Cinestill DF96 monobath

mtnbkr · Mar 12, 2022

I have a bag of DF96 on the way (and the tank/reels, this is my first foray into developing in over a decade). I just finished a roll of Acros II and have just loaded a roll of tmax 100. I'm going to develop them together for the same amount of time and see what happens.

None of the pics are critical, so if they both dissolve into goo, I won't be too fussed.

Chris

Donald Qualls · Mar 13, 2022

mtnbkr said:
if they both dissolve into goo

I believe the only report I've seen of that problem was with Silberra 50 -- apparently couldn't take the temperature required to balance development against fixing in Df96.

Huss · Mar 13, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
I believe the only report I've seen of that problem was with Silberra 50 -- apparently couldn't take the temperature required to balance development against fixing in Df96.

I developed Silberra Orto @ 70 degrees. So not hot. The emulsion completely fell off the film, leaving a crystal clear strip!

Huss · Mar 13, 2022

Pen FT, 40mm 1.4, Acros II, DF96 Monobath

mtnbkr · Mar 13, 2022

Donald Qualls said:
I believe the only report I've seen of that problem was with Silberra 50 -- apparently couldn't take the temperature required to balance development against fixing in Df96.

I know. It was just a tongue-in-cheek reference to complete and total failure.

Chris

Huss · Mar 13, 2022

Pen FT, 40 1.4, Acros II.

Huss · Mar 20, 2022

Fuji Klasse W, Acros II, DF96 Monobath

Huss · Mar 21, 2022

Fuji Klasse W, Acros II, DF96

Huss · Mar 24, 2022

Fuji Klasse W, Acros II

Huss · Mar 28, 2022

Leica MD-A, Wtulens 17mm f16, Ilford HP5, Cinestill DF96 Monobath

moggi1964 · Mar 28, 2022

First developing at home. Used the Ars Imago Lab Box and their Monobath. Pretty happy with the outcome for my first go. Shot on Ilford FP4 Plus using the Mamiya C3

Huss · Mar 28, 2022

moggi1964 said:
First developing at home. Used the Ars Imago Lab Box and their Monobath. Pretty happy with the outcome for my first go. Shot on Ilford FP4 Plus using the Mamiya C3

Nice, I think that looks great!

Huss · Mar 28, 2022

Leica MD-A, Wtulens 17mm f16, Ilford HP5, Cinestill DF96 Monobath

Huss · Mar 28, 2022

Huss · Mar 29, 2022

Leica MD-A, Wtulens 17mm f16, Ilford HP5, Cinestill DF96 Monobath

Same time of the year in 2017 you could not see hillside, everything was covered by 2-3ft high wild flowers...

Huss · Apr 4, 2022

Acros II w/ Cinestill DF96 Monobath

Huss · Apr 7, 2022

Brooks Plaubel Veriwide 100, Arista 200, DF96 Monobath

Huss · Apr 12, 2022

So I messed up this roll - I thought I had the temp at 75 and it was about 72. It did make a difference, as the negs came out thin. And the next roll at 75 was totally fine.

Still liked this one

Nikon F6, 18-35G, Kentmere 400, DF96 Monobath

Moose22 · Apr 12, 2022

Huss said:
So I messed up this roll - I thought I had the temp at 75 and it was about 72. It did make a difference, as the negs came out thin. And the next roll at 75 was totally fine.

Still liked this one

Nikon F6, 18-35G, Kentmere 400, DF96 Monobath

You used an F6? No wonder you had problems!

Good to know about temperature. If 3 degrees is fussy, I'll maybe keep the sous vide heater in my bath while getting set up. haven't been doing that with xtol since it warmed up, but it worked a treat for getting the developer to temp during the winter.

Alas, I realized I had another liter of xtol mixed and wanted to use it before it got too old, so I haven't done my monobath experimenting yet. Still looking forward to it though. First world problems, right? "Ohh, I can do 15 more rolls of film without spending a dime... darnit!"

Huss · Apr 13, 2022

Moose22 said:
You used an F6? No wonder you had problems!

Good to know about temperature. If 3 degrees is fussy, I'll maybe keep the sous vide heater in my bath while getting set up. haven't been doing that with xtol since it warmed up, but it worked a treat for getting the developer to temp during the winter.

Alas, I realized I had another liter of xtol mixed and wanted to use it before it got too old, so I haven't done my monobath experimenting yet. Still looking forward to it though. First world problems, right? "Ohh, I can do 15 more rolls of film without spending a dime... darnit!"

It could have been a little less than 72. All I know for sure is that it was not close to the 75 I thought it was! This is the first time I did this and pretty much because I got lazy. I had just developed a roll of 120, and used the DF96 directly from that into my 35mm dev tank. All my fault.
Short version - no need for sous vide.

Huss · Apr 13, 2022

Nikon F6, 18-35G, Kentmere 400 (incorrect dev temp as above)

mtnbkr · Apr 14, 2022

I've been messing about with DF96 lately myself. I'm just getting back into home development after not doing it for more than a decade, so I've been a bit unsure about the process. So far, DF96 has been pretty straightforward to work with and it hasn't been particularly fussy in my experience. Ambient chem temp has been roughly 68deg, so I place the bottle on its side in the sink and let 80deg water run over it for a couple minutes to bring it up to temp. From there it works fine. Now that warm weather is here, the ambient temp should increase and I won't have to do that.

I tried push processing the other day for a roll that was accidentally underexposed by a couple stops (meter calibration issue I didn't discover until I shot two rolls and processed 1). I warmed the solution up to 85deg and was able to get acceptable results.

No scans to share as I'm still sorting out my scanning game. But, I'm happy with what I get from DF96 and will continue to use it for non-critical work (anything I consider "critical" will go to a lab). I was never what I'd consider an experienced or adept darkroom tech, but this is so much easier than what I remember from years ago.

Chris

Huss · Apr 14, 2022

HP5

Huss · May 2, 2022

Kentmere 400

Huss · May 4, 2022

Cinestill DF96 monobath

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