Good Starting Point for Adjusting Dev. Time

Ariston · Aug 30, 2019

What is a good starting point when adjusting development time? I had negatives too thin for one emulsion, and I would adjust incrementally, but not very much because I was afraid of going to the other extreme. Well, that took several rolls to get right.

Now, I am developing Tri-X shot at 400 ISO in HC110, and the negatives are way too dense. I don't want to have to do four or five rolls again to get it right, so what do you guys start with when you are adjusting your development for negatives that are too dense or too thin?

Kino · Aug 30, 2019

Well it depends on how you want to tackle this problem; do you want to adjust your development time or establish a custom ASA for your preferred means of development?

Some people find it easier to just continue to develop film in the manner in which they are comfortable (time, temperature and agitation) and adjust the ASA to fit.

That way you don't have to constantly re-adjust processing parameters...

Ariston · Aug 30, 2019

I keep development time notes for the various films. I don't want to underexpose because I want to keep the shadow detail and minimize grain.

Just eyeballing it, I would say I would need to underexpose by about 1.5 stops to get the right density. I want to lower the dev time instead, but don't really know a good starting point... maybe 20%? Who knows.

Kino · Aug 30, 2019

Try this: https://books.google.com/books?id=3...ing film development time for density&f=false

RalphLambrecht · Aug 30, 2019

Ariston said:
What is a good starting point when adjusting development time? I had negatives too thin for one emulsion, and I would adjust incrementally, but not very much because I was afraid of going to the other extreme. Well, that took several rolls to get right.

Now, I am developing Tri-X shot at 400 ISO in HC110, and the negatives are way too dense. I don't want to have to do four or five rolls again to get it right, so what do you guys start with when you are adjusting your development for negatives that are too dense or too thin?

I always do a full filmtest at 4,6,8,11,16 and 22 minutes. coxequently, I know the proper development time but, if I had to guess, I would adjust up or down by 15%.

Ariston · Aug 30, 2019

Thanks guys - that gives me a decent starting point to work from instead of just shooting blindly in the dark.

MattKing · Aug 30, 2019

Check your thermometer!

Ariston · Aug 30, 2019

I develop at 68 degrees celcius, just like the instructions say.

Bill Burk · Aug 30, 2019

What did you shoot it at (400?) what concentration (Dil B)? How long did you develop it? How do the negs look (you could take a phone picture of negatives).

Can help the gang to know. Sure what temperature and thermometer... the more the story you give the better.

MattKing · Aug 30, 2019

Ariston said:
I develop at 68 degrees celcius, just like the instructions say.

You must really like things warm then!

Ariston · Aug 30, 2019

Bill Burk said:
What did you shoot it at (400?) what concentration (Dil B)? How long did you develop it? How do the negs look (you could take a phone picture of negatives).

Can help the gang to know. Sure what temperature and thermometer... the more the story you give the better.

You have it right. Shot at 400, Dilution B, 7:30, 68 degrees, constant agitation for the first minute, then first 10 seconds of each following minute.

I'm new to Tri-X, and I lost a lot of highlights. It was also grainier than I'm used to for 400 film, but that could be from the scanner trying to torture some highlights out of the negative. I think I will try 20% less development time next time.

The Autocord I used exposed Ektar perfectly at a variety of shutter speeds, so I know it isn't a problem with a slow shutter.

MattKing · Aug 30, 2019

In case you missed my reference, I expect you meant 68F, not the 68 celcius you posted up above.
Tri-X tends to be fairly forgiving with respect to over-exposure and is fairly fine grained, and HC-110 dilution B isn't exactly a speed enhancing developer - thus my suggestion to check the accuracy of your thermometer.

Ariston · Aug 31, 2019

Yes - it was a joke. I developed at 68 F. I will try a shorter dev time. The thermometer is fine. I suspect the added "grain" is really noise from the scan because of the density of the negative. Luckily none of the shots were very good, anyway.

Adrian Bacon · Sep 1, 2019

Ariston said:
What is a good starting point when adjusting development time? I had negatives too thin for one emulsion, and I would adjust incrementally, but not very much because I was afraid of going to the other extreme. Well, that took several rolls to get right.

Now, I am developing Tri-X shot at 400 ISO in HC110, and the negatives are way too dense. I don't want to have to do four or five rolls again to get it right, so what do you guys start with when you are adjusting your development for negatives that are too dense or too thin?

My general practice is if the original dev time is less than ten minutes, then I adjust up or down in 30 second increments. If it’s 10-20 minutes range, then I adjust up or down in 2.5 minute increments. That way they’re relatively small increments, but large enough that you’ll not ever really go more than 2-3 cycles to cover a much larger span of time.

Don Harpold · Sep 1, 2019

Hello Ariston
Try going to Dil. E, I have better luck with 400 speed film shooting at box speed, at least HP5, with grain
I developed at the Mass Dev chart time 7.5 min at 68 degrees.
Here are a couple I just did a couple days ago

should have mentioned that I used 1 min agitation to start and then 5 seconds every 30seconds

Ariston · Sep 1, 2019

Thanks for all the input!

Good Starting Point for Adjusting Dev. Time

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