Plus-X Negative film reversal development

I am trying to use some Plus-X negative movie film with a reversal development. I found the instructions on the web and they said that I needed to expose the film at 1 1/2 stops less when reversal processed. I used D-19 modified for the first developer, R-9 for the bleach, and D-19 for the redeveloper.

The results were less than satisfying. My images were there, but very dark, and with little contrast. Now I need to decide whether to increase the exposure, or the first developer time. The lettering on the edge of the film is lighter than highlights in the images, so I suspect that the problem is not development. I ran a series with different exposures, and found that the pictures with the greatest exposure are lacking in contrast.

My conclusion is both more development and more exposure is needed. Does this sound good to everyone? What would be the result if I increased the bleach time?

You don't indicate what developing time/temperature you used for the first developer, or whether you used a clearing bath after the bleach bath. Can we assume you added Thiocyanate to convert D-19n to D67 ?

When I try a new reversal first developer/film combination I usually do 3 initial test processes using 3 different processing times in the first developer, and each strip of film containing a series of bracketed exposures. One dev time is what Id assume to be correct the others + & - 25%, I'd expect further fine tuning to be necessary.

Ian

Yes I am using D-19 with Thiocyanate. I would like to do the bracketing of development, but I am processing movie film in 50 foot lengths using the rewind process. Changing the length of film changes the processing times. My next roll will be shot at 32 DIN vice 250 based on my bracketed exposures on the first roll. Processing time was 15 minutes at 68 degrees which is right out of the G-3 processing instructions.

What I am really wanting to know is what clues can I look at to determine if it is development, exposure, or bleaching so I can improve my results next time.