevenness. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I have a new batch of BTTB mix for the cottage where I'm at now. I also mixed up a batch of Karl's 2B-1 to try with 35mm HR-50. I'll see wish one works the best for me. I'm also going to take my old 4X5 box camera for a spin the next sunny day we have and we'll see how these two divided developers work with Foma 100 and that old 1898 camera.I posted this in another thread re BT's suggestion for agitation in Part B:
Adox HR-50 bulk arrived......which developer?
Ok, so aren't Hr-50 and Scala 50 worthwile to buy and use? I don't know Scala 50 & HR-50 to be the same thing. But I said, that I found much better CMS20 or Spur. For low grain I mean. I don't like in HR-50 that it have narrow correct range (example bracketing) & specific color sensitivity.For...www.photrio.com
Well I guess I did............so any agitation at all in bath B should not be until at least 3 min have passed, then can agitate to some degree until completion? Is that how I should understand that?
I posted this in another thread re BT's suggestion for agitation in Part B:
Adox HR-50 bulk arrived......which developer?
Ok, so aren't Hr-50 and Scala 50 worthwile to buy and use? I don't know Scala 50 & HR-50 to be the same thing. But I said, that I found much better CMS20 or Spur. For low grain I mean. I don't like in HR-50 that it have narrow correct range (example bracketing) & specific color sensitivity.For...www.photrio.com
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