Efke on Diafine???

[Foto Ludens]

Well, I asked about macophot up100 (ekfe R100) on XTOL, and got all the answers I needed.

For those who didn't read the other thread, I'm going back to NE Brazil to continue a project, but want to avoid the horrible experience I had with a lab over there, so I'll stick with a big lab which uses XTOL. Or at least it did, 1 1/2- 2 years ago if my memory serves me right.

But being a college student with too much time on my hands (today I only wrote 2 essays!) I keep wondering what if?

What if i get there and that lab is out of business?

I want to have a contingency plan, and Diafine seems like a good way to develop an absurd amount of film in my home darkroom (which can handle printing just fine, but hasn't seen film yet). Most importantly, with a 2 bath developer, it's hard to screw up.

I know that if I have to fall back on this, I should shoot my tri-x at +-1200, but what about the Maco/Efke 100? I would guess 200, but does anyone have 1st hand experience?

Sorry to keep bugging you about this, but I'm a what-iffer, and lose sleep over things more trivial than this.

Thanks,

 

[doughowk]

I've used Diafine for almost all my film processing; and have been using Efke 100 in both 4X5 & 2X3. Supposedly does push the film a stop or so resulting in denser, possibly contrastier, negative. I've had the same gallon of Diafine for well over a year now & it just keeps on going & going. Great stuff.

 

[Foto Ludens]

Thanks for the response... At least now I have a back-up plan. Which leaves me to consider how to avoid getting all my film x-rayed.

damn this non-stoping brain!!!

 

[doughowk]

Forgot to mention an additional choice for ease of development. I've switched to Photographers Formulary's TF-4 fixer. In combination with Diafine, you don't need a stop bath other than water and no hypo-clear bath. Sure makes film development an easy process.

 

[fschifano]

You'll probably be better off in this case with TF-4 fixer. An acid stop bath is emphatically NOT recommended when using Diafine, so an alkaline fixer should work just fine.

 

[Foto Ludens]

yeah, I've thought about tf-4 for my film... How quickly does it exhaust compared to conventional fixers? (I could probably find that out, but I'm too lazy)

Thanks for the tips, I've been seriously considering bringing my Macophot film to be developed at home regardless of which labs i find there (no labs in Brazil will know how to handle eastern european film)

 

[Foto Ludens]

ok, I ansered my own question (well, I looked it up)
1L of Tf-4 fixes 20 rolls of film...

 

[Foto Ludens]

I received the Diafine package today, and I noticed that on the box they recommend against a pre-wash. Since the Macophot film I use has a lot of anti-halation dye, I have always pre-washed it.

Does anyone know why a pre-wash with Diafine is harmful? I suspect that the water introduced by the pre-wash would slowly dilute solution A; but I'm not sure. Even so, how much damage would be done (think around 100 rolls of film)?

As always, thanks in advance for the responses

 

[glbeas]

Just going on the theory and not experience I would say a prewash would prevent the emulsion from absorbing the maximum amount of part A thereby causing a loss of contrast.
This could be handy if controllable if you have a contrasty film you want to tame.

 

[Foto Ludens]

That would make sense. But without a pre-wash I would very quickly be using purple Diafine...

Well, hopefully a funky color is the only drawback of not pre-washing Macophot UP 100.

 

[Deckled Edge]

That would make sense. But without a pre-wash I would very quickly be using purple Diafine...

Well, hopefully a funky color is the only drawback of not pre-washing Macophot UP 100.

You will be surprised at how non-blue the developer becomes if you do not pre-wash Efke. I had occasion to develop some Efke 100 without the prewash and was amazed that the color did not appear. Instead I got a little in the fix and a little more in the Hypo Clear, but I wondered where the blue went. I used HC110 and XTOL. I am not sure about Diafine. The anti-halation dye must chemically change color in developers. Perhaps the lurking chemists can clear this up.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Not my personal experience, but others have used the same Diafine bottle with lots of rolls jut filtering it using a coffe filter and pouring it back in the bottle.
This stuff seems bullet proof.

Jorge O

 

[fschifano]

A good number of the anti-halation dyes will change be rendered colorless, or nearly so, in some develoipers. But really, do you care what color your used developer is as long as it works well? I have some Diafine where part A has gone magenta but it still works just fine and doesn't stain the film.

 

[Foto Ludens]

FOR THOSE WHO CARE:

Well, I just developed a few Macophot Up 100 and a few tri-x rolls on diafine, and here are the first impressions:

-The macophot could have been shot at e.i. 100 instead of 200, but the negs look printable. (I haven't done a contact sheet yet, so more on this later).

-The tri-x negs look right on at e.i. 1250 (same as above).

-The diafine part A took a purple tint very quickly (i've developed 10 Macophot rolls and 4 tri-x), but who cares?

-part B is getting a bit yellow, but once again, no objections from me.

-curiously, the water bath begins with a tint similar to Diafine part B after pouring it out, but after only 10 minutes it turns into a very deep yellow. Curious, but that's all.

These are just my first impressions. If all goes well, I'll post a few shots from the trip soon.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

First, Andre, when you say a big lab that uses Xtol: AFAIK, Kodak has never sold the stuff in this country.

Diafine:

My guess (never tried it) is that if you leave prewashed film long enough in bath A, it will be OK (dev will 'replace' water).
How long? I would test from 5 to 10 min.

But honest, if you want an emergency dev, I would consider HC-110. Diafine is not good for non push development (at least in my opinion).

Jorge O

 

[Foto Ludens]

Jorge,

It very well might be that Kodak never sold XTOL in Brasil, my memory isn't very good anyway.

De qualquer forma, eu ja voltei de viagem, e estou revelando em casa... Mas eu tinha quase certeza que o tal laboratorio usava xtol. Era um equivalente do d-76, e como eles eram da Kodak, eu não acho que seja Id-11. Não importa, eu nem tentei contacta-los desta vez. Prefiro ser responsavel pelos meus proprios erros

The increase in time in Diafine sounds like a plan... I was developing for 4 minutes, will try 10. Worst case scenario, I'll get an intensifier (selenium or safer equivalent)... Most of the films are pushed already, so I'll stick with diafine... the fact that I'm very cheap helps in making that decision.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll make contact sheets.. we'll see

Muito obrigado pela resposta

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

Disponha, Andre
VC está aonde?

Jorge O

 

[Foto Ludens]

Jorge,

Eu moro em um suburbio de Dallas, TX, e esta é a minha casa hoje em dia. Sou carioca, morei em São Paulo, e gosto muito da Bahia (por isso a viagem ao nordeste), mas por forças maiores vim para os EUA...

 

[Foto Ludens]

Update:

Changing the Diafine times had no influence on development, but that's alright since I'm going to Selenium tone the negs anyway.... There's plenty of shadow detail on the negs (or at least enough to where I'm more than hopefull with the Selenium), so my mind is at ease. As far as pre-washing goes, I'm not doing it and see no reason to start... the funky color doesn't even catch my eye anymore....

Well, that was about 17 rolls developed today.... hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be printing.

 

[clogz]

Andre, you deserve a medal. What was it? Thirty rolls? On the other hand: who would want a medal for something that is so enjoyable.
Hans

 

[Foto Ludens]

Actually, it was about 75 rolls....

BUT, 65 of them were 120mm, on a camera that eats up frames, so it's 9-10 shots per roll on those....

BUT HEY!

I want that medal!
E-mail me with the congrats and details.
(I wont pay for shipping and handling)

 

[clogz]

Uh, uh, no, no..not unless you show us the prints.

 

[Foto Ludens]

There's always a catch, isn't there?

Keep that medal on hold, I'll try to meet the requirements

 

[glbeas]

What effect would mixing the Diafine at a higher concentration have on the outcome? Thinking, get more chemical soaked into the film make more contrast.

 

[clogz]

It may be a tad off-topic but I have noticed with my own 2 bath mixture (split D23 really) that agitation makes a difference. Films developed at the usual time but on a roller show more contrast..
Hans