diafine for mix of unknown films

Hi guys- in the process of setting up the darkroom again after a 10+ year hiatus...

In unpacking my stuff, i found a bunch of film holders and some rolls that I think have exposed film in them- my photo activity was abruptly shut down and packed up by family when I got sick in 2004.

I don't want to waste too too much time with this, but I was thinking it might be worthwhile to try and see if there are some images there- the rolls are a mix Tri-X, "Delta" (I don't remember what this film was)…. Who knows what is in the 4x5 holders...

So I understand with the Diafine, its 3 min in each bath for everything?

Thinking of mixing up a few liters in some buckets or something, and souping the whole mess, sheets, reels and all! Just a quick one-time deal to see if anything develops- before starting to shoot new film.

Am I crazy?

That sounds like a real waste. Diafine is expensive.

Why not use HC110 with one of the higher dilutions? Cheap, one shot, easy to mix (see JBrunner's 1+49 easy HC110 version) and long shelf life if you aren't thrilled with the results right now.

Fixcinater said:

Why not use HC110 with one of the higher dilutions? Cheap, one shot, easy to mix (see JBrunner's 1+49 easy HC110 version) and long shelf life if you aren't thrilled with the results right now.

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What would you recommend as a time for the unknown films?

Think this has a better chance with unknown film, at unknown ISO, than the Diafine idea?


$30 and an hour of time might not be a waste if there is some image on one of these sheets. Im sure you can reuse the stuff.

A lot has changed for me in 10 years, my memory isn't so good. It would be interesting to me to see what I was up to.

I've souped a bunch of found film from the 60s and 70s in HC110 because it is cheap and what I keep around. I've not branched out and tried a ton of other developers so I'm not by any means an expert. HC110 in various dilutions and D76 stock/1:1 and 1:3 are pretty much it.

That being said, HC110 1+49 (or 5ml per roll, which is what my tank works out to be) for anywhere from 8-10 minutes with less agitation than what I initially thought right seems to work pretty well for pretty much everything I've thrown at it. Only weird results were from some Arista Ortho Lith film that I shot in a 4x5, only a few sheets so not enough to get a process down but that was pretty much my only disappointment/total loss.

I'm not into CI testing nor rigorously strict darkroom methodologies so this may offend some of the perfectionists but this gets me close enough for my purposes so I am happy with it.

I've always wanted to try this developer. There's some Acufine here, but its not the same. I'm thinking that you might be on the right track w/ it. Here's some info.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96470

When I develop old films - I like to use HC110 dilution B. Developing times are short, so base fog will be less problematic with short developing times.

momus said:

I've always wanted to try this developer. There's some Acufine here, but its not the same. I'm thinking that you might be on the right track w/ it. Here's some info.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96470

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Thanks man- some of the shots posted on there don't look to bad. Sounds like the stuff lasts forever, so if i don't get anything out of this little experiment, i can use the stock solutions later on.

From experience I can certainly recommend HC110: although not my favourite developer it is the most foolproof when dealing with "problem" negatives. After some research I used HC110 dilution G(1:119) to develop an ancient roll of HP3 and got several excellent frames despite the emulsion having disintegrated over much of the roll. Using a high dilution and extended development time(20 minutes or more) may help in getting an image where the effects of aging and deterioration are unknown quantities. HC110 is a good developer to suppress fog but you could also add potassium bromide or benzotriazole in small amounts to help in this regard, although perhaps your films aren't old enough to worry about it overmuch.
In any event, I think it is bound to be a valuable learning experience and so no waste of time.

Good luck,

Matt

darkosaric said:

When I develop old films - I like to use HC110 dilution B. Developing times are short, so base fog will be less problematic with short developing times.

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I definitely plan on getting a bottle of the syrup anyway, so thats an option. I guess exposed film in a film holder for 10 years probably has some serious fog!

Problem here is I also don't know what it is, and how it was exposed. Like I said, i got really sick in 2004, I literally have no idea what I was up to- could have been anything.

When I finish up making the darkroom dark, I will give this a shot, along with some test shots for light leaks in these old cameras. I don't want to waste too much time on this, the point is to get everything ready to start making some new silver pictures

I saw some shots elsewhere on the web using Diafine, and they look very good. I think it depends on the film, as some people complain about flat negatives, but that seems to be film related. And if you're looking at working w/ films where you have no idea of what they are or how they were shot, you could do a lot worse than a flat negative. At least you'll have SOMETHING to print. I really like the idea of throwing in different films, all shot at different ISOs, and just letting it rip to completion. There's a bit of attention to time and temp needed, as its a 2 bath developer, but it certainly sounds basic and minimal.

Remember the sheet film has notch codes in the corner. Unique for each type of film. Take it out of the holder in your changing bag, trace it with a pencil, and put it back in the holder.

For the 35mm film, HC-110 Dilution B, 5 minutes at 68F should get you more useable negatives. Only Plus-X would be very over-developed at that time.

the rolls are a mix Tri-X, "Delta" (I don't remember what this film was)

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That would be Ilford Delta. There are 100, 400 and 3200 ISO.

Use Adox Rodinal or Fomadon R09 (they are the same) 1+100 1 hour stand development. It develops anything.