How fussy are you about 68F?

bvy · Oct 30, 2015

I'm curious -- for those of you whose room temperatures hover around 72F (like me), do you fuss with a water bath or ice when developing black and white film, or do you compensate by decreasing time slightly?

Renato Tonelli · Oct 30, 2015

I don't - I adjust the the developing time.

markbarendt · Oct 30, 2015

Adjust time.

Ian Grant · Oct 30, 2015

when I'm in Turkey I always process at the ambient water temperature which is usually 26 or 27ºC, I can keep all steps very consistent with no effort to within +/- 0.5º

Here in the UK though I work at 20ºC and even in the Summers it's not difficult to keep within +/- 1º

Ian

DannL. · Oct 30, 2015

Like most, I adjust the time. I use the chart found at the bottom of the following web page . . . http://www.ilfordphoto.com/aboutus/page.asp?n=87&t=Developing+Black+and+white+film

Kyle M. · Oct 30, 2015

When I first started developing my own B&W I just did it by feel "close enough." When I decided to try C41 I of course bought a good thermometer, it was at that point that I started using it for B&W as well. I can draw tap water at 68* +/- 4* year round. If it's too warm I'll stick an ice cube in it before I mix it with the developer, if it's too cold I'll stick it in the microwave for 5 or 10 seconds. I basically went full circle from not worrying about temperature, to being a stickler for 68*. I haven't noticed any difference in my results, but it does make me feel better to know I'm doing it right.

ic-racer · Oct 30, 2015

If you print with multigrade paper you have some leeway, so the temperature does not need to be as exact as when doing color.

ignatiu5 · Oct 30, 2015

I chill film developer to 68 F, but I don't do anything to attempt to maintain that temperature during the development time.

Athiril · Oct 30, 2015

I warm my developer up to 24 or 27 degrees for most films, and 29 for Delta 3200.

Kirks518 · Oct 30, 2015

Our tap most of the year hovers near 80°F, which is stupid warm. When I know I'll be developing that day, I take the bottle of developer and stick it in the refrigerator. About an hour before I want to develop, I take it out, check the temp, then wait for it to warm back up. In Florida, it doesn't take long, even indoors, when the wife likes the indoor temp at 78°F.

But to answer the question, I am a stickler for 68°F/20°C, but I wish I wasn't.

For those of you that adjust times, how far out from 68°F will you go?

Athiril · Oct 30, 2015

For me 27c/80f usually.

In Xtol Replenished, I like 24 and 27, as the times remain short, and many different films can be mixed together.

24c is 5m 45s for many films (usually T-Max, Tri-X, Delta 400, Pan F+, Shanghai), and other films that need longer I go to 5m 30s at 27c (usually Delta 100, FP4+, HP5+, 'APX', etc).

Delta 3200 is 8m 30s at 29c iirc for my liking.

I'll prewash at a littler higher temp to make sure temp doesn't drop when developer is put in the tank.

Gerald C Koch · Oct 30, 2015

Some years ago Kodak added 75F (24C) to their list of recommended temperatures. Living in Florida I find this temperature the easiest to maintain.

Fr. Mark · Oct 30, 2015

Moving to a new darkroom soon current one is 76-78 except deep winter when it can be 65. I don't have darkroom plumbing and keep a lot of plastic gallons of water on the concrete slab floor they are a lot cooler than head height (I'm 6'5 which is almost 2meters) and the ceiling is maybe 7 feet. I worry when development times get below 5-5:30.

Ko.Fe. · Oct 30, 2015

I develop in the finished basement, where temperature is warmer in winter, colder in summer (due to how cold, hot air flows).
I stopped metering temperature for bw almost immediately after I learned how to develop. And no problems at all.

RattyMouse · Oct 30, 2015

I adjust time if not at 68F. It's just too easy to do so, so why not?

takilmaboxer · Oct 30, 2015

When I used Tmax 100 I found that temperature control was very important, and I just got into the habit of keeping the temperature at 68 within 0.25 degrees. It's not so critical with old school films but I stick to the regimen for consistency.

Steve Roberts · Oct 30, 2015

Keeping the temperature low enough is rarely a problem on Dartmoor!
Steve

pdeeh · Oct 30, 2015

Tap water is rarely above 20 here, and often quite a lot below.
I always check with a thermometer.
I adjust by time if I can't be bothered to adjust temperature.
I adjust temperature if the time is going to be longer than 10-12 mins.
Temperature is just a start temperature. I never check temperature during processing or use a water bath or jacket for the tank (or tray)
If I'm tray developing, I generally do one sheet at a time and check the temp and adjust accordingly between sheets.

What has always slightly amazed me is that if I test the water with a finger and it feels "just right" (i.e. 20C), when I cross check with a thermometer, I'm rarely out by more than a degree.

It might rather interesting to see some densitometric data for films developed at temperatures varying just by a degree or two from "par", and then see if there is any really detectable differences once they are printed by a run-of-the-mill printer. Which most people here are (with notable exceptions of course)

Roger Cole · Oct 30, 2015

I never process at 68F. I use my Jobo and standardize on 75F because my solutions, except rarely in the summer, are usually slightly cooler than that (liquids will be slightly below ambient room temperature due to evaporative cooling) and the Jobo heater can raise them and hold them at 75F. For the rare summer day when my non-air conditioned darkroom results in warmer temperatures than that I use whatever temperature they are at and compensate with development time, using the chart Ilford publishes for this.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Oct 30, 2015

I do everything at 25 degrees C which is right where the water is in the summer, and easy to hit with a microwave in the winter. I use a 2 gallon bucket and fill it with water to hold the temp in the winter, setting the stainless tank in there between agitations. Then I use it as wash water.

Luis-F-S · Oct 30, 2015

I set the intellifaucet on 68 N forget about it. L

DREW WILEY · Oct 30, 2015

I use a compensating timer with a temperature probe in the water jacket. Fine for routine film projects up to 75F. But for anything really nitpicky I use an expensive thermoregulator capable of keeping temp within 1/10th deg F. My darkroom is very well insulated, so the room
temp is rarely more than a few degrees above 68F, and that is easily offset with a water jacket. If necessary, I add a bit of cold water drip
or a pak of "blue ice".

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 30, 2015

My cold water is typically 75F out of the tap, so I adjust the time.

Roger Cole · Oct 30, 2015

Luis-F-S said:
I set the intellifaucet on 68 N forget about it. L

Unless it has a chiller that wouldn't work here even if I had an Intellifaucet and wanted it to. My "cold" water often comes out of the tap near 80F in the summer and I have seen it come out at 82F.

Wayne · Oct 30, 2015

ParkerSmithPhoto said:
I do everything at 25 degrees C which is right where the water is in the summer, and easy to hit with a microwave in the winter. I use a 2 gallon bucket and fill it with water to hold the temp in the winter, setting the stainless tank in there between agitations. Then I use it as wash water.

You can fit a 2 gallon bucket in your microwave? Is that a George Foreman unit?

How fussy are you about 68F?

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency