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Developer age and bromide drag?

jeffreythree

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jul 6, 2015
Messages
309
Location
DFW, Texas
Format
Multi Format
I developed a roll of Kentmere 100 35mm the same as I always have in Barry Thornton' s Two Bath developer. It is a couple months old, developed 7 rolls, and my first batch of homemade developer. It came out with bromide drag in most of the frames, worse in scenes with sky on the side of the film that would have been up in the tank. I agitate with 5 seconds with the tank' s swizzle stick at the start and every minute after with 4 minutes in each bath, and never had drag marks before today. I was wondering if a developer can become more susceptible to bromide drag as it is used/ages?
 
Two bath developers are always a bad idea. They vary depending on the thickness and swell of an emulsion. You can get bromide drag.

PE
 
I have mentioned this before but will do so again. In one respect two bath developers are similar to monobaths in that for best results they need to be formulated for a single film. In this way they can partially compensate for thickness and swell. But why bother as they really offer very little advantage over conventional developers. They appeal to the lazy in all of us.
 
Yes, it does appeal to my lazy side. I just thought it strange 4 rolls of Kentmere 100 came out fine while the fifth did not, and the other films that developed fine before that were a roll of 120 TMAX 400 and 110 Lomo Orca. I guess I can add another to the been there, done that, on to the next thing file.
 
Lemme guess, was the fifth roll the one on the bottom of the tank........
 
Lemme guess, was the fifth roll the one on the bottom of the tank........

I see what you are thinking. One at a time over the course of a few months. My tank holds 2, but I prefer developing one at a time.