New to B&W developing. any tips?

[wilfbiffherb]

hi,

ive just ordered som rodinal, ilfors stop bath and ilford fixer for developing ilford fp4+ and hp5+. does anyone have any tips on dev time/procedure? i do my own c41 at home already in a jobo cpe2 but havent yet tried black and white and im a bit nervous

 

[gurkenprinz]

Hi, dont be nervous, its really easy. Go here: http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php for times, use Rodinal 1:50 and agitate continuously for the first half minute, and then once or twice every minute. See if you like the results and take it from there..

 

[topoxforddoc]

Just get used to one film developer and one film type. Get the hang of it and don't experiment too often until you've done lots and lots of developing.

Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk

 

[Robert Hall]

Then practice, practice, practice.

 

[Brandon D.]

hi,

ive just ordered som rodinal, ilfors stop bath and ilford fixer for developing ilford fp4+ and hp5+. does anyone have any tips on dev time/procedure? i do my own c41 at home already in a jobo cpe2 but havent yet tried black and white and im a bit nervous

You can take my word for it that the black and white development process is pretty easy, and there's nothing to fear. I was able to start doing it successfully without even fully understanding every single fine detail about the process. I told myself, "It's okay if I mess up and make mistakes," but I've never made a mistake that wasn't easy to solve or figure out; I've been pretty successful and I'm no expert myself.

Just keep your materials and developing steps very simple and minimal at first (as it seems you're already doing). Come up with your own times and procedures that work for you, for your style, and for the results you want to end up with. Though, when in doubt, just follow the manufacturer's recommendations (to fill in the gaps). Set simple goals, do a lot of tests, and take a lot of notes. Be willing to sacrifice as many rolls of film as it takes to get the hang of the process and to get the results you want. And, if you run into specific issues (I haven't myself), then explain your problem in this forum -- because many of the people here are great problem solvers. It would probably help to have one or two basic books about the black and white developing process (search Amazon.com or where ever you buy books online).

 

[Rick A]

Other than practice, keep meticulous notes on all your film/developer combos until you hit the "perfect" set-up.Also, keep notes on everything you do, and match up photo exposures with developing to dial in the winning combo.

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Test on full tonal range subject. Test untill it prints with no burn/dodge work. Then apply to all future photoes.

If you do not test, you will fight printing with every darkroom session. Calibrate your equipment, and printing is easy.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

And just keep practicing!

Jeff

 

[2F/2F]

I'd get and study a basic photography textbook or two. They should tell you what you need to get going on your own. A collection of "tips" online does not constitute proper instruction IMHO, but here is one anyhow: I'd turn a cheap drugstore roll or two into practice film, so you can learn to roll the film flawlessly before giving it a stab with exposed film.

 

[wilfbiffherb]

thanks for all the help guys, just waiting for my chems to arrive now before i dive in

 

[msa]

Let us know how it goes...honestly though if you do C-41 now you'll be fine.

B&W is much more forgiving than the color processes -- if you've been able to develop processes that work for you, you should have it figured out pretty quickly.

I will take a moment to +1 the previous comment about not experimenting with a lot of different developers at first. You really want to get good with one developer on the variety of films you use before trying something different.

Honestly, a lot of people out there could get by with no more than D-76 for film.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Go to the APUG video section and select 'brunner' from the tag cloud. He has a series of four videos on processing film, though B&W, it will give you a good visual oif portions of any developing process with roll films.

 

[Brandon D.]

Go to the APUG video section and select 'brunner' from the tag cloud. He has a series of four videos on processing film, though B&W, it will give you a good visual oif portions of any developing process with roll films.

Yeah, searching through YouTube answered a lot of my questions/concerns, including brunner's videos.

I'm pretty sure it would've been difficult to load a steel reel without YouTube videos. But, I find them remarkably easy to load due to great videos and lots of practice.