New to Chem

I am buying chemicals for film developing for the first time and I am a bit overwhelmed.

Developers:
My local shop does carry ilfosol 3, but I've read that their new batch still has issues of oxidising quickly. I am stuck between HC-110 and Rodinal. From what I understand "correct me if I'm wrong" HC-110 is better with mid-tones and shadow detail and Rodinal is a solution that will make images sharper and grain more visible due to the sharpening characteristics. B&H does have HC-110 in stock, and Rodinal will take about 2 weeks to fill the order.

Stop:
I picked up Ilfostop today.

Fixer:
No idea where to start

MISC supplies:
I am looking at a Paterson tank or another plastic tank system. I like the idea of the ratchet loading
Picked up 3 600 ML measuring cups and a 5 ML medicine dispenser last night.
Picked up a proper thermometer at the shop today.
Not sure what else is needed.

What I am still confused about is that I am aware that the stop bath and fixer are reusable. Can I store the mixture in a container until the next roll of film or will the chem go bad?

The film I am using is HP5+ 400. I understand that people who use HC-110 use dil. B or H and Rodinal is about 1:50.

Go to the following site for information on HC-110, http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110. I use HC-110 diluted 1+49 with great results. Use the times for Kodak dilution E 1+47.

Most people use stop bath as one shot (ie. use once then discard). Fixer can be poured back into a stoppered container for future re-use.

As far as developers, that comes down to personal taste and desired results.

HC110 is good. Use dilution B to start with. The concentrate is quite thick. Watch how you mix it. It needs plenty of stirring. A Paterson Universal tank is easy to use. You can do 2 35mm films or 1 120 at a time. You need film clips, or clothes pegs to hang the processed film. I use a couple of concertina bottles to store mixed fixer and stop bath. These are reusable, but check instructions for how often. Get a good book like The Darkroom Cookbook, or the Ilford Darkroom Manual. You can get copies cheap on eBay, amazon, etc and they will answer a lot of questions. Good luck, Alex.

Stop bath is best used once and then discarded, unless you are doing a bunch of rolls on the same day (or so) in which case you can re-use it as long as the colour doesn't change.

For fixer, I mix up 1.25 litres at a time and re-use it until the manufacturer's capacity is 3/4 reached, or clip tests indicate the clearing time has increased to twice what it was when originally mixed.

My 1.25 litre bottles originally contained Trader Joes' sparkling water. Now they have no original labels, and are identified with masking tape and warnings.

I mark the usage (number of rolls) on the masking tape.

hey there

why don't you go to sprint ?
and get your chems drop shipped to you ( or through b&h )
they are good, developers, fix stop, fix remover
they all mix 1:9 ( 1 pt chems 9pts water ).
and work with every film made today ( and yesterday )
and they have a chart to help you determine the best development times
for your film, and situation ( plastic lens, old film, &c )
a LOT of schools use these chemicals because they are FOOLPROOF
i used them for a long time, and still use them ( film dev and fix ) ...

http://sprintsystems.com/
http://sprintsystems.com/time-charts/

if you use their print developer too,
you use the chemicals over and over again, until
the fixer indicates and it tells you IT IS ALL spent, not just
the stop bath ( that is the sprint "system" )

good luck !
john

I reuse stop bath few times. I just pour it back into a bottle labeled "stop working" (funny name, I know). I discard it when it starts to change color. I do this for convenience. It works and I see no need to throw it away after session use.

Fixer, I re-use, of course. Ilford rapid fix is my favorite. I keep track of number of rolls processed and the months since mixed. Ilford says 6 months but I use it up to 9 months unless number of rolls processed gets very high. My own test showed it was quite active at 9 month point.

For developer, I use D-76. Works just fine for me. I keep them in a bunch of 8 oz bottles to minimize oxygen exposure. I use them one shot.

Something not too many people talk about.... If you use HCA to make your washing shorter, be sure to keep this in number of smaller bottles as it sucks in oxygen and deteriorates. I have seen bottles completely collapsed. I keep them in cascade of smaller bottles as I do for developers.

tkamiya said:

I reuse stop bath few times. I just pour it back into a bottle labeled "stop working" (funny name, I know). I discard it when it starts to change color. I do this for convenience. It works and I see no need to throw it away after session use.

Click to expand...

The problem with indicator stopbath is that people only discard it when it starts to turn purple. The indicator uses bromcresol purple which changes from yellow at pH 5.2 or lower to purple at pH 6.8. Most people do not notice a color change until the pH reaches 6.0. Such a solution is really not useful in stopping development rapidly. A better test is to smell the bath. If it still smells strongly of vinegar then it is still good.

A few more ideas. I bought a dozen 500ml bottles from the 'bay for keeping mixed solutions. I too re-use stop a few times - I just keep track of how many times and then throw. I use an aquarium thermometer. I keep a 5L water bottle nearly full in the darkroom sink, and adjust the temperature in this before I start, then use water from the container to mix up the dev. When you clip your films to load the reels, keep the clippings to test your fixer before a session.

Another alternative to premade stop baths - A teaspoon of citric acid crystals in a litre of water mixed just before it is needed. Citric acid can be purchased at most chemists and is also found under the baking or brewing section in many supermarkets.

Dear Zakesch,

ILFOSOL 3 does NOT oxidise quickly and we have no issue with any recent batch or any other previous batch come to that.

ILFOSOL 3 has indeed improved oxidising performance than ILFOSOL 2 and ALL develops once opened can ( and do ) deteriorate, but lots of good info posted on APUG on how to properly keep part used chemicals.

Regards

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

I like Ilfosol 3, and as Simon says, it is better keeping than Ilfosol S. HC-110 is good also. I don't think you can go wrong with either. As for stop - I don't use stop bath for films, just water wash for 30-45 seconds. If I do use it, then it's one-shot. I don't think it matters what brand of fixer you use. They all seem to work fine, and work the same way. The big thing is don't over use it, as stated above several times. I use HypoCheck, and only use it for 3/4-7/8 the recommended number of films. The problem is, you don't know it didn't do a good job until too late when the film turns yellow and becomes more dense from the left over silver. Fresh chemicals are more important to me than brands. Just IMHO.