First Roll - Success thanks to APUG!

A couple of months ago I asked for help in developing in (there was a url link here which no longer exists). I had almost everything I needed except for a lid on my Paterson System 4 tank, and fixer. I bought a new tank, and a bottle of Photographer's Formulary TF-5 Rapid Fixer (which got here earlier this week), and shot a roll of Fortepan 400 B&W today to see how I could do. Film was loaded into my Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII, and away I went (in my backyard).

I reviewed what I needed to do, and was a bit concerned, as my tap water runs at 78°F! It is summer in Florida after all. So I put some water in the fridge, and went about loading the film into the tank. It seemed like it went on correctly, so I was happy I made it past the first step.

When the water got to about 70°F, I decided to start. Ran some water into the tank, agitated, then poured it out. I needed 9.4ml of HC-110 to do a "B" dilution (1:31). I had to guesstimate the amount of syrup because the only ml measuring cup I had had 7.5ml and 10ml. I figured this might be a problem, but moved forward.

Decided I would develop for 8 minutes rather then the 9, and started. Set the timer on my phone for 30 seconds, and agitated every 30. After a few agitations, I realized I hadn't made note of the number of minutes, or what time I started, so I thought for sure it was going to be a failure. After what I thought was 8 or 8.5 minutes, I ran a water stop bath, then did the fixer.

When I opened the tank, and first saw the film, all I saw was black film. Figured I totally screwed it up. As I pulled it off the reel though, there were IMAGES!!! YAY! Hung the film to dry, cut them, and scanned them on my less-then-wonderful-but-works-for-me scanner, and well, here's a couple of them:







***Excuse the cut-off feet, still getting used to the non-parallax compensation.

I think they're a little overly contrasty, but I'm not sure if that's my developing, my scanner that applies 'processing', or the film. Also a little grainy for my liking, but all in all, I'm pretty happy.


So, thanks to everyone! I'll be shooting tons more film now that I know I can develop!

Hey! Those look pretty darned good to me. Nice job.

Now just tighten up a bit on your procedures (timekeeping, scanning, etc.) until they are all repeatable, then it will be easy to begin isolating and changing variables one at a time to address your contrast. Or anything else. But as you can see, black-and-white film processing is very forgiving while still being able to generate usable images.

Looks pretty good to me, though. Great, in fact, for a first go. Better than my first attempts were, for sure.



Ken

They do look good - isn't it fun!

By the way, don't sweat the 78F and don't sweat the 9.4 ml.

If 9 minutes is the correct time for 68F, 6 minutes is the correct time for 78F.

And the increase from 9.4 ml to 10.0 ml isn't very important - as long as you are consistent with how you work in the future.

Or, you could go down to 7.5 ml, and increase the time back up to 8-9 minutes.

You are going to want to fine tune your development time anyways.

By the way, the Development dial in an old Kodak darkroom dataguide is very useful. It looks like Fortepan 400 and HC-110 B together call for a development number of 39 on that dial.

The contrast looks good to me. But it's personal taste and I don't mind if blacks block up etc. the people look good in them.

If the temp is higher, you can calculate the correct time. I use massive dev chart app for iphone. It's automatic.

If you want to get more accurate with measurements, you can get 10ml syringe. They are only few cents and it's what I use.

Looks great to me, not bad for the first time.

Jeff

Awesome!! The contrast looks good enough to me. Well done!

Looks great! There is nothing like that first roll that you develop yourself. Pulling the film off the roll and seeing the images that you, yourself made happen is a wonderful experience. I felt like a kid who had tied his shoes for the first time "Look I did it!". Congratulations!

They are a great first effort. As far as the contrast goes, it could definitely be your scanner/software. If you're like me, chemical printing is not possible at this time, so I upped my scanner/software combo and have good results these days.

I started with Ilfosol 3 a couple years ago when I was learning, because it was easy. It does not develop like DD-X that I use now, (DD-X does a great job and seems to minimize grain).

Great!

Thanks all.

I do think the scanner is adding contrast, as David Goldstein says. When I put the first frame in the scanner, the contrast is not nearly as much at first, then the contrast comes in. My original plan was, and still is, is if there are any shots that are fantastic, I'll have them scanned at my local mom & pop mentioned above, as they use an Imacon, which would be better than anything I would want to buy.

fantastic!

Great job for the first time effort! I remember my first one, and your photos came out much better then my first roll (or 2nd roll...)

Well done.....let the creative enjoyment begin...

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :