Jumping in - I just ordered some Harman Direct Positive Paper

Sirius Glass

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Cholentpot said:
I just got into this stuff with a 2x3, I guess a five o'clock shadow is as far as I need to go. I've greyed early so I'm good there.

This stuff doesn't come smaller than 4x5, I guess if I got some I'd need to cut it myself. That's doable.
Click to expand...

In the spring Ilford takes custom orders for cut film. Order a years supplies.
 
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pbromaghin

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Will this work? it's the only red lightbulb I can find anywhere near me. I tried checking philips.com for wavelength info with no success. There's one more photography store that is closed over the weekend. It either of these don't work, it will likely have to come from B&H or Freestyle.
 

MattKing

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If that works, I will be surprised.
Most likely those are white light LEDs inside a red glass envelope.
 
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pbromaghin

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That's exactly what it looks like to me, too. I tried it in the bathroom that will be the darkroom and it is pretty bright, so it would at best have to be in a clamp-type fixture, pointed away from the work area. It's going back to the store.
 

RalphLambrecht

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I usually
 

Donald Qualls

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Only thing I can suggest is to test one. My current safelight is reasonably similar -- a (white) incandescent filament inside a ruby glass (coated?) bulb, and it's fine. If the glass filtration is correct, it'll be fine.

If they have one you can see operating at the store, take in a CD to use as a diffraction grating and see if you can detect any blue or green in the diffracted reflection from the bulb. If not, it's probably safe enough to at least buy and test.
 
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pbromaghin

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Interesting test! Never thought of it, but it makes sense.
 
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pbromaghin

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Last night my 4th prototype bathroom darkening method finally produced full darkness without excessive time and effort! I then proceeded on to bring the Durst f60 enlarger up out of the basement and use it to pre-flash a couple sheets of HDPP. I did strips from 3-second to 30 seconds with the enlarger head cranked all the way to the top and at f16 aperture.

I also found a REALLY BRIGHT safelight.


This will make it a lot easier to load the paper into the IlfoChrome tube for developing. It's also safe for all Harman B&W papers, so the decade-long goal of a working darkroom may finally be coming together.
 

pentaxuser

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Wow Peter, is that picture the one of you safelight? It looks as if it would be very bright Assuming these are white LEDs what does the the bulb go into for the safe bit

Thanks

pentaxuser
 
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pbromaghin

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Yes, it is BRIGHT!!! It was too heavy for the cheap Home Depot clamp-on fixture I planned to use, but it just fits in to an old Kodak torpedo-type safelight fixture. The fixture had an amber glass that I removed.

I don't really understand the technology, but I think LED colors are controlled by a computer chip, and while it looks white, when you turn it on, it is very red. Here is the manufacturer's spectrum sheet:
 

pentaxuser

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Thanks, Peter that explains two things 1. How an LED lamp that is off does not look the colour that it is when it is on. I haven't really got beyond tungsten
2. Why I never made a successful career in things electrical

pentaxuser
 
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pbromaghin

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I decided to try developing my 2 outdoor shots and the 2 pre-flash sheets and it turned into a dry-run on setting up and tearing down my temporary bathroom darkroom. Since I'm using an Ilfochrome tube for developing exposed HDPP and only need to keep the dark in for loading and unloading, there are no enlarger or trays involved in this setup. The whole shebang was almost ready when I realized I had forgotten to replace the hose on the print washer - it is too short for Mary's laundry room. Then yesterday I went to replace it and the hose clamp is too small for the new, thicker hose. So it will all have to wait for another trip to Home Depot. Of well, it was good practice, anyway.
 

removed account4

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JPD said:
who probably thought I was a time traveler
Click to expand...
thanks for the story and for reminding me I gotta crank up the old szabad pretty soon

vedostuu said:
The cracking of borders is really bothersome issue on this paper
Click to expand...
I've had whole boxes of Ilford fbmg that had crackled borders, nearly every box I have bought in the last 20 years.i brought it up to the Ilford trouble shooting rep here in the states and they didn't really have an explanation for me nor did they say it was a manufacturing defect.. and for the record I squeegee front and back of every print I print ( since about 1980 ) and never had a problem with any paper. but Ilford's flavor.. since the 2000s, pre-2000 never had an issue...
 
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pbromaghin

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Digging in my darkroom pile, looking for the grain focuser, I found a neat box with 3 cute little 4x5 developing trays! They may be unused. They should be quicker and more convenient than the Ilfochrome tube.
 
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pbromaghin

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Ok, as much as I love Ilford, I'm kind of pissed off. I plan tomorrow to develop 4 shots of HDPP that are (what I don't know if they count as) my first prints ever in my own darkroom. Using Ilford Multigrade developer at 1+14, the development time is 2-5 minutes. HOW IS THAT ANY KIND OF GUIDANCE???
 

pentaxuser

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Peter, well it does give a recommended time of 3 mins but yes gives a range of 2-5 which is pretty much standard for paper developing, isn't it?
What I'd read into the times is that 3 mins is what Ilford recommends for what it considers a fully developed print but there is a range within which prints that meet acceptability can be developed

I am not sure what else Ilford could say

pentaxuser
 

Donald Qualls

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Different people use different dilutions and developers for printing. I've always used Dektol 1+2, but some prefer 1+3 -- and others like Ilford PQ Universal, Ilford Multigrade, Adox MQ Universal, homebrewed Selectol Soft, various warm tone developers, Ansco 130 -- there must be a hundred different print developers.

All of those will develop at different rates.

On top of that, different workers have different standards on when a print is "fully developed" -- for some, you want to develop to completion, doesn't matter if that's three minutes or ten; others will run an actual timer and pull the prints after 2 (or 3) minutes, and expose more (or use a higher filter grade) if they don't have the blacks they want, still others will watch the print and snatch it when it "looks right" (that's the way I learned to do it in 1969; I've since learned "better").

Ilford doubtless has some other recommendations that go with their "recommended" time of 3 minutes -- a particular developer at a particular dilution and temperature, at a minimum -- but give the wider range by way of saying "no matter what print developer or method you're using, you probably won't get the best prints with less than two minutes, or more than five."
 

MattKing

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You may be confusing the role that development time plays in film development and print development (which is intended to be closer to development to completion).
This is telling you that the developer will perform well in a range of different workflows and machines - anything that results in a developing time in that range is capable of giving excellent results.
So you adjust your exposure to get the results you want at the developing time that works for you and/or the developing machine you are using (if you are using one - most don't).
Most likely you will pick a practical time in the middle of that range and standardize on it.
But there may be times when you need to make a bunch of prints quickly, in which case you would do your tests using the shortest recommended time - 2 minutes in this case - and increase your throughput accordingly.
And there may be times when you will batch print, and then develop a 4, 6, 9 maybe even 12 prints at a time. That means constantly shuffling multiple prints in a tray, doing your best to ensure uniformity. In that situation, a longer development time works better, so you might do your tests using the longest recommended time - 5 minutes in this case - and again increase your throughput accordingly. I use the latter approach when I participate in the postcard exchange.
 
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pbromaghin

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Well, it makes some sense now. I thank all of you for talking me down off the ledge.

The only time I have ever been in a darkroom was 2 evenings in 1975 when my high school photo club was turned loose in the Bemidji State University darkroom. Our English teacher was a bit of a photo nut and she happened to have a student teacher from BSU that term who had been a photographer in the army and arranged it all for us.

Last night I went solo in my own darkroom for the very first time, a temporary bathroom setup. I have no training whatsoever, so this is a completely autodidact thing and APUG, and all of you, have been a huge assistance. To ease into it, I limited it to developing the 4 sheets of HDPP. They were 2 sheets of preflash test and 2 taken outside my home - within about the first 10 LF exposures I have ever made. The photos themselves turned out to be a shambles and I will post a scan of one of them to see if anybody can count all the errors I made. But the operation of the tools and the workflow , pre-soak thru drying, went surprisingly well. It gives me confidence to move on to the next phase, to enlarge 2 chosen 35mm negatives on Ilford 5x7 MGRC Deluxe paper and do some safelight tests. The plan is to continue to work on these 2 negatives until they come out nicely.

For now, I do have one question. All the highlights on all the sheets still have the pink coloring that the HDPP starts out with - not white at all. What did I do wrong there? Developer and fix (both Ilford) were both fresh and mixed to spec. Timing followed data sheet recommendations.
 
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pbromaghin

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It was very bright, not a cloud in the sky, mid-day. I purposely chose a very high contrast subject, just to see what would happen. I sure got that. HDPP, 4x5, in a 4x5 tray. Should I have used a 5x7 tray for more room? 3 minutes in Ilford Multigrade 1+14.

How many things did I do wrong?

 

Donald Qualls

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That's still pink, so it may be underfixed (less pink on the right hand end?). Did you preflash at all? Finish fixing, rewash, and completely dry, then post another photo of the print. It'll tell everyone more.
 
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