I purchased some Efke 25 film off Ebay in 4x5 sheets for cheap. It was a good deal, so I jumped on it. But after I BIN'd the item, I noticed the main pic, they had the white bag out in the open with the box to shoot the picture for the listing. My heart sank, so I was worried the sheets would have been fogged, because the seller didn't know how to handle film. So I picked up the package from the post office today, and got it home. I loaded 3 sheets from the box into my 4x5 developing tank. I loaded a sheet from one end, then one from the middle of the pack, and then one from the opposite end. Just to make sure. I cracked open my fresh new bottle of HC-110 and mixed it for 1L of dilution B (125ml of dev, 875 of water). Developed the sheets for 7 minutes as per instructions, stopped, and fixed for 8 minutes. When I cracked open the container, all 3 sheets were pretty much clear, with only slight base fog, and on the tips of the sheets, some dark spots. Just to make sure the developer was mixed correctly, I reused the same developer for a 35mm roll of Panatomix X for 5 minutes. It turned out good, only if slightly dense. So I know the developer was working. But seeing the sheet films had me ponder this.
Isn't HC-110 supposed to control fog a bit for older film? This is the new stuff, so I don't know if it still has this property or not now. I wonder what kind of results I would have gotten had I used my regular Xtol? I need to mix up a new batch, as Im out at the moment. The Efke film was dated 2007, and I don't know how it was stored before I got it here. But I might stick with HC-110 for 4x5, since I have a lot to mix up 1L tanks for many uses. Plus most of my 4x5 film is old, so if HC-110 still controls fog, the better.
Isn't HC-110 supposed to control fog a bit for older film? This is the new stuff, so I don't know if it still has this property or not now. I wonder what kind of results I would have gotten had I used my regular Xtol? I need to mix up a new batch, as Im out at the moment. The Efke film was dated 2007, and I don't know how it was stored before I got it here. But I might stick with HC-110 for 4x5, since I have a lot to mix up 1L tanks for many uses. Plus most of my 4x5 film is old, so if HC-110 still controls fog, the better.