film developing

[Ka]

When developing my 120 film (Ilford Delta 400/rated at 320) I was recently advised to tip up and down INSTEAD of regular rotation agitation for film developing in my little Jobo tank.

Do you concur or disagree?

Thanks!!

 

[david b]

I normally tip mine on a 37.5 degree angle but only when the moon is full. otherwise, i tip my little jobo a full 38 degrees.

Obviously I am kidding. I cannot honestly see how the type of "tip" matters. It's the agitation that matters. Not the direction.

 

[Jorge Oliveira]

For a few years I've used an Ansco tank in which the film was rotated left/right a few times.
Later on I purchased a Jobo in which I did inversions to agitate.

Honestly, I've never seen any significant difference...

Jorge O

 

[wiseowl]

I use inversion with my Patterson tanks.

To be honest I think it's more important to be consitant in how you agitate not what you do to agitate.

cheers

Martin

 

[clogz]

What I have found that rotation gives some more contrast. Very pleasing when you use a diffusion enlarger.
Keep on rolling

Hans

 

[Ka]

Thanks for all your input... I guess I'm a little tea pot. tip tip tip

 

[lee]

Ka,
If you are not vigorous with agitation, you may start to experience uneven development and loss of contrast. Maybe even bromide drag on the negative. This is not good. In my estimation more damage can be done to the negative with too LITTLE agitation than with too MUCH agitation. When I process roll film in cans, I quickly upend the cannister several times in the first minute and then rap the tank on the sink and then don't touch it until the next time and then I repeat the process. I usually agitate on the minute and only on the minute. Try it you will like it.

lee\c

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

lee:

Agitation is developer dependent. Minimal agitation, semi-stand and stand techniques all work very well with 120 roll film developed in Pyrocat-HD in a small tank. Film developed this way is very uniform and has excellent acutance.

 

[lee]

Hi Tom,

I understand this and while I have never done it, I do know people that have had success doing this. Don Miller comes to mind right away. Ka is a relative newcomer and is still a student in photography. She may not be ready for stand and semi-stand techniques yet. If one uses times and temp techniques for agitation that are considered the basis of film development and accepted practices, then I stand by my statement.

lee\c

 

[JeffC]

When developing my 120 film (Ilford Delta 400/rated at 320) I was recently advised to tip up and down INSTEAD of regular rotation agitation for film developing in my little Jobo tank.

Do you concur or disagree?

Thanks!!

I am a tipper. You are only aiming to move the developer that has become exhausted and it should be moved as consistently as is manageable. Fluid mechanics is way out of my league but I can concur that tipping works well for me.

Although you did not mention it, I don't tip for 35mm as it often leads to uneven development at the sprocket holes, where the fresh developer streams through... in those cases I use rotation.

Have you considered 4x5 and dish development with the joys of n+? There are two bath techniques or my own favourite of soft working compensating developers. Not to mention plus or minus water bath in between developing stages? Only joking.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Ka, what developer are you using? I should have asked this before.

 

[Ka]

I use Rodinal developer.

 

[Ka]

Oh, and I'm only processing 120 film... soon 4x5 will be an issue, and I'll be making new querries at that point.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Rodinal is one of my favorite developers. Rodinal works well with most B&W films and will yield uniformly developed negatives with a variety of different agitation techniques.

Continuous agitation works fine with Rodinal (with shortened developing times - - about 20% to 25% shorter than development with intermittent agitation).

Intermittent agitation also works fine with Rodinal. For example, I am currently developing Ilford Delta 100 in Rodinal diluted with 50 parts water to 1 part Rodinal for 11 minutes at 68 deg. F. I am developing in a small tank with 10 seconds of gentle agitation per minute. This means one agitation period per minute consisting of 4 or 5 gentle inversion cycles of the tank (twisting and rotating the tank while inverting).

 

[Ka]

Well Tom, we're using the same film as well. All of mine contain portraits. Should I do the INTERMITTENT AGITATION or SHORTENED CONTINUOUS?

What are the results of these two techniques? How do I know from which to choose?

Thanks for this.
Ka

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Well Ka, you will probably not see any difference in either the negatives or the resulting prints with either agitation technique (once you have determined the developing time & temperature for each agitation method). If you have already established an agitation procedure, I would advise sticking with it. From your initial post, it sounds like you may already be using automatic rotation.

If you change (or are establishing) agitation methods, you will need to do some testing in order to get Maximum Densities and Contrast Index that match your printing procedures.

 

[photomc]

Ka,

Can only tell you what I do, which is either Rodinal 1+25 or 1+50 for either Plus-X (older version, Kodak priced it to high with the new stuff) or lately with FP4 Plus which I find very nice. I give it the normal agitation for the the first minute, then 4 to 5 inversions each minute there after. I have had no problem with grain and have some 35mm that I have enlarged to 8x10 with not problems, but like any 35 it is noticeable at 11x14 and not pleasant with enlarged to 16x20..but what 35mm is?

It seems you either like the stuff or not. Have to admit I have never tried 'tipping' - Oh, by the way I use a small metal tank and reel, but use 2 reels for 35mm and fill the tank.

Good luck.