I had been using Liquidol which lasted 3 to 4 hours which the upper limit I now spend in the dark room.
I've used it, PF still sells a version of it if you don't want to mix your own. I think that Edwal Ultra Black was a liquid version of Ansco 130.Did you ever try Ansco 130? Rumor has it that the working solution is good for months. I've been meaning to try it.
Is Liquidol the developer that the late P.E. had a hand in devising, if so I thought that was by far the longest lasting one It has been a while since I saw it mentioned but in a variation of this thread I had thought that longevity of several days at least was mentioned?
pentaxuser
Developer doesn’t become exhausted through oxidation in 5 hours.
Those larger blemishes: looks to me like you’ve splashed stop bath or something onto the print before development. Go gently with the rocking!
Perhaps my gloves were wet from a previous print? If I touched the emulsion with a glove that had residual stop bath, or even worse, fixer, that could look like what I saw.
I intentionally avoided referring to the phrase "factorial" development when I made my earlier post, because while I recommend it to the experienced, I thought it a bit early in @dcy 's learning curve to bring it up.
Best laid plans ......
But if you aren't going that route, informal replenishment is highly recommended.
Replenishment of print developer doesn't have to be nearly as precise as with film developer.
As you probably have already noticed, due to the effects of developer carry-over, the volume of developer in the tray will slowly decrease during a multiple print session. ...
.... But other print developers can easily be kept reasonably active through a long session by just taking out a little bit of used developer after every few prints, and then adding enough new developer to bring the volume back to the starting point volume.
By the way, if you are going to leave a tray of developer open to the air for hours between prints, cover the tray. I have trays that work as great covers for other trays when used for that purpose.
This is very personal, but I don't use gloves in the darkroom with trays, it is very difficult to keep them dry and you will contaminate the developer.
Likewise. A set of tongs goes a long way to prevent cross contamination.
I currently have Dektol but will switch to Clayton once the last of the Detol is gone. I had been using Liquidol which lasted 3 to 4 hours which the upper limit I now spend in the dark room. But PF was out Liquidol so I bought a gallon size dry mix of a Dektol cone.
Did you ever try Ansco 130? Rumor has it that the working solution is good for months. I've been meaning to try it.
what difference does it make which paper developer you use? I thought they were essentially the same
Reading koraks' description, it sounds a bit difficult. I don't feel I have a good sense of where the midtones are; especially under a safe light where it's just really hard to see what's going on.
But I'm going to try your simplified version --- keep an eye for when the darkest parts start to appear, and if it's taking much longer than with a fresh developer, it's time to refresh the developer.
I can try that!
... to avoid getting dust into the developer?
I always have three developer mixes ready: ID-78 (a warm-tone developer), D-72 (Dektol-like developer) and Ansco 130. Same paper will not look the same from one to the other. Which I use will depend on the project and the paper.
My next question might be incredibly naive, but what difference does it make which paper developer you use? I thought they were essentially the same --- How else can you have books and websites tell you to develop for 2 minutes without even asking you what paper developer you have? For that matter, development time doesn't even seem to depend on the paper, except a small distinction between RC and FB.
Yeah. I rock the developer tray constantly and I can see the liquid whooshing back and forth across the print. ---- Looking again at the prints (below), they don't really look like bubbles, but more like liquid drops of non-development.
View attachment 401710
View attachment 401713
My thinking was that the developer became oxidized mostly from sitting in the tray for a few hours, not from the number of prints. I only did like eight 5x7 prints. The time between the first print and the last print was just over 5 hours, largely doe to a long break I had to take in between.
Do you have any guesses as to what I might have done wrong? I don't understand how I started out getting fairly nice blacks at the start of the session and ended up only getting wimpy blacks at the end.
Perhaps my gloves were wet from a previous print? If I touched the emulsion with a glove that had residual stop bath, or even worse, fixer, that could look like what I saw.
Can you rule out the cross-contamination of fixer drops on paper?
For example, after seeing a test strip in the fix, you’ll turn the white light off and reach for a new sheet to place on the easel.
What strategy do you follow to ensure your hands are clean and dry?
I have running water and wear gloves. I rinse the gloves and dry on handkerchief like cloths. I check between fingers and they’re not always totally dry.
... to avoid getting dust into the developer?
And with respect to gloves, I recommend nitrile gloves and tongs. The gloves are easier than skin to rinse off.
Do you have any guesses as to what I might have done wrong? I don't understand how I started out getting fairly nice blacks at the start of the session and ended up only getting wimpy blacks at the end.
Perhaps my gloves were wet from a previous print? If I touched the emulsion with a glove that had residual stop bath, or even worse, fixer, that could look like what I saw.
Do you not use tongs?
I know you see video of both ‘influencers’ and master printers dabbling in the trays with bare hands, but it isn’t necessary, and exposes you to potential dermatitis (that’s why you are wearing gloves, I imagine).
There will be lots of replies here from folk who like dabbling, so you must make your own decision. FWIW, I don’t wear gloves except when washing trays, mixing powder chemicals or handling nasty concentrates like sulfuric acid or selenium toner. During printing, my hands are never wet with anything other than water, and they are always dry (towel) before I touch a negative or a new sheet of printing paper.
Ok. I understand "warm tone". But when do you use D-72 vs Ansco 130? Their formulas look similar.
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