N-2 to N+2 times for Acros preferably in Xtol or Rodinal

[haziz]

I just came back from my Arizona and Utah trip. Most of my images are for N development which I will develop in Rodinal (9 1/2 min at 20C (68F) intermittent agitation in an HP Combi tank, yielding an effective film speed of EI 80). This is for 4x5 quickloads though I did use some 120 film on the trip.

I do have many sheets however that will need either N-2 (and possibly extreme compensating development), and a few will need N+2 development. I will probably use Xtol for those though I am certainly open to also using very dilute Rodinal for the N- (1:200) or other developers.

Feedback and suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Hany

Too late! Exposure compensation first, then development compensation. N-2 and N+2 development changes the effective film speed significantly. If you just develop shorter, the shadows will be too weak. If you just develop longer the highlights will be too dense. If you didn't account for this, then I suggest you develop everything at normal times and compensate the contrast needs with VC papers and a combination of dodging and burning to control overal and local contrast, respectively.

 

[haziz]

Hany

Too late! Exposure compensation first, then development compensation. N-2 and N+2 development changes the effective film speed significantly. If you just develop shorter, the shadows will be too weak. If you just develop longer the highlights will be too dense. If you didn't account for this, then I suggest you develop everything at normal times and compensate the contrast needs with VC papers and a combination of dodging and burning to control overal and local contrast, respectively.

I did expose the N-2 sheets at EI of approx 50. The N+2 sheets were exposed assuming an EI of 80. I will still try to do N-2 and N+2 for the marked sheets though I am wondering if I should just do minimal agitation using Rodinal 1:200 (?1-2 hours) for the sheets marked N-2. The subject matter for the N-2 shots is not conducive to normal development (mostly slot canyons) though I simplified things somewhat by avoiding direct sunlight in all my Slot canyon shots leaving me with a 6-7 stop range on most of the shots.

Sincerely,

Hany.

 

[haziz]

Some feedback. I went ahead and developed so far 4 sheets of the Slot Canyon shoot. Developing 2 sheets at a time in my 1200 ml HP-Combi tank using Rodinal 1:200 for 1 hour with 30 sec initial agitation and 5 seconds every 15 minutes. They look fairly good. I scanned the sheets but my final output is using the wet darkroom. Based on the advice of someone I respect regarding semistand development, I will attempt the future sheets with longer (60-90 sec) initial agitation, reducing the total development time if necessary.

Sincerely,

Hany.