Film Developers

[SilverThumb Studios]

I'm a second year photography student who is VERY technically minded, and the questions I bring up to my instructors actually stump them more often than not. This being a technical/commercial degree program, almost every instructor here is actually more about fine art, which still has me scratching my head. With that said, here are some questions that I've been told to "google"...

I'm interested in learning about the different types of B&W film developers out there, especially about XTOL, HC-110, Rollei Low and High Speed Developer (RLS and RHS), Rodinal, and ACU-1. Information about any others, such as Pyro, would be useful also.

With the exception of RLS/RHS, these are all developers that I've been seeing/hearing on these and other forums across the internet as the most used (from what I've seen, which cannot be taken as a conclusive poll by any means), but I've yet to be able to find any real comparisons between them.

I've just ordered some Rollei R3 film from Freestyle, which is why I'm going to use RLS/RHS, as per Rollei's recommendation. I'm also very big into infrared, and since Kodak has gone the way of the dodo, I've decided to pick up the Efke and Rollei IR films. After having researched EI's and such, I've finally shot a roll of each (120 format) and have three more of each coming, but now I've run into the dilemma of what developer to use.

On the Efke box, XTOL is listed as a 1+2 @68F for 16 minutes, and indeed I've seen some of the results from other people and really like it. However, I've also heard some people say they use ACU-1 and others say they use Rodinal, but I haven't been able to find any development times for either, nor a comparison as to which developer does what for the film.

As for Rollei, I can't recall seeing any development times for ANY developer (since I'm buying the unboxed single rolls).

For B&W films in general, I've taken to using HC-110 dil. B, but that's simply because it's what is available to me other than Sprint developer, which is too much like D-76, which I don't like because there isn't quite enough contrast for my liking.

Which brings up another issue: How does concentration, time, temperature, and agitation all affect film development in terms of grain, contrast, sharpness, etc.?

If all this has been gone over before, please simply point me in the right direction. After several hours of searching and reading, my head really is starting to spin. Technically minded as I am, there's still only so much that I can take...

Thanks to all in advance for any information.

---
http://www.SilverThumbStudios.com

 

[Ian Grant]

Too many films and too many developers.

The best photographers stick to one or two films, and often just one developer. You need to standardise either stich to HC110 or Xtol. The Rollei films aren't mainstream, unless you're using the Retro re-badged 100 & 400 Agfa APX, neither are the developers, so not the bset combinations to learn with.

You need to read a good book on processing, or look at the data sheets etc on the Ilford website. Time increases or decreases the amount by which a film develops, as does temperature, and agitation, use the manufacturers recommendations to begin with. Uder exposure / over development increases contrast and vice versa. Grain is a factor of film/developer choice and is also affected by poor or sloppy processing.

Ian

 

[brian steinberger]

I am also very technically minded and have been in the same position before. It's easy to get overwhelmed. First off, no film developer can be too contrasty, only over-developed or too much agitation. I recommend Xtol certainly. Pick one developer and one or two films and learn them. This is the best way to learn. I could go on forever. PM me with any questions.

 

[Ian Grant]

Brian, a film developer can easily be too contrasty, that's why developers have changed over the years. Many manufacturers made a variety of film developers of varying contrast.

If HC110, Ilfotec, Rodinal etc etc are used at the wrong dilutions then contrast is extremely difficult to control.

Ian

 

[waileong]

If you have a deep interest, read the Film Developing Cookbook for a start.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

If you have a deep interest, read the Film Developing Cookbook for a start.

I can't recommend this highly enough, I grabbed it from the school library and I'm now out to get my own copy. Understanding things from the ground up gives you a lot better perspective. But as others have said, take it slow. Pick a developer and a film as a standard and explore from there. Xtol and HP5+ for me.

 

[Dave Miller]

Welcome to the forum Douglas, I can only echo the comments recorded above, primarily because I'm not very technically minded, preferring to leave the chemical wizardry to others; this allows me to concentrate my limited mental power on snapping. A valuable resource that you probably have already found is located at: http://www.jackspcs.com/index.htm

 

[Ian Grant]

Probably for someone starting, regardless of how technically minded, and trying to learn the basics the Darkroom or Film Developing Cookbooks are the worst possible choice.

Something like Ansel Adams - The Negative, or Jack Coote's - Monochrome Darkroom Practice, would be far better.

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Ian makes a good point. If you don't have the basics down like exposure and contrast control, which you can learn from Adams' _The Negative_ or other sources, it's hard to make informed comparisons about developers.

If you want more contrast with D-76, have you tried increasing the development time, temperature or agitation or using a different dilution? That's the kind of thing you need to sort out first before switching developers, because you can probably get more contrast out of D-76 than you are getting from the instructions on the box. Then to compare two developers, you would want to develop two exposures of the same scene on the same film, one in each developer, to the same contrast index (unless of course you're trying to determine which developer produces the maximum density range for an alternative process that requires a very high Dmax).

But once you do have exposure and development under control, it's not hard to start experimenting with formulating your own developers, and then you can learn what the differences are among the various commercially available developers (though once you start mixing your own, it's hard to go back to commercial developers).

 

[ricksplace]

Hey. Welcome to the site. One of my colleagues who taught photography retired and said to me "Help yourself to any books you want". What a goldmine!! I lugged off about four boxes of books. My point here is if you want to know some of the techie aspects of film and developers, ask one of your profs for some old texts (50's, 60's, 70's). Most of us are pack rats and hate to throw away books. The newer texts don't have much info in the way of film and developing, but the older texts are fantastic.

 

[George Collier]

Another good book on basic exposure and development technique is Fred Picker's "Zone VI Workshop", which is very direct and conversational in tone. I used to use it as a textbook when teaching intermediate level some years ago. I'm not sure if it is still available, but if you Google Fred Picker's name, it'll get you started.
Also, whenever I test different developers, or try to home in on a time/technique with a combination, I use sheet film. I can make 8 - 10 exposures (make sure the lighting, etc is identical from beginning to end) to stabilize the exposure, then vary the development.
You can do similar with 35mm by shooting a whole roll, cutting up sections of a foot or so on reels and develop differently. If using the same developer, I recommend putting them into the tank at different times, then taking all out at once. You can even bracket exposures, maybe three different variations, repeated over and over again on the roll. If you do this, with a film and developer, with maybe three or 4 development times, somewhere in there, you should have a good combination, done in one day.
It might take an afternoon of printing to find the best one, but you will learn a lot about exposure, development, and contrast. Be sure you keep good records on the film treatments, and record the frame number and print exposure on every print you make.
Also, use the search engine on this web site to find other threads.

 

[Photo Engineer]

If you want the best texts on the technical aspects of photography, try Grant Haist's "Modern Photographic Processing". And, on photographic systems in general, and how they work, Mees and James "Theory of the Photographic Process".

PE

 

[CBG]

If you have a deep interest, read the Film Developing Cookbook for a start.

I'd say that too, and note "The Film Developing Cookbook" has a great discussion of what makes various developers do what they do. It's a great practical entree to the theory of fim development.

C

 

[SilverThumb Studios]

Thanks for all the replies! I certainly have a lot of reading to do and will definitely take a look at as many books that were mentioned as I can. I think for now I will stick to the Rollei R3 film and RLS developer combo for regular B&W, and Efke IR and XTOL for my infrared stuff. That shouldn't give me too much of a headache trying to perfect.

---
http://www.SilverThumbStudios.com

 

[Anscojohn]

I'm a second year photography student who is VERY technically minded,
it's what is available to me other than Sprint developer,

********
Dear Second year student,
To paraphrase an old cigarette commercial, "You gotta long way to go, fella."
If you have not already done so, I suggest learning the basics of photo chemistry. Eaton's old book, Photographic Chemistry, which may be found in the school library (if your school has a library) will explain the physics and chemistry of the development process. Once you have internalized that, you can, perhaps, better understand what it is that the various reducing agents (aka developing agents) actually do and how they do it. Once there, knowing the constituents of each developer on your list (when possible), will then give you a basis for anticipating the attributes of each type of developer solution when used with a given emulsion. Then you can try them for confirmation. Good luck, and have fun!
And as others have said, echoing Thoreau, "Simplify, Simplify."

John (an olde ancynte lab rat) Mount Vernon, Virginia USA