Developing/processing....how to know if

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

if it is good enough or not?
I mean with all those difference chemicals around, and different films, so how can someone be sure that his developing came out nice or great? is it personal or there is standards quality of how the film should come out after developing?

Let's say if you do your exposure good enough and spot on, how can you judge on your film that it is developed perfect or working fine? I may develop the film with different chemicals and maybe different time as recommended with +/- 5-10 seconds different and same with temp, when i see the results on the roll or sheet or even print on paper, how can i tell i did my developing accurate or close to accurate and perfect?

ic-racer · Jun 2, 2010

They will print a full tonal range with a mid-grade paper.

tkamiya · Jun 2, 2010

I'm sure there are technical definition of "perfect."

I usually aim my processing so that my prints come out the way I want using #2 filter +/- 0.5, and somewhat close to my standard timing for my enlarger setup.

That's as close as I can get it right now....

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

I see, until now i don't print anything in darkroom as i don't have a darkroom and no enlarger, so when i will get one i will check if my films were developed properly or not.

MattKing · Jun 2, 2010

You may find the information in this website ("Assessing negatives") helpful:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Assessing-negatives-4682

It is a bit basic, and the images are a bit small, but it is a great place to start.

removed account4 · Jun 2, 2010

it has been said that if youput a newspaper / printed page under
your negatives
and you can see some of the type through your film but not all of it
your negatives are probably OK ...
if you see all the type, the film is too thin if you see none of the type
the film is too dense.

good luck !
john

tkamiya · Jun 2, 2010

You can still make contact prints though. All you need are, paper developer like Dektol, the same fixer you use for film, and #2 grade photo paper.

Put your paper on a table surface. Put your film on top. Put a sheet of glass on top, like from discarded picture frames.... Then, use your desk lamp for light source. (all in darkroom of course)

I used to do it this way when I was very young. Since you use medium format, you could actually make viewable prints.

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

MattKing said:
You may find the information in this website ("Assessing negatives") helpful:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Assessing-negatives-4682

It is a bit basic, and the images are a bit small, but it is a great place to start.

I will give that a look, thank you very much!

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

jnanian said:
it has been said that if youput a newspaper / printed page under
your negatives
and you can see some of the type through your film but not all of it
your negatives are probably OK ...
if you see all the type, the film is too thin if you see none of the type
the film is too dense.

good luck !
john

sorry for that, but i still don't understand this method, what do you mean by the type?

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

tkamiya said:
You can still make contact prints though. All you need are, paper developer like Dektol, the same fixer you use for film, and #2 grade photo paper.

Put your paper on a table surface. Put your film on top. Put a sheet of glass on top, like from discarded picture frames.... Then, use your desk lamp for light source. (all in darkroom of course)

I used to do it this way when I was very young. Since you use medium format, you could actually make viewable prints.

I will give that a try when i will have a chance to do it, meanwhile i will keep developing normally and scan as i can and see the results.

removed account4 · Jun 2, 2010

TareqPhoto said:
sorry for that, but i still don't understand this method, what do you mean by the type?

the words printed on the page ...

TareqPhoto · Jun 2, 2010

jnanian said:
the words printed on the page ...

Page of the newspaper? I see
It is a good simple test, in fact the problem is in one same roll, some frame are fine some not, so is it a problem of developing or an issue of exposure?

bdial · Jun 3, 2010

It is a good simple test, in fact the problem is in one same roll, some frame are fine some not, so is it a problem of developing or an issue of exposure?

Usually that would be an exposure issue.
One way to tell the difference is to look at the pre-exposed frame numbers, etc. that are on the edge of the film. If those are uniformly dark, then the processing is probably OK when you are evaluating a roll that has too light, or too dark frames.

TareqPhoto · Jun 3, 2010

bdial said:
Usually that would be an exposure issue.
One way to tell the difference is to look at the pre-exposed frame numbers, etc. that are on the edge of the film. If those are uniformly dark, then the processing is probably OK when you are evaluating a roll that has too light, or too dark frames.

I checked all the film, and it seems all are developed fine, but the exposure are just varying, so i think it is doing with exposure not with the developing, also as you said, the numbers or the name of film are all uniformly dark and clear to be read.

keithwms · Jun 3, 2010

TareqPhoto said:
Developing/processing....how to know if it is good enough or not?

It's all about final results and getting what you want, efficiently. So you must see others' negs and prints. There are so many reasons not to believe what you see scanned for online presentation, and there is also a fair amount of contradictory information (most of it unintentionally confusing).... you really need to see what can be done to believe it.

Failing that, if you really don't have any expert apuggers in your area, then there are methodical tests you can do e.g. step wedge stuff. See Ralph Lambrecht's book (which I honestly still haven't seen but it enjoys a very high reputation and I will have one soon).

TareqPhoto · Jun 3, 2010

keithwms said:
It's all about final results and getting what you want, efficiently. So you must see others' negs and prints. There are so many reasons not to believe what you see scanned for online presentation, and there is also a fair amount of contradictory information (most of it unintentionally confusing).... you really need to see what can be done to believe it.

Failing that, if you really don't have any expert apuggers in your area, then there are methodical tests you can do e.g. step wedge stuff. See Ralph Lambrecht's book (which I honestly still haven't seen but it enjoys a very high reputation and I will have one soon).

I don't think there is any expert apuggers in my area, even if i find one they will not tell until i pay, nothing free, so i have to depend on myself to check if i did good film or not, by Saturday we will have the last day in the workshop i attended, so i will do more wet darkroom prints and later i will compare with scan, meanwhile i may ask the instructor about how can we be sure about our work or developing done properly or good enough, but in all cases, i am happy to get something rather than nothing at all, later on i will worry about if i got that something great enough for print or whatever, and also i will practice more on exposure so i can get it spot on as much as i can, i also watching and seeing a lot of film work everywhere, most of them are nice but not always as i want even if it is done by masters.

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