Ordered Seagull VC-RCII 8x10/25 Pearl

pinhole_dreamer · May 3, 2011

All I have at the moment is Dektol....at least until I can order some new developer if needed. In the meantime, can 1. Seagull be developed without serious issues in Dektol and 2. is a regular red safelight ok or MUST a brown/amber light be used?

I'm going to 'drown' my sorrows in the darkroom.

MattKing · May 3, 2011

1. Yes - Dektol is ideal
2. Red or amber are both fine, as long as they are sufficiently dim. If amber works, red will always work. For some papers, only red works. Manufacturers favour amber because it provides a lot more illumination.

If you open up the paper package you will most likely find an instruction sheet with recommendations.

aaronmichael · May 4, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
All I have at the moment is Dektol....at least until I can order some new developer if needed. In the meantime, can 1. Seagull be developed without serious issues in Dektol and 2. is a regular red safelight ok or MUST a brown/amber light be used?

I'm going to 'drown' my sorrows in the darkroom.

You could always pull a sheet out somewhere that's kind of far from the safe lights, put a book or something over half of the sheet, leave it under the lights for a while, develop and see if there's any difference between the covered and uncovered side. I would think that you would be okay though.

MattKing · May 4, 2011

aaronmichael said:
You could always pull a sheet out somewhere that's kind of far from the safe lights, put a book or something over half of the sheet, leave it under the lights for a while, develop and see if there's any difference between the covered and uncovered side. I would think that you would be okay though.

A safelight test works better if the paper has some pre-exposure. It is best to:

1) in complete darkness, give the paper just enough pre-exposure to cause it, when developed, to appear slightly grey;
2) place the pre-exposed paper emulsion side up where it will receive light from the safelight and place several small items (e.g. coins) on top. EDIT Now turn on the safelight(s);
3) with a timer running, remove one item after the 1st 30 seconds, the second item after the next 1/2 minute, the third after the next one minute, the fourth after the next two minutes, and the fifth item after the next four minutes. EDIT Now turn off the safelights
4) develop the paper in complete darkness (including stop and fix); and
5) once the development is complete, examine the result to see if you can determine where the objects were.

You can do small test strips with the safelight on to determine the pre-exposure amount - just be sure to do one final test in complete darkness.

All of these tests are much easier to do if you can use print tubes (Beseler, Cibachrome, Unicolour) .

Roger Cole · May 4, 2011

That's not a good safelight test. The reason is that photo emulsions have a threshold exposure level below which they are much less sensitive. In other words it takes a LOT more exposure to initially darken the emulsion than it does to add noticeable fog, especially in highlight areas, to an already exposed image.

For a better test, working in total darkness, find an exposure that produces a light but noticeable gray, say zone VII or so - light but you can clearly see easel blade borders. Then give a sheet or part of a sheet that exposure then cover part - put a dark card over half, lay some coins on it, whatever, then turn on your safelight at your working distance for the time you want to test for, then process. You may be surprised how unsafe some safelights are.

aaronmichael · May 4, 2011

MattKing said:
A safelight test works better if the paper has some pre-exposure. It is best to:

1) in complete darkness, give the paper just enough pre-exposure to cause it, when developed, to appear slightly grey;
2) place the pre-exposed paper emulsion side up where it will receive light from the safelight and place several small items (e.g. coins) on top. EDIT Now turn on the safelight(s);
3) with a timer running, remove one item after the 1st 30 seconds, the second item after the next 1/2 minute, the third after the next one minute, the fourth after the next two minutes, and the fifth item after the next four minutes. EDIT Now turn off the safelights
4) develop the paper in complete darkness (including stop and fix); and
5) once the development is complete, examine the result to see if you can determine where the objects were.

You can do small test strips with the safelight on to determine the pre-exposure amount - just be sure to do one final test in complete darkness.

All of these tests are much easier to do if you can use print tubes (Beseler, Cibachrome, Unicolour) .

My bad

MattKing · May 4, 2011

Roger Cole said:
That's not a good safelight test. The reason is that photo emulsions have a threshold exposure level below which they are much less sensitive. In other words it takes a LOT more exposure to initially darken the emulsion than it does to add noticeable fog, especially in highlight areas, to an already exposed image.

What he says

Roger Cole · May 4, 2011

Sorry Matt, we were typing at the same time, but I was on my iPhone last night so it took me longer!

Ordered Seagull VC-RCII 8x10/25 Pearl

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