Film developer chemistry part 3

[alanrockwood]

OK, now for my next question, which concerns the relationship between emulsion hardness and development time. I noticed that Foma films are said to have soft emulsions and also shortened development time compared to most films.

This brings up the question: all else being equal, do soft emulsions tend to have shorter development times than hard emulsions? One could hypothesize that the developer chemicals might diffuse faster into a soft emulsion than a hard one, but this is more along the lines of a wild guess on my part. What about more definitive information/theory/practice?

Thanks.

 

[Rudeofus]

Obviously film development can be faster if the gelatin is softer and diffusion faster, but that is just one of the factors. A high iodide emulsion develops more slowly, but it has other advantages which make it worth the effort for many products.