Development question

pbromaghin · Mar 2, 2011

I am very new to home processing of film. I was told by a knowledgeable guy that if you have an unknown film with no development instructions that mixing Rodinol 1:100 and leaving it in the tank for an hour will produce very good results. It will just develop until all the agents are used up.

It certainly appeals to me as a "set and forget" method when speedy results aren't needed - instead of devoting attention to watching the timer and agitating on schedule, just come back an hour later and complete the process.

Has anybody tried this? Would this method work with Ilford DD-X or Kodak T-max (my current chemicals)? If so, at what concentrations?

hpulley · Mar 2, 2011

Neither DD-X nor T-Max developers are meant to be used at very low concentrations. You could experiment but I would rather do clip tests than developing to completion. Take a few clip cuttings and develop in light for 5, 8, 12 minutes and fix and check the density.

degruyl · Mar 2, 2011

HC-110 is pretty similar, in terms of being used for stand developing. I have never heard of anyone using T-Max or DD-X in this manner. Be aware that the absolute quantity of Rodinal (in terms of the area of film) does matter when you are doing stand developing.

In normal developing, the concentration of developer chemistry is greater than half the strength at the end of the cycle as compared to the beginning (in some cases, much greater than half). In Stand developing, it is practically non-existent. Or it is supposed to be. If you have too much (because you need more liquid to cover your film, for example) you need to reduce the concentration of chemistry.

pbromaghin · Mar 2, 2011

degruyl said:
In normal developing, the concentration of developer chemistry is greater than half the strength at the end of the cycle as compared to the beginning (in some cases, much greater than half). In Stand developing, it is practically non-existent. Or it is supposed to be. If you have too much (because you need more liquid to cover your film, for example) you need to reduce the concentration of chemistry.

Then does it sound reasonable to do this with DD-X or T-max at 1:8 instead of the standard 1:4?

Or maybe this could be done with used developer. The Ilford instructions do say that it can be used a 2nd time with "some" loss in quality, but don't give any hint for adjusting development time to do so.

MaximusM3 · Mar 2, 2011

I'm not going to go into some of the possible pitfalls of stand developing but, in short, yes it works. Take 2.5ml of Rodinal, to make 250ml of solution, use a steel reel/tank, roll it on its side, slowly, once over 5 seconds, do it at the start of each minute for the first five minutes. All at 68 degrees, let it sit undisturbed for the remaining 55 minutes. Don't forget to tap the tank to dislodge bubbles after each agitation cycle. Stop, fix, wash as always.
My gallery has a few recent examples of stand development. DDX? No, way too aggressive. Possible with HC110 but never tried. Not sure with with Tmax.

degruyl · Mar 2, 2011

I would expect the concentration to be much lower than 1:8.

pbromaghin · Mar 3, 2011

Thank you all for the interesting replies. It sounds like something for a beginner like myself to just forget he ever heard about, at least until there is a compelling reason to use it.

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 3, 2011

I wouldn't try this technique with any precious images without testing. I've done it and it's great for shots that are high contrast. I think stand development works by letting the developer get exhausted in the highlight areas because the developer is more active in those areas while letting the shadow areas develop more relative to the highlights. You do risk streaky low contrast negs.

2F/2F · Mar 3, 2011

IMO, it is best used to achieve special effects (grain, compressed high tones, edge effects, bromide streaks).

Is this an old film you found in a camera you bought? It has no identifying marks at all?

pbromaghin · Mar 3, 2011

Actually I don't have any unknown film. This came out of a conversation where I asked an experienced developer how he had processed, without manufacturers instructions, some film he bought from China. It started me to wondering if it could also be used a less-labor-intensive method for somebody who is not in a hurry to get his results.

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