Easiest Way to Find a Developing Time for a NEW Film Developer Combination

[JPR]

Dear All

So, I want to do develop EFKE KB50 in Illfotec DD-X. No information about this anywhere...

What kind of methodology can I use to most easily get it right? Is there a way to do this? Do I need to buy a densiometer, etc.? Or can I just take pictures of a black, grey and whit card in average day time lighting and examine an "unadjusted, raw" scan's histogram and make tests until the black, grey and white are "centered"?

No I idea how to go about this... So, any input is welcome!

Kind regards,

JP

 

[Wayne]

No you dont need a densitometer, but you can make it as difficult as you want, and more difficult than it is, as that thread below shows.

I posted a link to an article in this thread, second post down. Its for sheet film but the principle is the same. You have to treat one roll as one sheet, but you can make multiple exposures and test your personal film speed at the same time...and its easy as pie

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


I dont think your middle paragraph is allowed here. This is APUG, not DPUG. I see you are new so you may not know that, just FYI.

 

[hpulley]

APUG or DPUG aside, the scanning method is not useful here anyways so we can discount it for both reasons.

If you've already shot your only roll(s) of this film and don't have one to use for testing purposes then do a clip test for maximum density. Cut clip pieces and develop them in light (and fix them) at various times to determine the maximum density time. Then develop for this same time with your (first) roll and see how it comes out and make adjustments if you have more rolls.

If you are doing tests first then it is better. Taking a picture of grey card or other test pattern for an entire roll, cutting the roll into three (or more) pieces and developing each third for a different time is a start. Guessing it will be something like PanF+ in DD-X 1+4 I'd try 6, 8 and 10 minutes.

 

[ic-racer]

In my darkroom 'easy' is defined as follows.

Clip off 40 to 50cm of film
Expose in sensitometer
Process at a guess time
Observe slope of HD curve
If 0.62 to 0.75 then "good guess"
If not, then adjust time and repeat.

 

[removed account4]

i googled ddx efke and found an answer on pnet for you
http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00Vqo9
it suggests 1:4 for about 7mins for a good starting point.
i didn't read the whole thread to see what else was talked about ..

it doesn't seem like many sensitometry or densitometry or
other high tech devices are needed ... just mr google

good luck !
john

 

[Stephen Benskin]

What I don't understand why an unknown poster's anecdote suggestions are more acceptable than the manufacturer's fact based recommendations? I know that not all film/developer combinations are offered by the manufacturer but a little research wouldn't hurt. the best way is to test for yourself. It doesn't really matter what approach you take as long as it works for you. In truth, you can get usable results picking a number out of a hat most of the time and easily get something workable using +- 50% of the manufacturer's recommended times. It comes down to the degree of control you're willing to accept.

 

[removed account4]

stephen

the problem is that ilford doesn't recommend any times &C for that specific film

http://www.darkroom.ru/info/manuals/ilford_ilfotec_dd-x_manual_eng.pdf

 

[nworth]

First, I assume you do not have a whole lot of equipment. I also assume that you have either calibrated your exposure or are happy with the ISO speed for the film. Development is largely a matter of getting the contrast right. Generally, there is a quite a bit of latitude in development time that will still give you usable results. You want to find the development time that gives you whites (the darkest part of the negative) that you can just barely read printed type through. The lower values will pretty well take care of themselves. For a test subject, you want something that will give you a fair chunk of glaring Zone X white along with an area giving a full range of contrast. A reflection step tablet, gray card, and a very white piece of paper will do pretty well. For a starting development time, look either at the same film in developers similar to the target or similar films in the same developer (or both). Expose a test shot and develop it for the guessed time. Look at the result. Can you see the deepest shadow (dark spot on the step tablet)? If not, adjust your exposure and try again. How does that white paper look? If it is too black to see through, try developing for 15 percent less time. If it doesn't look dark enough (or just if you are uncertain, which will probably be the case), try 15 percent longer. Keep adjusting until you get a good Dmax. Then go out and take a few pictures, develop them for the time you have determined, and print them. If they print well on grade 2 or 3, you have the right development time. If you need to go to grade 4, try 15 percent longer development; if you need grade 1, try 15 percent less. It's easiest and cheapest to do the tests with sheet film or maybe short (10 exposure) rolls of 35mm, but use whatever you have available.

A less formal way of doing this, which still works for a lot of purposes, just starts with taking a roll of pictures that you don't care about. Develop them for the guessed time, print them, and look at the results. If you get good prints on grade 2 or 3, you have a decent development time; otherwise you need to adjust as above.

 

[JPR]

Hi All!

Thanks so much for these tips. I appreciate them a lot. I looked and looked on Google... How did I not find that... ?!

I think 7 minutes is a good place to start then. Unfortunately, I don't have access to analog printing devices. This in and of itself is a huge problem for me. Because I am getting such good scans of my negatives, I'm scared that my development technique is in fact not optimized for a real dark room. In the worst case, completely unusable in a real darkroom maybe... So, nworth's method while sounding really logical is not applicable to me.

So, I am an opportunist that scans his negatives (at least for the time being). I didn't realize that any reference to electronics was frowned upon here. Do you guys use exposure meters? In any case, I won't be going fully digital during the coming decade, because I just bought a new film RF.

Thanks a lot for the advice ic-racer and hdpulley too!

JPR

 

[Allen Friday]

you might try the method outlined in the following article: http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/testing.html.

Or google "Ken lee gallery testing black and white film"--it will be the first result to pop up. He mentions scanner settings for testing film.

 

[Chuck_P]

So, I am an opportunist that scans his negatives (at least for the time being). I didn't realize that any reference to electronics was frowned upon here. Do you guys use exposure meters? In any case, I won't be going fully digital during the coming decade, because I just bought a new film RF.

JPR

It is not frowned upon here at APUG to discuss electronics----that is far from the truth. The truth is that forum discussion of digital work flow is out of bounds. We discuss only analog workflow from exposure to print. Yes, we use exposure meters, but some do pride themselves on not using them.

 

[removed account4]

BUT apug's sister site .. http://www.dpug.org was just launched
so you can discuss the analog bits here, and the other stuff
over there

 

[ic-racer]

I always thought it would be nice to have an "Analog Electronics" sub forum dealing with:
Darkroom equipment
Camera Electronics
Lighting Equipment/Strobes
Analog Image Capture Systems; Videodisc, Laserdiscs , analog still video, etc.