Kentmere 100 w/Kodak HC-110

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

I followed Ilford's tech data sheet and developed 3 rolls of Kentmere 100 in Kodak HC-110, dilution B. The results look OK on the negative (in my uneducated opinion; I've never printed a single image on paper, ever), but they scan horribly. Blown highlights up the ying yang.

Can anyone offer up their developing formula for this film? I don't know if I'll ever buy it again because these results simply aren't working for me, but I'd like to know for future reference.

1kgcoffee · Jul 8, 2018

No experience on my end with Kentmere 100. If it's anything like FP4 the highlights will be bright but graceful. Maybe you need to use filter (orange)?

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

1kgcoffee said:
No experience on my end with Kentmere 100. If it's anything like FP4 the highlights will be bright but graceful. Maybe you need to use filter (orange)?

Now that you mention it, I did have issues when I tried FP4 the first time, very similar. I did not like that film so moved on.

Damn, giving up Acros is so freakin' hard. I developed 2 rolls of Acros today from my backlog of film and they look just gorgeous.

shutterfinger · Jul 8, 2018

Looking at Kentmere spec sheet there is NO listing for HC110. There are only listings for Ilford developers. The Massive Development Chart shows HC110 dilution B as 5.5 minutes at 72°F.
I suspect you used the times for the Ilford equivalent of HC110 which will not directly transfer to HC110.
If I'm incorrect please link to the information you used as I read all the info on Ilford's web site.

Lachlan Young · Jul 8, 2018

RattyMouse said:
I followed Ilford's tech data sheet and developed 3 rolls of Kentmere 100 in Kodak HC-110, dilution B. The results look OK on the negative (in my uneducated opinion; I've never printed a single image on paper, ever), but they scan horribly. Blown highlights up the ying yang.

Can anyone offer up their developing formula for this film? I don't know if I'll ever buy it again because these results simply aren't working for me, but I'd like to know for future reference.

What scanner are you using? Epson flatbeds and other consumer grade scanners can do horrid things to slightly dense highlights. Otherwise, what you are running up against is that Ilford uses a g-bar (average gradient/ contrast index) of 0.62, Fuji used 0.53-56 for Acros - this will make a considerable difference in highlight density. Start by taking perhaps 15-25% off Ilford's times & see where that gets you - you will probably need to adjust your EI. In other words, the EI 50 times may give you a better highlight density (generally closer to 0.5-0.52 g-bar) & make it easier to scan - it also makes much nicer negatives for darkroom printing in a lot of lighting situations.

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

Lachlan Young said:
What scanner are you using? Epson flatbeds and other consumer grade scanners can do horrid things to slightly dense highlights. Otherwise, what you are running up against is that Ilford uses a g-bar (average gradient/ contrast index) of 0.62, Fuji used 0.53-56 for Acros - this will make a considerable difference in highlight density. Start by taking perhaps 15-25% off Ilford's times & see where that gets you - you will probably need to adjust your EI. In other words, the EI 50 times may give you a better highlight density (generally closer to 0.5-0.52 g-bar) & make it easier to scan - it also makes much nicer negatives for darkroom printing in a lot of lighting situations.

I scan with a Plustek OpticFilm 120.

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

shutterfinger said:
Looking at Kentmere spec sheet there is NO listing for HC110. There are only listings for Ilford developers. The Massive Development Chart shows HC110 dilution B as 5.5 minutes at 72°F.
I suspect you used the times for the Ilford equivalent of HC110 which will not directly transfer to HC110.
If I'm incorrect please link to the information you used as I read all the info on Ilford's web site.

You are half right. I used the Kentmere time for HC-110 from the massive developing chart. I processed my Delta 100 roll after these Kentmere rolls and that was what I looked up from the data sheet. I remembered my source incorrectly.

I did the 5.5 min at 72 F that you noted above and got the substandard results.

Lachlan Young · Jul 8, 2018

RattyMouse said:
I scan with a Plustek OpticFilm 120.

I'd suggest scanning as a positive, trying to ensure no clipping (possibly adding a small curve if you can to boost the darker sections of the negative - ie what will become highlights after inversion), then do the inversion in PS & set the BP & WP using curves & the clipping warnings, scanner software can be very inexplicable as to why they set a usually excessive percentage clipping on the WP... Hopefully this works ok on the plustek, it's pretty close to how I work with high-end scanners - make sure you scan in 16-bit. I've successfully scanned negs with proper highlight details that in the darkroom will only print on G-0 or below on MGWT - aka pretty damn dense highlights!

shutterfinger · Jul 8, 2018

RattyMouse said:
I did the 5.5 min at 72 F that you noted above and got the substandard results.

A 5% change in processing time is equivalent of a 1/3 to 1/2 stop in exposure, depends on film/developer/temperature.
A 25% change in processing time is push/pull processing.
Changing development times is best done by converting the base time to seconds, calculate the percentage, add or subtract then convert back to minutes and seconds by dividing the result by 60 to determine the minutes then subtracting the even minute seconds from the result for the partial minute.
A thermometer off 1°F will cause a 5% to 10% developing time error and a 2°F temperature error is about 15% to 20% development time error. Sometimes 3 thermometers are needed to find the bad thermometer.
5.5 minutes decreased 15% is 4 minutes 40.5 seconds.
Without seeing the negatives its hard to say how much reduction in time is needed. A 10% reduction in time at 70°F may be the answer.
You can expose a few frames, clip them, and process at the different time/temperature and evaluate the results. Change one variable at a time to know what change has what result.

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

Lachlan Young said:
I'd suggest scanning as a positive, trying to ensure no clipping (possibly adding a small curve if you can to boost the darker sections of the negative - ie what will become highlights after inversion), then do the inversion in PS & set the BP & WP using curves & the clipping warnings, scanner software can be very inexplicable as to why they set a usually excessive percentage clipping on the WP... Hopefully this works ok on the plustek, it's pretty close to how I work with high-end scanners - make sure you scan in 16-bit. I've successfully scanned negs with proper highlight details that in the darkroom will only print on G-0 or below on MGWT - aka pretty damn dense highlights!

Thank you. I'll keep your post for future reference when scanning.

RattyMouse · Jul 8, 2018

shutterfinger said:
A 5% change in processing time is equivalent of a 1/3 to 1/2 stop in exposure, depends on film/developer/temperature.
A 25% change in processing time is push/pull processing.
Changing development times is best done by converting the base time to seconds, calculate the percentage, add or subtract then convert back to minutes and seconds by dividing the result by 60 to determine the minutes then subtracting the even minute seconds from the result for the partial minute.
A thermometer off 1°F will cause a 5% to 10% developing time error and a 2°F temperature error is about 15% to 20% development time error. Sometimes 3 thermometers are needed to find the bad thermometer.
5.5 minutes decreased 15% is 4 minutes 40.5 seconds.
Without seeing the negatives its hard to say how much reduction in time is needed. A 10% reduction in time at 70°F may be the answer.
You can expose a few frames, clip them, and process at the different time/temperature and evaluate the results. Change one variable at a time to know what change has what result.

Thank you for this useful information. I think I still have a roll or two of Kentmere film and will use this as a guide for the next time developing.

Lachlan Young · Jul 8, 2018

RattyMouse said:
Thank you for this useful information. I think I still have a roll or two of Kentmere film and will use this as a guide for the next time developing.

Having had a quick check back through the data sheet, I'd be inclined to start at 5m 20c/68f at 1+31 for HC/ HC110, & then if temps are too high to hold to 5m or greater, something like 1+47 for 7.5m at 20c/68f might be a better start point.

shutterfinger · Jul 8, 2018

I have 2 of https://www.ebay.com/itm/Taylor-984...910448&hash=item4611f718cf:g:97wAAOSwhfdaX7s4 , although 1 does not have F/C option. They read 0.5° F difference which is acceptable.
I have 2 of these type photo thermometers https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Premie...317196?hash=item545f7d8fcc:g:F4AAAOSw8zNa6dCC , one is off 2°F and the other off 3°F.
Yours for the cost of postage.

Disconnekt · Nov 28, 2018

There's another film developing site I found not that long ago called Darkroom Solutions (www.darkroom-solutions.com) that may be helpful for Dev times digitaltruth doesnt show.

The DS site showed for Kentmere 100 in hc-110 (dil B) a time of 8 Minutes @ 68°

Jon Buffington · Nov 28, 2018

Tom, I have developed a lot of k100 in hc110. I always use very gentle agitation, usually once every other minute. I will see if I can find my notes on times but even following the recommended times, at most, verrrrry gentle agitation once a minute. I usually get really good results with good highlight retention.

aoresteen · Dec 10, 2018

I've used HC-110 since 1975 and it's my primary developer. I would start at 5 minuets at 68 degrees F. Agitate for the first 30 seconds then 10 seconds per minute. I'd also expose the film at an EI of 64 to start.

bernard_L · Dec 11, 2018

How do you know the problem is with development rather than with the scanning? Did you do an enlarger print?
You need to provide more information. What software do you use for scanning? Can you show (screenshot) the histogram of your scan?
On-line tables of dev times other than manufacturer's: zero assurance on the origin of the "information" they contain; being on the internet does not make them reliable.

Nodda Duma · Dec 11, 2018

Kentmere 100 in HC-110 dil B (1:31) is a favorite of mine. For EI 100 at that dilution, my development time is 8:30 at 68F, two gentle inversions over 15 seconds every minute. This gives a good contrast negative with dense highlights that prints nicely to grade 2. If I were worried about the highlights I’d try backing off development to maybe 8 minutes or even 7:30 especially if I’m shooting it under bright sunny conditions.

I don’t recall any issues scanning, but my Epson scanning software will of course be different than your Plustek.

Kentmere 100 w/Kodak HC-110

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