Is this b&w chemical combo any good?

[eharriett]

im going at this backwards, I know. I have been learning how to develop c-41 using the unicolor kit and I'm pretty confident with the results (although it's time to reorder and I'm going for Rollei 's this time). Now I'm going backwards and want to attempt to learn how to develop b&w film.

Because b&w doesn't seem to come in all in one kits like the color ones do, I am assuming I can mix and match. Correct? Here's what I'm thinking of using

Developer: Ilfosol 3 (although I also want to get a bottle of Adox Silvermax developer. I want to attempt to develop my Silvermax film in that, also the Ferrania P30).

Stop bath: Kodak Stop bath

Fixer: Ilford Rapid fixer

My choices are because of the following: I do not have too many films and I expect them chess, once I mix up a little will go bad before I can get to the end of their useful life. Also, except for the Adox, which just seems kind of fun, these seem to be geared to the all purpose incompetent like me just starting off and there's less chance of ruining the film if I'm a little off.

How about it? Is this receipie a receipie for disaster, or will it work to learn how to develop my own b&w film?
Thank you.

 

[MattKing]

Yes you can do a lot of mixing and matching. That combination should be fine.
(I like the fact that you have included Stop Bath - I'm in the large group that recommends stop bath for film. Thee other large group says that a vigorous water rinse is enough).
The stop bath won't go bad.
If you are concerned about longevity, Kodak HC-110 will last years in concentrate (syrup) form.

 

[rpavich]

Looks good to me and ditto on the stop bath.
Here's my tip; put your chems in washed-out soda bottles. They are air-tight enough that chems last a LONG time in them. Squeeze them so that the liquid comes right to the top (or fill them to the top) and then cap them off tightly.

I just developed with a batch of D96 that was mixed about 8 months ago and it was just fine.

I use normal sized soda bottles, the liter bottles from Wal Mart (flavored sparkling water bottles) and the half-size soda bottles. That way I just about always have a bottle that's the right size. My daily "user" chems I store in the very small 150ml water bottles, they are good enough to hold chems for a week or so but aren't as air-tight as the soda bottles are.

 

[eharriett]

Thanks for the tip. I've been going back and forth between using cleaned out liter soda bottles and getting some amber glass bottles. I'm seeing pros and cons to both.

 

[JWMster]

I did some Stop-Bath free, water-rinse only efforts and they turned out fine. However, I am now using PhotoFormulary's Akaline Stop Bath not because I HAVE to, but because I really wanted to be certain to stop the development ASAP once the time was really over, and felt this was faster and better and more certain to do so than a two-rinse water bath.
And it meant that my development routine could be established to follow a set schedule of steps no matter what developer I used. The PhotoFormulary stuff makes up in large quantities I keep in a dedicated 2 gallon gas tank which I then pour into a 1000 or 1500 ML quantity kept in a brown jug for 20 uses... the same for FIXER...which I tend to dispose of beforehand.
Couldn't be simpler, and pre-made up, these chemicals become the easiest part of prep for the development process. Final Rinse with Photflow or similar is also easy since it's just distilled water (in my case) with a droplet. This means prep is just a couple of pours for the most part, and the only real mixing to kick off the process the Developer. Works for me and keeps
it simple!

 

[MattKing]

If you are using the Kodak Indicator Stop Bath for film, it goes a long way.
I use it "one-shot" or, at most, for one extended developing session when I am developing several rolls of film over the same short (same-day) period.
For that purpose, I use it at (approximately) half the recommended concentration - 1 + 127 instead of the regular 1 + 63.
If you are going to re-use it over several days, use the recommended concentration.
One further hint. The Kodak stuff is acetic acid based, so it keeps fine as an intermediate 1 + 7 stock solution. There are no special techniques necessary to store it properly.
I mix up a bottle of that 1 + 7 stock and then when I develop film, I further delete a small portion of that stock anywhere between 1 + 7 (for the Kodak recommended concentration) to my preferred use at 1 + 13 (or thereabouts).
The accuracy of that further 1 + 13 dilution isn't particularly critical when you are using the result for just a few films within one day, and it is easy to measure. The stock solution also doesn't have as strong an odour as the base concentrate.
Don't try this with Ilfostop or any of the citric acid based stop baths. Unwanted things tend to grow in a dilute citric acid based bath.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

People wring their hands in anguish if they think that development is not stopped immediately. If development should continue for a few seconds you would not be able to see any increase in density. So if you need something to worry about then worry about North Korea.

An acid stopbath or even plain water rinse works fine for film. I have been using plain water for decades even for RC papers. No problems!

 

[Fraunhofer]

People wring their hands in anguish if they think that development is not stopped immediately. If development should continue for a few seconds you would not be able to see any increase in density. So if you need something to worry about then worry about North Korea.

An acid stopbath or even plain water rinse works fine for film. I have been using plain water for decades even for RC papers. No problems!

I am with Gerald here: stop for film seems overkill, OTH it probably does no damage.

Otherwise, your combo is fine (as pretty much any, B&W is really mix and match).

 

[Saganich]

When I was running 4 or 5 minute dev times stop seemed necessary. At 10-12 mins I tend not to bother. I time the water rinse as part of development routine. The important part is to keep it all consistent and don't change more than one variable at a time. Getting air out of chem bottles is good practice but plastic bottles breath more than you might suspect. Best is glass marbles in glass bottles for really long storage and their nice to look at.

 

[eharriett]

Never thought about glass beads in bottles before. How would that help extend life of Chems?

I guess this would be more for color since my b&w is pretty much single use stuff.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer XTOL or replenished XTOL, stop bath with indicator and hypo. This is why I usenXTOL after trying the other developers.

 

[RPC]

im going at this backwards, I know. I have been learning how to develop c-41 using the unicolor kit and I'm pretty confident with the results (although it's time to reorder and I'm going for Rollei 's this time). Now I'm going backwards and want to attempt to learn how to develop b&w film.

I don't think you are going backwards if you start with color film processing and then move to black & white. Quite the contrary. One should start with color processing since it is a standardized process. Everything is laid out for you, time, temperature, process chemistry. Just follow directions and you will get good results. With b&w there are many variables--with all the different films, developers, times, dilutions, etc., one has to do more learning, decision making, and testing to arrive at satisfying results, as you are no doubt finding out if you didn't already realize. Color film processing normally has more steps and requires more accurate temperature control, but it is not that difficult, and far outweighed by the variables in b&w, in my opinion.