Medium format development/35mm

Am I right in presuming that 120/220 development is more or less the same as 35mm? I have my own dark room and all the kit just got my first medium format, almost got all the extras for the enlarger and have neglected the thought process of developing the film!

Basics have to be the same - surely? Can I use all the same equipment etc? Of course timing specifics will be on the box etc - I use rodinal as developer. Can I use the same spools for winding the film on - I use a small 2/5 reels dev container.

Thanking you

Rebecca

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If you use plastic reels, then they are probably adjustable to 120. If you use metal, then you will need a 120 reel. Personally, I find the metal reels easier in 120 than in 35mm. Everything else is the same, though you will need a little more solution to cover the reel if you don't just fill the tank.

All plastic reels I know you can adapt for 35mm and roll film. But it has to fit into the tank. e.g. Jobo 1510 is 35mm only, Jobo 1520 is for roll film too.

Yes, certainly for Rodinal you do not have to adapt anything in your film developent. This para-amino phenol developer can hardly cause any bromide drag. With some other developers like D76/ID11 it's a good idea to have the agitation for roll film every 15S 1x instead every 30S 2x in case of 35mm film.

Take only care of the volume needed for roll film development, normally around 500ml. (In case of inverse development method.)

Best regards,

Robert

Another thing you might want to check is that 120 negatives can print with a little less contrast. For example, my 35mm doesn't look good under a grade 2.5, while with 120 I can print on grade 2 straight without having flat looking prints. I think the smaller enlargement factor provides for more clearly defined gradations between black and white, so that more subtle light gradients are more precisely rendered.

that's good news thank you for that -

Rebecca

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You may also find that dev times between 35mm and 120 can be a bit different, perhaps a minute or so. There is speculation that with some films the emulsions are different between 35 and 120 even tho' they still have the same name. Some people believe that the sprocket holes with 35mm give increased agitation that doesn't occur with 120.

I can't say why I see a difference, but I do and often add 1 minute to the time of a roll of 120 over 35mm. You may notice this when you look at some dev charts.

Test rolls are advised!

As you gain more experience with your medium format equipment, you may also find that your prefences are different in respect of development times.

Your 35mm camera may have lenses that are more (or less) contrasty, the multicoating may be more (or less) effective on the medium format lenses, the meters you use may difffer between the formats, the shutters may be either faster or slower in one camera vs. the other - in short you may eventually find yourself fine tuning the development for medium format film in different ways than for 35mm film.

The film itself is usually on a somewhat different base - for that reason it feels a little bit different to work with when you are loading it onto reels. It is not that you need substatntially different equipment, it is that you need to adjust to the way the film reacts when handled.

I note that you made reference to 220 film in your original post. As 220 is twice as long as 120, you need to make sure that the reel you use is suitable - some 120 reels are not.

There is one thing that is different - you need 120 negative sleeves - the 35mm won't work .

Have fun!

Matt

Interesting comments Jim & Matt thank you - very helpful. The test rolls are good advice its like having a sports car and not moving the seat forward to reach the peddles isn't it.

Rebecca

Dear Rebecca,

Many people (not all) find that they prefer MF developed a little longer than 35mm -- just as they find that a bit of extra exposure (up to +1 stop) is preferable with MF.

Extra exposure and extra development both decrease sharpness and increase grain, which is likely to be far more important with 35mm than with MF. Variations in tonality are important in either case and a lot depends on what you personally consider most important: speed, tonality, grain, sharpness...

You may care to take a look at some of the free modules in The Photo School at www.rogerandfrances.com, especially 'How Do I... Handle 120 film' which has step-by-step instructions for loading both steel and plastic spools.

Cheers,

Roger

Thankyou for that Roger i've also just bought your two books on medium and large format one a bit older than the other one. I was tipped off in another post about them.

I'll check out the links for loading I think I'm going to need those. Good to hear from you - many thanks
Rebecca

RebeccaSC said:

Thankyou for that Roger i've also just bought your two books on medium and large format one a bit older than the other one. I was tipped off in another post about them.

I'll check out the links for loading I think I'm going to need those. Good to hear from you - many thanks
Rebecca

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Dear Rebecca,

You are more than welcome.

Cheers,

R.